Saturday, September 28, 2013

Avoid Back Pain When Playing the Piano


Proper posture and body mechanics are essential to avoiding back, neck and shoulder pain. For piano players, these two essentials make the difference between suffering through your music and fully enjoying the experience.

A musician studies both his instrument and himself when developing his musical style. Part of this study for pianists should involve how you hold your body and how you interact with the piano. Proper form and ease of movement will reduce pain and improve your playing.

Piano Form

Posture is one of the main determinants of muscle tension. Posture is poor when muscles are held at abnormal lengths. The following tips will help you maintain correct posture at the piano, thereby reducing muscle tension.

1. Don't hunch over so that your face is parallel to the keys. Some do this simply because it makes it easier to see the keys; other may do so unconsciously due to the stress of concentration. Sit upright and use your eyes rather than your neck to look down.
2. Keep your shoulders low and loose. Tensing and raising the shoulders is one of the most common postural mistakes people make when they concentrate, particularly when using their arms.
3. Your forearms should be about parallel to the floor. Your elbows should be a little in front of your midline. As your move your arms up and down the keyboard, strive to keep the elbow and hand in line with each other. These postural tips will help reduce strain on the arms and shoulders.
4. When you need to reach beyond the keys in front of you, move from your hips rather than your back. This is easier to do if you sit on the front part of your bench, which frees up the hip joints since less thigh area is anchored by the bench.
5. Feet should be flat on the floor. If the feet aren't supporting the legs, the hips and lower back will have to.

Ergonomics

Your piano station should be set up with following ergonomic capacities to facilitate correct posture.

1. You must be seated high enough to allow your elbows to be positioned above the keys with the forearm almost parallel to the floor. You may choose an adjustable bench or use props such as phone books to raise your seat if needed.
2. If your feet can't reach the floor to be resting flat on it, you can use a footrest and or similar prop beneath your feet for support. Dangling feet put extra strain on the hips and lower back since they fail to support the legs.

Stretches

The above tips will help set you up for reduced muscle tension while playing the piano. It is always a good idea to stretch the body, particularly muscles subjected to the most stress. Stretching will also help you be aware of your body and give you a break form sitting. Do the following stretches before and after practices, and at 30-45 minute intervals during sessions.

1. Raise the arms above the head and slowly lower them to your sides. This helps elongate the spine.
2. Roll the shoulders backwards.
3. Clasp your hands behind your back and pull backward, opening up the chest.
4. Clasp your hands in front of your chest with palms facing outward and push out. This stretches the upper back.
5. Get down on one knee with the both knees at 90 degree angles. Lean forward. This partial lunge stretches the hip flexors, which are commonly tight in people who sit for prolonged periods of time.

Additional Resources

If you need extra instruction, consider the Alexander Technique. This program was designed to help musicians and performers obtain ideal posture and movement patterns. You may choose to train with an instructor or pursue self-study. Information on the Alexander Technique can be found at http://www.alexandertechnique.com/.

Movement therapies like yoga and Pilates help to increase body awareness and strengthen the core, a muscle group that plays a major role in maintaining proper posture. You may choose to participate in a class or study at home using online videos or DVDs for instruction.

You can avoid back pain when playing the piano by using your body correctly. The above tips will help keep the music in your life without the pain.

Herniated Disc Symptoms


Herniated disc symptoms can be very serious, and can lead to quite a bit of disability. This article will discuss the most common symptoms associated with a herniated disc in each region of the spine, as well as some tips for what you can do at home for relief.

But before we discuss the symptoms, we need to first have an understanding of how a herniated disc causes pain. The discs of the spine are cushions that separate each set of bones in the back. They are shock-absorbers, and they are each composed of two main parts - a strong outer covering called the annulus, and a soft jelly center called the nucleus.

If you take a close look at the spine, what you will see is that the nerves of the spine are located directly behind each disc. These nerves are very important, because they control everything in the body.

When a disc herniates, the outer covering of the disc tears, and the jelly begins to shift from the center of the disc, into the area where the disc has been damaged. This creates a bulge in the disc, and unfortunately, the disc most commonly will bulge right where the nerve is located.

This causes pressure to be applied to the affected nerve, which is truly what causes the majority of the symptoms associated with a herniated disc.

In fact, one interesting fact about the spinal discs is that they do not have the ability to feel pain sensations - in other words, even if the disc is damaged, you can't feel it. This makes sense when you consider that the discs are absorbing shock all day long - if you could feel this, you would be in pain all day!

So, the question is - if this is true, why can this condition cause so much pain? Well, the answer is because the nerves are involved - the aggravated nerve is actually what causes all of the symptoms.

With this in mind, let's discuss the most common herniated disc symptoms that can occur in each region of the spine. Let's begin with the neck, and work our way down.

A herniated disc in the cervical spine (neck) will typically cause symptoms such as neck pain and/or stiffness, headaches, shoulder, arm and hand pain (which may be experienced as sharp pain, burning, stabbing, numbness, or a pins and needles sensation), dizziness, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, thyroid problems (which can lead to weight problems), chest pains, and even heart palpitations (a feeling that your heart is pumping strongly in your chest).

This is a perfect example of what I was mentioning earlier - as you can see, these symptoms can involve much more than neck pain. The reason for this is because these areas of the body are controlled by the nerves in the neck, and pressure on a cervical nerve from a herniated disc will cause these parts of the body to malfunction.

The most common herniated disc symptoms for a thoracic disc (mid-back) are mid-back pain, shoulder, arm and hand pain (same as in the neck - the type of pain can vary), traveling pain around the rib cage, chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, neck pain and tension, headaches, and digestive problems (the nerves in the thoracic region of the spine control the gall bladder, which is a very important organ involved with digestion).

In the lumbar region (low back), the most common symptoms are low back pain and weakness, pain traveling down the leg (this pain can be a sharp pain, burning, stabbing, pins and needles, or numbness), leg weakness, knee pain, problems with the bowel or bladder, and sexual organ dysfunction.

So, when these symptoms occur, what can you do about them? Unfortunately, most of the treatments doctors usually recommend are not as effective as most would like them to be. They may provide temporary relief, but long term relief is not common with the typical treatments.

Most doctors will recommend medications (usually pain relievers and muscle relaxers), pain injections (such as cortisone and epidurals), physical therapy, and surgery (as a last resort, usually). The reason these treatments do not usually provide long term relief is that they are primarily focused on numbing the aggravated nerve.

This may sound good on the surface, but if you do not address the cause of the problem (the herniated disc), the pain will inevitably return.

After working with thousands of patients who suffer with this condition, I've found that there are actually a number of treatments that do address the disc itself, and a combination of these treatments are usually most effective at providing results.

In addition to this, there are a few things you can do at home for relief from herniated disc symptoms. The most common mistake I see people make with this condition is that they want to use heat for relief.

This is actually the worst thing you can do - ice is always the best choice when you are experiencing pain. Ice will numb the nerve, and reduce the inflammation in the problem area. Heat, on the other hand, will just aggravate the nerve and cause additional swelling around the nerve, which causes the pain to last longer than it needs to.

When using ice, apply it over the injured disc for 15 minutes, and wait at least an hour before you apply it again. You will need to repeat the treatment multiple times for the best results, and if you're in a lot of pain, expect to use the ice consistently for at least 3 days before you experience considerable relief.

If you would like to learn more about the most effective treatments you can use to alleviate herniated disc symptoms, you can visit http://www.HealYourBulgingDisc.com for the full details.

Back Pain and Bad Mattress - Change Your Bedding and Stop Suffering From Backache


Have you been suffered from chronic back pain for long? You may wonder what would be the main reason of your symptoms. Of course, there are many causes possible. One of them is something to do with bedding. Why? Everybody spends 6 to 10 hours in bed, it means approximately a third of life! Then, when someone is suffering from back pain, the first question he would have to ask is: what is the condition of my bedding, of my mattress? My bedding would be responsible from my backache?

What Is a Good Mattress?

Have you ever heard people say: "You have back problems? Then, sleep on the floor; it is good for your column!"? Is it true? No! New research shows that it is a great error to sleep on a firm mattress. Why? A study in Spain has demonstrated that almost 50% of people with chronic lower-back pain who used to sleep on firm mattress had improved a lot after 3 month sleeping on a new spring mattress.

What You Must Do

If you are suffering from chronic back pain, check your mattress and make sure you have a medium-firm mattress and not a firm one! A medium-firm mattress helps to balance the different forces exerted by the body. Additionally, a medium-firm mattress can properly sustain and ease the bony lumbar spine. The problem with a soft mattress is that your body is lying too limply on the bed and has little or no support on your vertebral column.

Best Position to Sleep

Try not to sleep on your stomach! This position stresses too much several disks of your spine. Sleep on your back (it helps to keep your natural alignment) or on your side!

Conclusion

Like anybody else, you have your own sleeping habits. But, research studies indicate that sleeping on a medium-firm mattress can certainly help you with your health. Then, why not attempt to change both your bedding and the way you sleep?

