Welcome to Back Pain
Colorado Spinal Cord Injury Article
For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Dealing with Back Pain
If you want to avoid back pain then sitting at your computer screen all day is not the way to do it, neither is the sudden decision to get in shape. Your body cannot take the strain of going from zero activity to a major exercise program. If you decide, despite leading a sedentary life that you want to get in shape you must do it gradually by slowly reconditioning your muscles to accepting more activity. This can be done with the assistance of your health care provider who can help you develop a program that would be suitable for you.
It is those between twenty-five and forty-five that seem to suddenly realize how mush damage they are doing to their bodies, especially their backs, by their inactivity. Perhaps it's an episode of back pain that spurs them on. Or it might be seeing a friend or relative deal with back pain, perhaps even chronic back issues, that makes them realize that without doing something that could be them one day.
No one wants to spend their lives in pain, sitting around with cold packs or hot water bottles while downing anti-inflammatories to try to relieve the ache in their backs. Most people don't even get to this stage until its too late. They are certain they can cure what ails them instead so they use over the counter pain relievers and the hot or cold treatments. They design their own exercise programs, often doing more harm then good, and then waiting for the pain to subside.
Somewhere around three to six weeks later, when the pain has not improved, they finally agree that they need to see a health care provider who can help them. At this point, since the pain has lasted so long, the medical check-up they will receive will be far more involved. After the initial questions there will be a thorough physical followed by MRI, magnetic resonance imaging, to check the spine. This will look for a herniated or bulging disc. Depending on the results the MRI is frequently followed by an EMG, electromyogram nerve conduction study, because it's able to detect nerve damage.
Once these tests have been done the heath care provider will use the results to determine the correct treatment plan. If its early in the pain stream then there is little then will be suggested other then rest, hot or cold treatments and the anti-inflammatories. If it's later then a complete physiotherapy program will be added to the normal treatment so that the exercises can gradually build back strength and help to diminish the pain. Physiotherapy can be done by visits to a physiotherapist regularly who can also use other treatments to help diminish the pain, like ultrasound and electrical stimulation. But it needn't be done this way.
If your lifestyle makes it difficult to get to a physiotherapist, most of who have hours throughout the day, in evenings and sometimes weekends as well; you can always do your exercises at home.
Colorado Spinal Cord Injury News
Lubbockites with disabilities find challenges, independence on slopes - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
A trip to the Crested Butte slopes of Colorado is remembered by a group of Lubbock residents as a plateau of achievement. For Blake Rieber in particular, who has been in a wheelchair for three years, it was an open door to the kind of freedom he knew ...
Read more...Support magnifies for injured high school athlete - Fallbrook Bonsal Village News
Courtesy photo. Jake Robinson, a 17-year old senior at Fallbrook High School and member of the Warrior varsity football team was severely injured in a car accident this week. Courtesy photo. During a mission trip to Africa, this past summer, Jacob ...
Read more...Rookie RB set to carry the load for Broncos - ESPN.com
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Rookie running back Ryan Torain 's time has come. It appears the former Arizona State star who drew comparisons to Terrell Davis before breaking his left elbow in training camp will get the bulk of carries when the Denver Broncos ...
Read more...