Sciatica - Back, Leg and Calf Pain


If you are feeling pain in your back, leg and calf, the chances are you are suffering with sciatica. Before I go any further however, it is important I stress that sciatica is a descriptive term and not a diagnostic one. Anyone who is feeling pain anywhere from there back, through their buttock and down the back of their leg could be said to be suffering with sciatica.

However, the most important thing to establish is not that you are suffering with sciatica, but rather what is causing your sciatica. Two or three different people could be presenting with the same signs & symptoms, yet each of their causes may be different.

The sciatic nerve is formed from the nerve roots L4-S3 which leave the lower part of the back. It then passes through the buttock region, down the back of the leg and then, via its branches, to the tips of the toes. If the sciatic nerve is being aggravated, either from its origin in the lower back or as it passes through the buttock and down the back of the leg, it has the potential to cause pain (as well as other signs & symptoms such as pins & needles, numbness and weakness).

The causes of sciatica can be numerous as I mentioned above. Nevertheless, the main culprits tend to be:

1) A prolapsed disc: A prolapsed disc will tend to pinch on the nerve roots which form the sciatic nerve as they leave the spine itself. If this 'pinching' begins to aggravate and inflame the nerve, pain will result. This pain could be felt anywhere from the low back itself, down your leg to the tips of your toes.

2) Facet Joint Irritation: As the nerve roots leave the spine, they can also be pinched or aggravated by the facet joints of the lower back. If a facet joint in the lower back is aggravating the nerve roots, once again pain may be felt anywhere from the low back itself, down your leg to the tips of your toes.

NB. It is important I note here that although a prolapsed disc and facet joint irritation may aggravate the same nerve roots which form the sciatica nerve, as well as produce very similar (in some cases identical) signs and symptoms, the treatment given would almost be opposite to each other. Therefore it is imperative the correct diagnosis is obtained.

3) Muscle Imbalance: This is where tight and/or weak muscles allow too much stress to be placed across the sciatica nerve. A more specific stretching and strengthening exercise programme would need to be prescribed for this problem. If your pain is starting in the buttock region, there is a fair chance muscle imbalance is the main cause. A tight piriformis muscle is a very common cause of sciatica which starts in the buttock region.

The good news is that sciatica can nearly always be treated conservatively with an appropriate advice and exercise programme, whichever of the above 3 may be causing your pain. If treated correctly sciatica can be treated and resolved 100% without any need for surgery. It is just knowing what to do and when to do it which is the critical factor.

For further information on how to treat sciatica, so my article How Do you treat sciatica?

Back Pain In the Lower Left Side? These Are The Common Causes


There are many types of back pain with many different causes.? Chances are if you've been to a doctor, hospital or chiropractor they have had difficulty in diagnosing the problem.? Perhaps you've had X-rays taken and other tests as well as taken drugs to ease the pain but you were not cured.?

Possible causes of back pain involving the lower left side indicate intestinal problems of some sort possibly including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), muscle imbalance, kidney stones, excessive or improper exercise, lifting objects that are too heavy, pregnancy, obesity or an improperly aligned spine such as a herniated disc.

With IBS, you may experience bouts of diarrhea and vomiting due to certain foods you may have eaten that you may be allergic to such as gluten in wheat or rye.? Chances are your doctor will tell you to remove gluten from your diet, which should bring some relief.? There are no cures for IBS which also includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis but it can be managed.? In some cases Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis have come about due to some prescription medication you have taken such as Fosamax.? Fosamax is used to treat osteoporosis in women and men as well as Paget's disease.

Kidney stones are a common cause of lower left back pain.? Chances are you will experience difficulty urinating and possibly have blood in your urine.? Your doctor will have no problem diagnosing his problem.? Depending exactly where your stones are and how big they are, your doctor will determine how to get rid of them.? Sometimes it is just a matter of letting them pass through your system.? Laser technologies have been used to blast these stones into smaller pieces, which will pass through your system as well.

A muscle imbalance can also cause lower left back pain.? There are many causes including a pulled muscle.? This can generate pain in other parts of the body as well including spinal pain and intestinal pain.? You may experience pain on the opposite side of your back because your right side is working harder to take over lost function from your left.? Sometimes muscle relaxers and pain killers are prescribed to allow you to do certain exercises that aid in recovery of the damaged muscle.? If the damage is serious, you may require surgery.? Alternating hot and cold compresses are recommended to keep inflammation down and allow for good blood circulation for a faster recovery.? Lower left back pain will remain until your muscles return to normal.

Pregnancy is another cause of lower left back pain.? As the fetus develops it gets bigger and bigger causing the uterus to expand shifting your center of gravity not to mention weakening of the stomach muscles.? This puts tremendous strain on your lower back.? Remember, you are also carrying around extra weight from the fetus plus any weight you are gaining.? This increase in body mass may begin pinching nerves which will cause pain as well.? I'm afraid the only cure here is delivery and that you will have to wait for.? Sleeping on your side with a pillow between your legs may bring some relief in the mean time.

Many back problems can be avoided if you maintain proper weight and exercise regularly.? Be careful how you pick up heavy objects and make sure you do your exercises properly.? Back problems can start out small but if ignored can become a serious issue.?

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Chronic Back Pain Solutions For Seniors Citizens - Easy Home Treatment That Relieves Low Back Pains


Are you a senior citizen suffering from chronic back pain or acute low back pain? Are you caring for your elderly relatives who are affected by backaches? You may wonder if there are special and appropriate remedies for treating back pain when aging. Fortunately, there are a few soft and natural home treatments very helpful for elder people. One of them is called balneotherapy.

Balneotherapy Meaning and Principle

Balneotherapy is probably one of the oldest-known therapies for relieving pain and symptoms of a wide range of diseases. Since time immemorial, it has been observed that a mineral-rich water bath ('balneum' in Latin) can heal people who suffer from chronic diseases such as rheumatics, skin problems, gastrointestinal disorders, muscle spasms, back injuries and respiratory troubles.

What's the therapeutic principle? Trace minerals such as sulfur, calcium, selenium, magnesium, copper, zinc, manganese and lithium are absorbed by the body through the skin and provide beneficial curative effects. The term 'balneotherapy' is often associated with 'hydrotherapy' and by extension it refers to everything relating to spa therapy.

Balneotherapy and Back Pain

A few reliable scientific studies have demonstrated that balneotherapy can appreciably alleviate people who are suffering from back problems. Regular bath in mineral water (the studies have been done with mineral water containing sulfur) can reduce both low back pain and muscle spasms. They improve spine mobility too.

Simple Use and Precaution

You may buy Dead Sea salts or other sulfur-containing bath salts in a health natural products store (it's relatively inexpensive). Run a warm bath, pore salts in water and soak up the benefits of the medicinal water for about 15 minutes. If you are suffering from heart problems you should speak first with your doctor before applying these suggestions.

Last Important Advice

We must recognize with modesty that balneotherapy is not 'the backache miracle cure' as some people think it is! Nevertheless, it helps quite well. Alone, this cure can't cut your back pain by 100%.

As an excellent complementary treatment to balneotherapy I suggest you to follow a simple but effective home treatment that corrects very softly spine alignment and consequently can help get rid of back pains forever. Jerry from California who had been suffering from back problems for 50 years finally discovered an easy way to definitively end his back pains. Feel free to read the Easy Back Pain Solution [http://www.backstoppain.info/] Method that helped Jerry so much!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Lower Back Spasms - What Causes Lower Back Muscle Spasms?


Many people will at some stage in their lives experience the pain and discomfort of a lower back spasm. It often occurs when you least expect it and leaves you wondering what on earth has caused such a debilitating pain in your lower back.

Furthermore back spasms are not always selective which means that active as well as sedentary people can experience this excruciating back pain.

5 Causes of Back Spasms


  • A back spasm usually affects the lower back muscles rather than the middle to upper back muscles of the torso and are often the result of an injury or inflammation of the spinal area or the spine itself. It is also thought that the spasm is the body's response to protect and immobilize the spine from further aggravation.


  • Weak abdominal muscles often cause more strain and stress to be placed on the spine which can cause injury and subsequently a spasm to isolate the spine from further stress or injury. So over exertion with weak abdominal will likely result in a back spasm to prevent further damage.


  • Sportsmen may be prone to this type of condition through repetitive motion injuries or chronic overuse injuries. For instance the repetitive motion of a golfer's swing could eventually cause spinal inflammation and injury or damage to the vertebrae or spinal discs & ligaments which will trigger a spasm as a protective measure.


  • People with weak back muscles will also be prone to this injury as extra strain will be placed on the spine for instance when lifting something heavy or perform any type of movements that could place stress on the spine.


  • Poor posture is another cause of lower back pain as it can cause the back muscles to be over strained in trying to maintain spinal stability.

In conclusion it should be noted that usually people who are not overweight, lead a reasonably active lifestyle and are in good physical condition are less prone to suffer from muscle strains and therefore less likely to experience lower back spasms.

Best Treatment for Lower Back Pain


There is no single regimen that can be considered as the best treatment for lower back pain. The wide array of back pain causes and the varying severity of each cause require that treatment methods are specifically tailored to each individual condition. Thus, it is hard to say only rest, medication or surgery can be considered as the best options for treating lower back pain for every single case that is diagnosed.

Of course, from the perspective of preference and convenience, doctors hope that rest, therapy and other non-invasive treatments will be sufficient for treating most lower back problems. This is because prescribing rest, therapy and pain medication implies that the condition has not progressed beyond the point where it already requires surgery. For doctors and patients alike, this is great news. After all, no one would want to risk surgery given all the potential complications that may arise from the procedure.

However, there are also times when surgery becomes the best treatment for lower back pain and no other method will suffice. This is usually because a herniated disc is damaged enough that it is permanently pressing on the nerve roots surrounding its location resulting in extreme and continuous pain. When this happens, rest or medication may not be sufficient to treat the condition. Even epidural injections only provide temporary and short relief when a herniated disc has progressed to a significantly advanced stage. Under these circumstances surgery may become the only option for a permanent and satisfactory solution.

There are many types of back surgery that can be used for treating lower back pain. In the mildest of cases, the protruding spinal disc is shaved so that the mass of bone impinging on the nerves is reduced. In more advanced cases, removal of the disc is required. When this happens, recovery time can take up to 3 months, but if done successfully it will provide permanent relief from the nagging pain brought about by the herniated disc.

Naturally, at the core of assessing which is the best treatment for lower back pain is the debate between necessity, benefit, and risk. This is what doctors use to decide which treatment procedure to prescribe to a specific patient. Is this procedure necessary? Are there other procedures that carry fewer risks and will still hopefully deliver the same benefit? Would you want to risk a serious back operation if a 2 or 3 week bed rest along with medication would do the job? Doctors constantly weigh these considerations in order to provide their patients with the best and safest option for treating lower back pain.

So the next time you suffer from severe back problems, do not immediately start trying a lot of self- help techniques for treating lower back pain. Instead, see a doctor to get a more complete picture of your condition. Go through the diagnostic steps. Assess your options. Only after you've done this will you have enough knowledge to choose the right treatment plan. When done properly, you can be confident that your chosen treatment method is the best for your specific condition. In the end, that is all matters. As long as you are getting pain relief by using the lowest risk options available, then you have done a superb job in making sure you are getting the best treatment for lower back pain.

www.herniateddiscbacksurgery.com/treating-lower-back-pain.shtml

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked To Chronic Back Pain


Vitamin D deficiency is emerging as a potential factor in many chronic pain conditions. If you have back pain that has not responded to treatment, it is a good idea to have your vitamin D levels tested.

Vitamin D is usually absorbed through the skin from sunlight, and a small amount is obtained through diet. The winter months leave people in cold places at greater risk of becoming deficient in this vitamin, but anyone who doesn't get much sunlight is at risk during all seasons.

Dr. Stewart Leavitt, executive director of Pain Treatment Topics, reviewed 22 studies assessing vitamin D levels in people with chronic pain. These studies represented 3,670 participants from various countries and of various ages. Leavitt found that 70% of chronic pain patients in these studies had deficient levels of vitamin D. In one study of 360 females with back pain, vitamin D supplementation resulted in improved symptoms for over 95% of participants.

Vitamin D and Calcium

Vitamin D plays many roles in the body, including the facilitation of calcium absorption. There are vitamin D receptors in the intestines that help calcium from the foods we eat to be absorbed through the intestinal wall into the blood, which then delivers it to many parts of the body, especially bones. Calcium keeps bones hard and strong. When vitamin D deficiency leads to inadequate amounts of calcium available to bones, this condition is called hypocalcemia. Hypocalcemia, even on a small level, can increase the release of parathyroid hormone (PTH).

PTH is responsible for regulating the amounts of calcium in the body. When calcium levels fall low, PTH kicks in to increase levels. It does so partly by causing calcium to be released from bone. This is because other tissues of your body need calcium; muscles, for example, require calcium for contraction. Chronically high levels of PTH lead to improper bone mineralization, which is the process of transforming calcium and phosphorus into hard bone layers. High PTH levels can cause a spongy layer to form beneath the periosteum, or membrane that covers bones. This layer can expand by absorbing fluids and create pressure on the periosteum. A significant amount of pain can be experienced during this process, as periosteal membranes contain many nerves.

Low calcium levels cause bones to grow softer and weaker. Osteomalacia is the name given to this condition. Osteomalacia in the lower back can cause significant pain, as this area is highly mobile.

Since muscle contraction is facilitated by calcium, low levels of calcium (caused by low levels of vitamin D) lead to weaker muscles. Weak muscles are highly susceptible to fatigue and strain as they are incapable of performing work. The spine requires strong core muscles, including muscles in the lower back, to keep it aligned and upright. Weak muscles throughout the body will distort posture, which will cause pain in addition to fatigue and strain.

Aching bones and muscle pain are symptoms of many possible conditions, vitamin D deficiency being one. If you experience these symptoms and have not responded to other forms of treatment, it is possible that a deficiency in this crucial vitamin is the overlooked cause of your condition.

Besides facilitating calcium absorption, vitamin D acts to improve immune function, modulate the inflammatory response and regulate mood. If you receive a blood test that reveals a deficiency, your doctor can help determine what dosage is right for you. The vitamin is toxic in very high doses, so don't exceed recommended doses.

Vitamin D supplementation is affordable and safe to do independently, as long as you use as directed. The supplement is ideal for people who don't get plenty of sunlight due to sensitivity or climate, who have dark skin pigment, who are advanced in age or who have chronic pain. Vitamin D is natural, inexpensive and, when used properly, very safe. For more on vitamin D from Dr. Stewart Leavitt, read his extensive article at http://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/nutraceutical/vitamin-d-chronic-pain?page=0.

Lower Back Pain Relief Tips


Lower back pain is a common problem that can affect everyone, including you. The pain occurs when you do something over and over that causes repeat trauma to your spine. You may feel pain after doing a simple task but the cause can be something that you have been doing for many years. It is important for you to realize that you may already have lower back pain. At the moment, you may not feel any pain yet but it can be a time bomb that can explode anytime.

Your spines are very complex and strange parts of your body. However, don't worry if you are suffering from this problem. There are ways you can do to get rid of the pain easily. Below are some lower back pain relief tips to keep your back safe:

1. Watch Your Weight
Overweight is one of the back pain causes. Your spine's task is to carry the body's weight around. If you are overweight, then your spine has to take more burdens. Thus you need to keep your weight in normal level to avoid any worse pain.

2. Be Careful on Spine Mobility
Normally, people who are suffering from back pain try to move around and do some activities to train the spine. However, this is actually not very helpful for them. It is because when you move your lower back, you have higher risk of having injury. It is normal to move your hips and upper spine but don't do it too much. You can do some safe movements especially that involve your hips and thoracic spine. To help you broaden range of motions at your hips, you can do some stretching on the hips and perform exercises like hip flexor stretches or overhead squat.

3. Stand Up Straight
Stand up straight is one of the ways to prevent lower back pain. If you are often in a bent over position, your muscles tend to be weak and fatigued. When doing any tasks, make sure that you keep a correct posture to avoid the increase of shear force. It is not a good idea to sit bent over all day long since it causes shear force on your lower back.

4. Stop Your Sit-Ups
Having a six-pack abdomen is very tempting. Unfortunately, doing crunches will only increase the force on the lower back. You are actually still allowed to do sit up but don't do it too much. You can use a few more planks to reduce the stress on your lower back. This way enables you to make your abs stronger while at the same time you relieve the force on your back.

5. Visit the Specialist
If you finally still can't get rid of the pain, then it is suggested that you see a specialist. You can visit a massage therapist to obtain the right treatment for your pain. This treatment will relieve more than what you can do for yourself.

Lower Back Pain - Your Lifestyle Can Be The Cause


At some moments in our lives, you and I, including millions of people all over the world have suffered from back pain and lower back pain. The problem is mostly caused by your modern lifestyle; this means that when you suffer from pain, then the theory behind the cause of your pain in most cases, if not caused by a particular medical condition, would be muscle fatigue, which is caused by stress, tension and most time misuse of muscles, and to make the problem worse, you do not stretch and exercise regularly, you do not assess your posture and movement on a daily basis, you are not sleeping enough etc. All these will surely result to pain.

One of the most common complaints which people suffer from is lower back pain; it is one of the common causes of disability. There are different methods to naturally treat your pain without needing to use medications. Another common pain people suffer from is back pain. Your back is an important region as it holds the entire weight of your body while you are standing. You should know that if your back is weaker than it should be then your body can start to break down and this will result to pain, continuous weaken of your back could make the pain chronic. As earlier mentioned, all these happen mostly because of your lifestyle.

If you are looking for natural means to permanently treat your pain, then it should be methods of physical and mental re-education to reduce habitual and unnecessary tension in all your activity through awareness of balance, posture and movement. It should also show you how to identify the cause of your pain. You need these techniques to re-educate your muscles to work naturally for you, and you will notice that as soon as you correct the misuse of your muscles, you will start to experience relief immediately.

Low Back Pain Causes - Do These Causes of Lower Back Pain Relate to You?


One of the primary causes of lower back pain is bad posture. We spend a lot of our time in positions that are not conducive to a healthy back - like sat in an office chair all day, sat in the car, bending over patients' beds in hospital etc. Coupled with the fact that the majority of us don't get enough exercise to keep our back muscles strong and capable of keeping our spine in correct alignment and we have a recipe for disaster (or lower back pain in this case).

Different postures exert different amounts of pressure on intervertebral disks, which cushion the bones of the spine. When we are lying down, for example, disk pressures have been approximated at 165 pounds per square inch, compared with 220 pounds per inch while we are standing or walking, and 300 to 400 pounds while we are sitting. Not only do those who sit during a large portion of the day weaken their back muscles and the support the muscles provide, but they exert great pressure on the disk areas near the spinal cord and nerve roots, which are poorly supported areas to begin with.

Pregnancy

At least 50 percent of pregnancies involve back pain. The good news: the patient is usually freed from the pain following the delivery of her child.

Gender

Excluding the back pain related to pregnancy, there is little difference in the incidence of back pain in men and women. For all those predominately male construction workers at increased risk, there are predominately female caretakers matching them ache for ache.

Height and Weight

Tall people have been found to have a greater incidence of back pain than their shorter counter-parts, in part due to a tendency to stoop, either to appear shorter or simply to function in a world geared to smaller-sized human beings. Also, the greater the height, the greater the weight and force the lower spine must support.

Obesity is one of the most common contributing factors to back pain. Every pound added to the "gut," one leading rehabilitation center warns its patients, adds ten pounds of pressure to the spine. The sedentary lifestyle associated with obesity and an unbalanced diet that doesn't supply adequate nutrients contribute as well.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Could Hamstring Muscle Injury Cause Back Pain?


You often hear about athletes who are unable to play their sport due to a pulled hamstring. In fact, a pulled hamstring is one of the most common muscle pulls or muscle injury. Your hamstrings are a group of three muscles that help extend your legs at the hip and flex them at the knee. A pulled hamstring is a strain or tear in the muscles or tendons.

To understand what causes a hamstring injury you have to know how muscles work. All muscles work in pairs to perform a task. One set of muscles contracts to exert force while the other set of muscles relaxes. The hamstring muscles located at the back of the thigh, work with the quadriceps muscle group in the front of the thigh. When you want to bend your leg, the hamstring muscles contract and the quadriceps muscles relax. Conversely, when you want to straighten your leg, the quadriceps muscles contract and the hamstring muscles relax.

If one muscle group is considerably stronger than its opposing muscle group, the imbalance can lead to strain. This frequently happens with the hamstring muscles. The quadriceps muscles are usually much more powerful, so the hamstring can become fatigued faster. A fatigued muscle cannot relax as easily when its opposing muscle contracts, leading to strains.

Muscle strains are overuse injuries that result when the muscle is stretched without being properly warmed up. An injury to the hamstring is usually readily apparent. Mild strains may involve simple, uncomfortable tightening of the muscle. More severe injuries may result in a sharp pain in the back of the thigh, usually in full stride. A rupture or tear may leave you unable to stand or walk, muscles may be tender to the touch and painful to stretch your leg. Within a few days after a tear the area may appear very bruised.

Remember RICE and you will know the immediate treatment protocol for many sports related injuries, including hamstring pulls or strains:

R - Rest the affected area.

I - Ice the injury.

C - Compress the injury (apply a bandage or other compressive device).

E - Elevate the injury.

If the muscle is completely torn, surgery may be necessary to repair and reattach it. No treatment is complete without proper rehabilitation to strengthen and stretch the muscle.

The best way to prevent a hamstring injury is to warm up before activity and stretch after activity. Weak or tight hamstrings can contribute to low back pain, so doing exercises to strengthen and stretch the hamstrings may also reduce your risk of low back pain. Be sure to perform all strength training exercises in opposing muscle form. For example if you work the quadriceps be sure to also work the hamstrings. The best exercise to isolate these two muscle groups would be the Leg Press and the Leg Curl working the quadriceps and hamstrings respectively. If you feel your hamstring is the muscle with the imbalance be sure to work it a little harder by adding an extra set or more weight for your sets.

A good stretch is to sit down and straighten your left leg. The sole of your right foot should rest next to the inside of your straightened leg. Lean slightly forward and touch your foot with your fingers. Keep your left foot upright with the ankle and toes relaxed. Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat with the right leg.

An exercise program designed by your trainer at Any Body Fitness will be designed according to a muscle balance form. This design helps prevent injury. That is what we want!

Causes of Back Pain - Spasmodic Torticollis, Sciatica, and Spinal Stenosis


Although many people will suffer from back or neck pain at some point in their lives, it can be quite difficult to diagnose these acute, short-term problems. Often, a muscle strain may be the culprit, which can heal in a manner of days or weeks. But for chronic pain in the neck and back, doctors have named a variety of disorders that people commonly experience. From sciatica to spinal stenosis, being aware of a few of these common painful conditions may help people suffering from back injuries understand why they are in pain and what treatment paths to take when they are recovering.

If a person has shortening of muscle fibers or periodic spasms in the neck, spasmodic torticollis may be the problem. The neck muscles may contract so much that the neck is forced to turn from a neutral position to a deranged one. Unfortunately, though, doctors do not know what actually causes this condition. A reaction to drugs or medication is the most common reason people suffer from spasmodic torticollis, but the actual reason that some people develop it is uncertain. Treatments for the condition involve such modalities as physical therapy, injections of botulinum toxin into the neck muscles, drugs to control the pain, or even surgery in some cases.

Sciatica is a condition in which the nerve roots are compressed. The most common cause is a vertebral disc begins to protrude out of the spinal column and additional pressure is put on the spinal cord. Osteoarthritis, bony irregularities, tumors, and abscesses may also cause sciatica. People who have this condition often describe the pain as burning or stabbing, and pain or numbness may be felt all the way from the lower back to the feet, with discomfort in the hips or knees also present. Rest, rehabilitative exercises, spinal flossing, medication, and surgery have all be used to treat sciatica, with varying degrees of success in different patients.

Another disorder that can cause harmful pressure on the spinal cord and sciatic nerve roots is called lumbar spinal stenosis. This results from a narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower back or upper back regions. In fact, it may even be one of the causes of sciatica. Degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis or disc degeneration may lead to spinal stenosis. Pain is most commonly experienced in the hips, thighs, and even down to the calves, and may be felt when standing, walking, and running. The treatments for spinal stenosis are similar to treatments for sciatica and aim to reduce spinal compression causing pain.

Though there are a number of other conditions that can cause pain in the back and neck, these ones detailed here are some of the most common but most debilitating for those suffering from them. Pain in the lower back and neck can be very uncomfortable, even when it lasts only for a day or a week at the most. But chronic conditions such as sciatica or disc disease can cause pain for a great portion of person's life. This makes it even more important to find ways to deal with the problem by reducing the pain and then relearning how to move without severe back or neck pain.

I Have Lower Back Pain and It Hurts to Sit - Pain Relief


How is your back feeling lately?

Has it driven you to look for pain relief?

1.) Introduction

It is one thing to have an aching back, and it is another to have constant lower back pain that is excruciating and unbearable. It takes the idea of being in pain to a whole different level when that pain continues and even exacerbates when you sit. What are you supposed to do? Stand up all day and night? It is not very likely to happen.

2.) Why Does My Lower Back Hurt When I Sit?

Surprisingly, some people only experience lower back pain when they sit. Their backs do not hurt when they walk or when they stretch out in bed; only upon sitting. Well what causes this? It all has to do with the quantity of stress that your spine has to endure. When a person sits, that stress amount is increased. Moreover, if it is a slouching posture, the stress on the spine increases even more. Add in additional stress from a muscle strain or a herniated disc, and the pain becomes agonizing.

3.) Back Pain Relief

After suffering for a while, the reasons why you are hurting become obsolete, and your only thought is the discovery of a cure for what ails you. There are a few steps you can take to reduce pain in your lower back that occurs from sitting.

First of all, you can be selective about the chairs in which you sit. A high back chair that has arm rests (so you will be less inclined to slouch) can be very helpful and will prop up your entire body. Secondly, when sitting, it is important that you keep your knees and hips positioned at a ninety degree angle; this is the correct angle for proper posture and will help decrease stress on your back.

Unfortunately, working alone, neither of these tips will give you a great deal of relief for lower back pain. One of the best way to alleviate your pain is through the use of a back brace. A brace functions by providing support to the back in a variety of ways.

How a Back Brace Helps

1) Alleviates hurting. Using a brace aids you by reducing lower back pain that causes you to hurt when you sit. In many cases, the support will provide you with some relief immediately by reducing the movement of your spine.

2) Improves back stability. The back brace supports your back by keeping your spine more stable. Not only does this fixed position give your muscles times to heal, but it also retrains your posture to avoid further injuries.

No longer do you have to suffer from intense, lower back pain. There are ways to reduce the aching and enjoy a relatively pain-free, seating experience.

Note: This is health information. Speak to your local, licensed orthotist when it comes to medical advice on braces for your spine.

Is Your Office Chair Causing You Lumbar Pain?


Do you experience pain in your lower back when driving, sitting at your desk or when reclining on your sofa? Do you take pain relievers for lower back and sciatica pain, or are your usual activities ever restricted due to such pain?

If you primarily sit at a desk for work or spend long hours at home in an office chair in front of your computer, your chair could be the cause of your lumbar pain.

The primary reason an office chair causes lower back pain is improper lumbar support.

Why Chairs Matter

The type of chair you use at the workplace or in your home office matters a great deal for several reasons:

  • The human body wasn't designed for sitting hours on end.

The lumbar muscles in your back take the brunt of the pressure sitting for extended periods of time places on your body. The chair you sit in for hours and hours can make doing so much easier on your lower back - or much worse. ?

  • The vast majority of people have poor sitting posture.

Sitting hunched over at your desk without proper lumbar support isn't good posture, and it causes lower back pain, shoulder pain and neck pain.

  • As people age, elasticity and strength in muscles and ligaments is lost, leaving them more susceptible to injury.

An office chair can help you avoid injury by providing proper lumbar support when your muscles need it most.

  • Discs in the spine harden over time, and muscles lose mass.

Supporting the lumbar muscles properly alleviates strain and helps support the spine.

Taking breaks from sitting and exercising regularly can help with back problems that result from these contributing factors. Seating yourself properly in an office chair with adequate back support can also help you avoid and alleviate lower back pain long term.

Support and Comfort while Sitting

If you frequently fidget in your office chair and you're always changing positions trying to get and stay comfortable, you probably need a better office chair.

Quality, ergonomic office chairs are unfortunately rather expensive. If your employer won't pay for a better chair or you need some time to save up for one for the home, a lumbar ?cushion is an easy, affordable option.

A lumbar support cushion straps to the back of your office chair right where it's needed to provide lumbar support. It fits snugly in the gap that occurs where your spine curves inward away from the chair's back.

Filling in that gap takes the pressure off lumbar muscles while you're sitting. You will notice how much more comfortable your chair feels with this added support. You'll be able to sit still longer without fidgeting or pain, plus you can rely on a lumbar support cushion to prevent lower back pain in the future.

Once you try a lumbar support cushion, you may find your office chair is actually a lot more comfortable than you imagined. If you still wish to invest in a better chair, you can look for one that provides lumbar support and use your lumbar cushion for portable support around the home and in your car.

Constant Lower Back Pain - How Do I Make My Constant Lower Back Pain Stop?


Do you find yourself suffering from constant lower back pain? Do you wake up each morning with a stiff or sore back and then spend the rest of the day trying to manage it or make it stop? Do you then go to sleep each night and toss and turn all night looking for that one certain place that you can finally be pain free for a few minutes and just go to sleep? If any of these sounds familiar then you are one of many unlucky people in the world suffering from chronic back pain.

This used to be my story. I remember sitting in a chair all day going down slowly because I was so still and sore. Then I would sit there and continue to fidget and move trying to get comfortable. When I got up I remember how slow I had to do so and how stiff and sore my back was. The good news is that I am now completely pain free and can go about my day, play with my kids, and enjoy getting out and about.

The secret for me was several small changes to the way I lived. I had thought about looking into surgery but really didn't want someone cutting on my back or potentially doing any damage to the nerves. Not to mention the really long recovery time and massive expense. There were several things that helped me but I'll share with you one quick tip and tell you where you can get some more. This may sound really simple but I loosened my belt and started wearing looser clothes. I had put on a few pounds over the years and things started to fit more snug which was pressing on the nerves in my side and back. Once I figured this and a few other things out then I was finally able to be be pain free and active and loose the weight that was also contributing to the problem.

The Biggest Cause of Lower Back Pain - And Its Cure!


If you are reading this now, most likely you are sitting with lower back pain.

You can't get comfortable for too long or your back pain will get worse. You will have to leave your computer and either lie down or go for a walk... just to make life more comfortable.

Lower back pain affects over 80% of the adult population - fact. Boring fact I know as you know it affects you 100%. And you just want to be free of your lower back pain... for how long though?

Would you like to be free of lower back pain now and not have it come back? Imagine how you could play with your children; take up that hobby that you stopped because your back was just too sore. Just feel what life would be like getting out of bed in the morning (not groaning with lower back pain), going to work (being able to perform 100%) and then coming home feeling great (lower back pain really makes you tired doesn't it).

By now you want to know what does cause you to suffer so much from lower back pain. Well, the answer is so simple you will be disappointed. You probably may even guess what it is...

There are two main culprits: your weak abdominal muscles and your tense hip flexor muscles!

Now I know you may have spent countless hours (probably more when you were younger) doing abdominal exercises. From crunches to knee lifts, endless sit-ups to many so called "miracle" ways to get wash-board abs. But you still suffer from lower back pain.

Well I have some good news and some great news...

To strengthen your abdominals you don't need to do sit-ups again or crunches... and that is the good news. The great news is you can stimulate your abdominal muscles in just a few minutes. You see, there is a reflex point on your inner thigh that stimulates the nerve and blood supply to your abdominal muscles. If you rub this is a certain way, you increase their strength.

Wait a minute...

Do not think you will get wash-board abdominals from doing this. This is a way to increase their functional strength, so your lower back pain disappears. That is what you want after all, isn't it. You also want to be able to get back to the gym, do all the sit-ups, crunches; knee lifts etc and get those abdominals back. Which will happen faster if the nerve and blood supply is working perfectly.

If you are asking why your abdominals is one of the biggest causes of your lower back pain, the answer is simple... Your abdominal muscles help support the pelvis. If they weaken then your curve in the lower back increases (a sway back), which then irritates the lower back joints. The muscles around the joints then become tight and suddenly you have that situation where your lower back is ready to blow.

You lift up a chair, bend over to grab an object, wrestle with your children or just get out of bed, and then... lower back pain grabs you. You now a part of the statistics - 80% of all adults suffer from lower back pain at some stage - it is now affecting you 100% though.

There is hope for you, there is a solution, and if you stimulate your abdominals then lower back pain can disappear. Especially if you combine it with stretching the other major cause and if you learn to re-balance your pelvis and lower back (the major causes of lower back pain).

Sorry...

Have you just realized I said at the start... "the two biggest culprits that cause lower back pain are your abdominals and hip flexors". Yet you didn't hear a word mentioned on the hip flexors, did you. This is the next article that is coming soon, so watch out for your next solution to lower back pain.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Causes of Lower Back Pain in Late Pregnancy!


If you are in your 8th month of 9th month, there is a good chance you will start feeling lower back pain in late pregnancy. It is not uncommon, but to fix the problem you need to know what is causing it. 

The most probable cause will be the wrong kind of activity during your pregnancy. It can be the bad posture, or something you tried to lift. Or even something so simple as sleeping uncomfortably. 

Some other more serious causes can be that you have a bladder infection, the possibility of pre-term labor or the real labor. If any of these are your concerns, get in touch with your Doctor even if it is false alarm. Better safe than sorry!

Or it can be something as simple as the bad posture. If you sit too long, or stand too long, it really will affect the back pain, and especially if you are standing and having uncomfortable shoes. Those are a big NO NO!

But most probable cause of lower back pain in late pregnancy is the extra weight your belly is putting on your back. The pain can be like it is shooting down your leg, or so unbearable that you cannot move. 

Now if it gets to be unbearable, talk to your DR. and most likely you will have to do some bed rest, but if it is just starting there are many natural methods to help you out with reducing the back pain in late pregnancy, that are completely pregnancy safe. Just don't let the problem get out of hand.   

If you have the time, I suggest you read the free guide written by the Jennifer Lows, on ways to stop and prevent the pregnancy back pain.

Blame Your Lower Back Pain on the Right Side on Years of Poor Sitting Posture


How does our sitting posture affect our lower back pain, right side? Long periods of sitting is a new "activity" for humans. Never before in history have we spent so much time on our "derrière." Our ancestors have spent most of their lives hunting and gathering. Later in history they became farmers or factory workers. Our bodies are not accustomed to so much time on the "toosh" and our backs suffer as a result. That is why so many other countries around the world suffer from fewer lower back problems than those in the US. They are still up and moving.

Our sitting habits that impact our lower back pain, right side, can be attributed to the left side as well, but because the amount of inquiries to the right side are so many, this article will deal primarily with lower back pain, right side. Just know that if you suffer from left side pain, the same applies.

If you work on a lap top computer, you have an advantage because you can easily move your working station to other positions to avoid lower back pain, right side. Try standing as you work and stretch your legs as you type.

If you must sit, make sure your chair has a stiff back and that you do not slouch. Slouching happens to most of us unconsciously so try to be aware of your posture. Straighten up whenever you feel yourself starting to hunch and soon your better posture will become a habit, reducing the chance of lower back pain, right side.

Sure, it is difficult to always keep your feet flat on the floor, but when you sit in awkward positions, you will typically favor the right side--if you are right handed it is your strongest side--and increase your chances of lower back pain, right side. It is alright to shift to different positions from time to time, but try to keep your feet flat on the floor as often as possible with your knees level with your hips. If this makes your buttocks sore, get up and move around every half hour or perform stretching exercises, paying particular attention to the discomfort area in your lumbar region. Do not exercise one side more than the other, however. It is important to develop your muscles evenly. One of the main causes for back discomfort and pain is muscle imbalance from years of poor posture, both standing and sitting.

You can stretch your back and move around while you sit to avoid getting stiff. Turn your head from side to side, pull your shoulder blades back or perform a seated pelvic tilt as you work. Movement can go a long way toward reducing the stiffness in your back and keep you limber and young for years to come.

Driving And Back Pain - Is Your Car Seat Causing Lower Back Pain?


A lot of us experience lower back pain whilst driving. A number of researches have investigated the relationship between driving and Back Pain, which uncovered uncovered some interesting results. One finding is a comparison of drivers in the USA and in Sweden found that 50% of people questioned in both countries reported low back pain.

So what is the connection of driving and back pain?

So far research has found three factors for low back pain whilst driving. The first one is the vibration from the engine (something that you can not change), the sitting position is the second factor and the third one is the length of time that we drive.

Scientists at laboratories have researched the effects of vibration of our body whilst driving. The Lumbar Spine(lower back) naturally resonates at a frequency of 4-5 Hertz and from research they found that this natural frequency can be distorted. This distortion can result into higher spinal loadings (compression) in the lower back, therefore causing an increased chance of low back pain. As mentioned before you can not change the vibration of the engine, but what you can do to reduce the effects of this on your lower back is to drive shorter periods at a time.

It is a lot easier to get comfortable in your seat when the car is stationary, a bit like sitting in a normal chair. But once you start driving the body will be subject to various forces like accelerations and decelerations, lateral movements from side to side and whole body vibrations.When we sit on a chair our feet, when on the floor, are used to support and stabilise the lower body. Whilst driving our abdominal muscles can not provide enough stability to our upper body and arms when turning the wheel. This will result in a significant increase of torsional stresses in the lower back, which in return will significantly increase the risk of low back pain.

To start with we should address one more important issue first - we all are guilty when it comes to adjusting our car seats correctly! In 2004 one of the largest car insurance companies (I won't mention a name, after all you may think I am paid to write about this), released the findings of a research into how we sit in our car. (about 2.000 people were involved in this).

The research resulted in the following -


  • The headrest was found to be in an incorrect angle when driving of 61% of people involved in the study. This will increase the chance of ruptures of the spinal ligaments or worse when involved in an accident.



  • 50% showed a slouched or hunched position over the steering wheel.



  • About a third of the drivers had back pain whilst driving.



  • 25% tilted their heads or shifted in their seats each time they had to look into the 'rear view mirror'.



  • Wearing unsuitable footwear or clothing happened to 34% of the drivers.



Please find below a list of 10 ways that can help to improve your seating position, make your driving experience more comfortable.

The Seat

Make sure that your bottom sits all the way in the back of the seat - where the base and the back of the seat meet. This will help to make you sit more upright and maintain the natural curvature of the spine, minimizing the stress on the spinal ligaments. If your seat has a lumbar roll built in have this all the way out - most cars with lumbar support that i tried do not allow enough support fom this lumbar roll, therefore it would be best to have it all the way out.

The Base length and Height of the Seat

The base of the seat should never touch the back of your knees and the front of the base should be slightly higher then the back, helping to provide more support and allowing you press the pedals without changing your spinal posture.

The Backrest

First relax back into your seat, place the seat at about a 10-15 degrees incline from the vertical position. If this feels unnatural to you then it probably means that the backrest is not upright enough for you. This can result into neck strain and / or coccyx (sitting bone) pain. Move the backrest more upright or if that doesn't help you can place a small towel (folded in three) against the midspine, between the shoulder blades.

The Headrest

Have you ever noticed when watching an American movie that the headrests are often missing from the seats - it makes me crinch each time i see this (ooch). So much for giving a good example to our children. The position of your headrest will not only help to minimise the injuries of an accident but also to help to allow a better posture. The bony bit at the back of your head (known as the 'inion') is a good guiding point, the headrest should be level with this. There should be about 2.3 cm's (1 inch for the non -metrics) between the back of your head and the headrest, when you are in the sitting position as described earlier. This to absorb shock as much as possible. This allows for the ligaments and the muscles of your neck to control the posture of your head better and giving better support in case of an accident.

Seat - Pedal distance

Make sure you have the distance between seat and the pedals so that when operating the pedals this does not cause you to over strech your legs or twist your body in any way. Thus your legs should not be straight when pushing the throttle or clutch all the way down. Obviously your knees should not be bend to the point you cannot easily move from one pedal to another. It is normally advised to have your knees bend about 45 degrees.

The Arm position

Your arms should be as relaxed as possible, elbows bend around 20-30 degrees. If your steering wheel is adjustable have it in the mid to lower position (make sure the wheel does not partially obstruct the instrument panel), this will help to reduce the stress on your shoulders. Your hands should be positioned at '10 past10' and not as is suggested left hand at 9 o'clock and right hand at 3 o'clock.

The Armrests

If your seat has armrests then it is advised to use these. As a guidance you should position the armrests so that they gently support the elbows, any more will cause the shoulders to rise and increase the change of straining your neck.

The Mirrors

These should only be adjusted once you have positioned your seat as described above. If not sure then please revisit the information again how to adjust your seat. The mirrors should be adjusted to allow you to freely look into them without the need of having to move your head much. you either have adjusted the mirrors incorrectly or you are to close to the steering wheel.

Adjusting Seat at intervals

This sound great in theory but for most of us this may be akward whilst driving. For those who have electric seats it is easier (although it always advicable to stop first), just reach for the buttons to adjust the seat without the need to take our attention of the road. It is said that you should be doing this every 30 mins. to reduce the incidents of back pain. This allows to change the pressure that is placed on the spine is varied regularly. Once arrived at your destination it would be good to strech! (don't worry if it looks funny, soon everybody in the carpark will join in - you can be proud having started a new 'healthy' trend)

Have breaks

We all have seen the 'take a break' sign along the roads, helping you to avoid falling asleep behind the wheel. Taking a break helps your back as well, so when you need to take a rest you can have a strech at the same time to help your back. An hour maximum is the current thinking, although these tips should be taken as a general rule. This is a good time to adjust your seating position!

Intense Lower Back Pain - What You Need to Know


Intense lower back pain causes millions of people to be in discomfort each and every day. Knowing a few techniques to apply when you feel discomfort is always essential and can ease the ailment. With millions of people suffering, fixing the cause can be serious and sometimes requires invasive surgery. Before surgery, most patients are urged to attend therapy is the first step in finding relief. Intense lower back pain can be solved with different methods.

Methods for dealing with the pain

It is always necessary to know the source of the injury. Any treatment that does not deal with the source will only offer temporary relief. Muscles spasms can be treated with a hot towel while inflammation requires cold icy towel. It is best to alternate 3 to 4 times with this treatment by placing the pack on the exact spot with the inflammation. There are also other methods to deal with the intense pain. Medications can be taken to ease the pain but could become addictive over time and have a lesser effect. Exercise and therapy such as acupuncture or yoga are sometimes recommended. When the symptoms persist, a doctor may need to diagnose the source and provide treatment under supervision. Some intense lower back pain can be the underlying effect of a much more serious problem such as arthritis and other degenerative muscle disease.

Cause of lower back pain

There are many reasons why you may feel uncomfortable. Lifting heavy objects improperly, sleeping or sitting and placing too much stress on the back muscles, anxiety, and depression are just a few causes that may result. You can also have broken bones after an accident. Some causes may be due to displacement of the spine and related bones. When pain is acute or chronic, seeking medical attention is the best solution to prevent complications that could be the result of a more serious problem in the future.

Preventions better than cures

It's always best to take preventive measures than have to face the possibility of undergoing surgery. Intense lower back pain can be prevented by taking precautions when lifting heavy material or by not putting the back muscle under too much stress. Exercising can also help strengthen the back muscles. Often, walking and swimming are good exercises for the back to strengthen the core muscle groups and make them stronger for more physical activities.

Note that while this is sound advice, it is just informational and any type of treatment should only come from a board certified doctor.

Back Pain Products: Ergonomic Chair Accessories


For those who cannot obtain an ergonomic chair and those whose ergonomic chairs aren't enough to alleviate back pain, there are numerous orthopedic chair accessories on the market. These back pain products assist in alleviating pressure on the spine and easing tension on lower back muscles.

Much of the lower back pain experienced today is the result of poor posture, particularly for those whose jobs require long-distance driving or sitting in an office chair all day. The following back pain products are designed to counter the harmful effects of sitting.

Lumbar Cushions

When sitting for long periods of time, most people have a difficult time maintaining their natural lumbar arch. This is because the weight of the upper body bears on the muscles of the core, which give out eventually if they are not conditioned. This allows the shoulders to stoop and the lower spine to flatten. In this position, the spine is strained and the lower back muscles are forced to support the upper body without the abdominal muscles engaged to assist. Lumbar cushions are designed to maintain the natural arch of the lumbar spine, providing support to the lower back muscles and encouraging proper posture.

Lumbar supports are very helpful for many types of back pain, but not every type. Those with spinal arthritis, for example, should be cautious of these cushions, since enhancing the arch of the lumbar spine could cause painful compression of the joints.

Amazon customers report widespread satisfaction with various cushions. According to their reviews, the two main complaints with lumbar cushions are design and density. Many of these cushions have winged sides; they may not mold properly with a seat that also has winged sides. Some also feel that certain brands are too soft and provide inadequate support. Make sure the chair or seat you're adding a cushion to will actually fit it, and test density if possible before making a purchase.

Wedge Cushions

These foam seat cushions have a wedge design that tilts your pelvis forward, alleviating pressure off the tailbone. Many of these cushions have a built-in gap where your coccyx would rest to facilitate further decompression. Tilting the pelvis forward encourages the spine to maintain its natural S-shape curve.

Amazon reviewers are largely happy with their wedge cushions, but the common complaint pertains to density. Some are very firm, while others are very soft. If you are a petite person, a softer cushion may be capable of providing adequate support, whereas a firm one may cause painful compression in the buttocks. For a larger person, a soft cushion may simply flatten out and fail to tilt the pelvis. Take firmness into consideration when choosing what to purchase.

Comfort Seats

Composed of either thin plastic or foam, the comfort seat is designed to cup the buttocks and provide support to the pelvic bones, which serve as a foundation for the spine. On top of encouraging proper posture, this product is designed to support the tailbone. Some comfort seats also tilt the pelvis forward as wedge cushions do, but by different design.

Based on product reviews from Amazon and QVC customers, the main complaint with seats like the Relaxo-Bak is that they can be too big for some users. The plastic can dig into the backs of your legs and fail to match up with your pelvic bones. Some users prefer the more expensive foam seats by Backjoy to the plastic for both comfort and support.

It is important to remember that these back pain products are designed to assist your body temporarily, not replace core strength. These accessories will only help to alleviate some of your back pain; true relief comes from solving the problem that caused it. If core weakness is plaguing your back, it will affect your posture when standing and moving. Consider these products aides to recovery, not cures.

To help you decide if these products are right for you, refer to http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.qvc.com/ and search for the product you're interested in. These sites allow you to compare prices and read customer reviews. Most of these accessories are relatively inexpensive, and are worth a try if your chair or car seat is uncomfortable. Chair accessories could be a useful supplement to your back pain relief plan.

Pregnancy and Lower Back Pain, What Every Pregnant Woman Should Know


Back pain and pregnancy, tips on what you can do to make your pregnancy and lower back pain a little easier to deal with.

Normal weight gain in pregnancy is about 35 pounds, but lots of women I have met over my twenty-year midwifery career gained 35 pounds to 70 pounds during pregnancy. The stress of sudden weight gain during the short cycle of pregnancy can cause back pain and pregnancy misery.

Pregnancy posture change:

Pregnancy and lower back pain happens because of pregnancy weight gain and the automatic adjustments your body makes in posture to accommodate the growing womb. This change in posture is called pregnancy lordosis. Upper and lower back pain and pregnancy lordosis go hand in hand because your spine becomes super curved, elongated, and your breast and buttocks stick out pulling and stretching your back muscles.

Pregnancy hormones:

On top of this, back pain and pregnancy go hand in hand because of the higher levels of pregnancy hormones you produce. Pregnancy hormones have a relaxing effect on many of the muscles in your body to accommodate the muscle stretching that is required during pregnancy. Relaxed muscles are not as supportive to the spine and abdominal muscles, therefore many women complain of back pain and pregnancy shoulder stress.

Pregnancy pelvic changes:

The female pelvis is made up of many different bones. When you get towards the end of your pregnancy, a baby cannot fit to a normal-sized woman's pelvis without the pelvis opening and expanding. The pelvis has two major joints; one towards the right and one towards the left of your lower back along with a hinge joint at the very tail end of your spine.

Back pain and pregnancy ligament pulling and stretching is a direct result of your pelvis opening, which will allow your baby's head to engage or enter into the cavity of your pelvis. Pregnancy and lower back pain is also caused by the excess pressure felt deep within your pelvis as your baby sits and waits for labor to commence.

All of these factors taken together, it is not unusual for pregnant women to get backache. So if you get a backache straight away start doing things to prevent your backache from getting worse or getting out of control.

How to help minimize symptoms associated with pregnancy and lower back pain:

I definitely recommend having nice warm bath soaks, putting nice warm compresses on your back, or even better still having back massages to help with your pregnancy and lower back pain.

I would absolutely recommend that every pregnant woman go to see a chiropractor during pregnancy. A lot of traditional obstetrician, gynecologist and midwives are a little afraid of sending the women to a chiropractor because they are just not informed as to what chiropractors actually do. A chiropractor can help your spine accommodate easier to all the posture changes that happens during your pregnancy and relieve pain associated to pulled and stressed muscles associated to pregnancy and lower back pain

Apart from that, let us look at what things can you do to your own body to help minimize back pain and pregnancy. Wearing a good supporting bra during your pregnancy will support the increased breast weight and uplift your breasts so they do not feel so heavy. This will alleviate a lot of the upper back stress associated with pregnancy and lower back pain.

There are also a lot of pregnancy stomach binders that have been created to help support the weight of your growing womb which can help relieve back pain and pregnancy ligament discomfort.

Many women are focused on fashionable shoes and wear ridiculous footwear during pregnancies that do not support their posture and feet. I cannot believe how many pregnant women out there are wearing ridiculously high shoes or low shoes. Remember, as you become more and more pregnant all the bones and muscles within your feet are stressed.

Take a good look at the shoes you are wearing during your pregnancy and ask yourself these questions to evaluate the importance of your feet:

Do your shoes have a good supportive arch in them?

Are your shoes nice and wide to accommodate the increasing growth and widening of my foot associated to extra blood volume and swelling that occurs during pregnancy?

Can your foot easily slip out of your shoe? If so you could trip and fall and injure yourself or your baby.

The more informed you are about pregnancy the better choices you will make. Better choices mean a happier healthier mom and baby. Pregnancy can be an extraordinary experience for a woman. It is far more than growing a baby and understanding pregnancy and lower back pain.

Pregnancy has a huge emotional, mental, spiritual, and energetic side to it. The more you understand these aspects, the easier and less symptomatic your pregnancy will be. Learning how to connect with the emotions of your unborn child will allow you to enhance your pregnancy experience and surrender to its normal physiological process of pregnancy and lower back pain.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Sore Lower Back - What Are the Treatment Options?


A common complaint that arises is a sore or injured lower back. And, what you will discover when you have suffered from a sore lower back is that there are an overwhelming array of options available to repair the damage and alleviate the pain. Every person you meet will have a different opinion on what you should do about your back pain. So, I am going to try and explain what some of the alternative treatments mean to help you better understand your options.

Physiotherapy

The first time you injure your back, you are most likely to end up at the physiotherapist. Their technique will typically revolve around muscle manipulation to correct the issue. They will use a range of massage and stretching techniques around the affected area and into your legs as well. You will typically be given a range of exercises that you then complete on a regular basis to try and maintain ongoing muscle movement.

Osteopath

An osteopath will work on a combination of your muscles and bones to fix the problem and relieve your symptoms. You will find an osteopath will be very interested in your personal history to understand where the problem started, even going back to childhood. They will also look at your stance and posture, particularly the positioning of your hips relative to your spine and legs. Most treatments typically involve a combination of massage and spinal adjustment. Similarly to a Physiotherapist, you will be given some exercises to stretch and strengthen the area between appointments.

Chiropractor

A Chiropractor is interested in your spine. After an assessment of your problem, a Chiropractor will manipulate your spine to attempt to correct the problem over time. There are two techniques for manipulation that I have seen, although there may be more. Any Chiropractors that are out there feel free to chime in! The first technique I have seen is physical manipulation where they use their body to adjust your spine. The second is the use of a small device that pushes into the area they wish to treat. It has a flat, round end that applies a small amount of pressure to a targeted area so it doesn't hurt.

Massage

Remedial massage or myotherapy is also commonly used to treat back pain. Essentially, the massage therapist will attempt to reduce tension around the affected area and release toxins that have built up in the muscles over time. This typically treats the symptoms rather than the cause itself. Having said that, massage is an effective way to regain movement and reduce pain. Many people also use it as part of a maintenance strategy to prevent further injury in the future. It is probably worth mentioning at this point, that once you injure your back, it is very rare not to experience problems again.

Pilates

Pilates is a good preventative and long term repair strategy for people with lower back pain. It is focused on building the muscles that support your spine, commonly referred to as core strength. In doing so, you are managing the risk of further injury as your body starts to gain strength in the right areas. There are two types of Pilates to choose from called clinical or classic.

Yoga

Similarly to Pilates, yoga is another preventative strategy. Many people actually start yoga to help alleviate or manage lower back pain. Yoga provides a structured approach to stretching of the muscles and helps build strength over time.

These are just a few of the treatments and management strategies that you will hear about. Others will include Acupuncture, Bowen Therapy and lots, lots more. It goes without saying that your choice of treatments will need to be one that is right for you but I hope that this has given you a better understanding of the spectrum of alternatives. It is also worth mentioning that many people end up using a couple in parallel and if that is the case just make sure you tell whoever is treating you, so they have the full picture. Best of luck with finding a treatment that is right for you!

What Are the Causes of Pain in Lower Right Back?


Back pain is a complaint doctors hear about frequently. People want information on backaches. They want doctors to treat pain in the back. Many want to know the causes of pain in the lower right back.

Information about the Lower Right Back

It is important to understand the structure of the lower right back if we are to understand what causes pain there.

Your back, with its spinal column of vertebrae, connecting ligaments, tendons, large muscles, and nerves, is designed to be incredibly strong and flexible. Yet things can go wrong with this awesome structure.

* Muscles can be strained

* Ligaments can be torn

* Joints can be injured

* Bones can be fractured

* Nerves can be irritated

* Discs can be herniated

* Stress can tighten back structure

The lower back seems especially susceptible to injury, since it bears the weight of the torso, and makes more movement than the upper back. Its constant work can cause parts to break down and wear out over the years.

The lower right back has soft tissues that can be involved in pain. Those large, complex muscle groups that support your spine and help you move can be strained by improper lifting or posture. In fact, muscle strain is the most common cause of lower back pain. Twisting or pulling one of the following muscles can produce pain in the lower right back.

* Extensor muscles: These paired muscles in the lower back and gluteus help support your spine. If the one on the lower right back is injured, it will be painful.

* Flexor muscles: Attached to the spine's front, these muscles help you flex, bend forward, and lift things. Again, injury to the right flexor muscle can cause lower right back pain.

* Oblique muscles: This muscle group is attached to the sides of the spine. The oblique muscles help your spine rotate, and give you good posture.

In addition to simple muscle strain, injury to ligaments, joints, and bones can also cause muscle pain. If one of these structures is injured or inflamed, back muscles can go into spasm, drastically limiting your movement and cause pain in the lower right back.

Stress is a common cause of pain in the lower right back. Stress will make your back muscles tighten. This happens to every muscle in the body, as we move into a "fight or flight" response. Muscles that are tightened lack the energy they need to support the spine. If the stress is frequent, and measures are not taken immediately to relieve it, lower right back pain can easily develop.

Information on Chronic Lower Right Back Pain

If lower right back pain lasts more than two weeks, you are likely to stop using the aching muscles in order to protect yourself from that pain. With disuse, the muscles can waste (atrophy) and weaken. This will increase the pain, since your muscles are less able to support your spine. If you increase your protection, and continue to avoid using the muscles, the cycle will continue, with the pain worsening at each turn. Chronic lower right back pain will result. This is why doctors urge patients with lower right back pain to exercise daily.

Information about Lower Right Back Pain Symptoms

You need to understand the symptoms of your pain as well. It is difficult to treat pain without knowing clearly what and where the symptoms are. You will want to gain a sense of exactly where your lower right back hurts. Is the pain focused in one small area, or does it spread throughout the lower right back? Is it confined to the lower right back or does it radiate into other parts of the body? Here are two major kinds of pain in the lower right back.

Lower Right Back Pain Symptom #1

Is yours a deep, aching, dull, or burning pain? Does it travel down your leg? If so, your lower right back pain may be chronic back pain.

Lower Right Back Pain Symptom #2

Perhaps yours is a very sharp pain, deep in the lower right back. This symptom may be the result of a back injury.

Information on Relieving Lower Right Back Pain

My personal physician assures me that the best relief for lower right back pain is usually exercise. Gentle exercises, performed daily with warm-up and cool-down, will strengthen the core muscles around the lower back area, relieving the pain and making them less susceptible to future injury.

CAUTION: Pain in the lower right back may also be caused by kidney stones or other non-muscular problems. Be sure to ask your health care provider for advice on any back pain.

Low Back Pain and MRI Scan Abnormality


Lower back pain is a common medical problem that, at some time, 80% of the population will experience at least one episode. Many individuals will experience recurrent episodes of pain in their lower back or suffer from persistent daily pain. Of those patients, one-third will have some degree of leg pain in one or both legs (sciatica). Most cases of back pain and leg pain do not originate from lumbar (lower back) spine. The main cause of lower back pain are the other pain fiber bearing structures in the lower back including: muscles, tendons, ligaments, vertebral joints and bone itself. Fortunately over 97% of all low back problems can be treated without surgery or invasive spinal procedures. Low back surgery is the most common overly performed surgical procedure in the United States. All too frequently the results are poor and even worse, makes the patient's condition (back pain) more severe. We will look at the association of lower back pain and an MRI abnormality.

In examining patients with complaints of pain, a careful history and detailed physical exam is the basis for developing a comprehensive, conservative treatment plan. Physical exam with show significant back muscle spasm with tenderness. Some will have exquisite sacroiliac joint tenderness. The sacroiliac joint is where the tail bone meets the hip bone. This is called sacroiliitis. Piriformis syndrome can cause low back pain and leg pain. The piriformis muscle lays on top of the sciatic nerve. If this muscle is sprained, the sciatic nerve can be irritated, causing leg pains although there is no clinical findings to show spinal nerve compression - the proverbial "pinched nerve."

In most clinical settings of low back pain, non-surgical treatment is indicated. Even in individuals who have evidence of a herniated disc need conservative therapy - physical therapy, massage and anti-inflammatory medication. The natural history of disc herniation is to heal without the need for surgery or other invasive procedures such as epidural spine injections. Physical therapy which involves direct hands on therapy combined with deep tissue massage therapy plus daily, self-administered back stretching exercises will result in relief the majority of the time.

Many patients will first undergo an MRI scan to look for the cause of their low back pain. This is where the common problem occurs in making the correct decision to use conservative therapy first versus the improper decision to go to with an invasive treatment route such as spine injections or worse, surgery. Studies have shown that the long term outcome of back pain patients treated surgically is no better than those treated with conservative medical therapy.

For patients who do get MRI studies, it is not uncommon to find spine MRI abnormalities. The important fact to remember is that an MRI abnormality does not necessarily explain the pain or symptoms that an individual is experiencing. The majority of the time, the MRI abnormality has nothing to do with the patient's symptoms. To account for an individual's back pain or sciatica (leg pain), the MRI findings must match exactly with the patient's symptoms and neurological exam. MRI studies of normal individuals without back pain or sciatica have been done. The results show approximately 55% had bulging discs at one or more levels, 28% had disc herniation - with or without stenosis - on the MRI scans. Over 70% of MRI scans showed abnormalities and yet these patients had no symptoms. Conclusion: Just because there is an MRI abnormality does not mean that this is the cause of the patient's symptoms.

With conservative treatment and patient cooperation to do the back exercises, most patients have significant pain relief within 4-6 weeks. Patients should continue to do their back exercises on a regular basis, as part of their daily exercise routine. Physical body reconditioning and core strengthening will also help a great deal. An MRI abnormality usually does not explain the patient's low back pain. Back surgery (or neck surgery) can and should almost always be avoided.

Sitting Down All Day Can Lead To The Following Problems


Sitting All Day Can Lead To Problems

There are a lot of people suffering from lower back pain these days. Many of these people work in office settings or spend the majority of their times in the sitting position. It has been suggested that this is not the best thing for your lower back. Our muscles and other tissues are affected in a negative way when we just sit at a desk or in a car. Cramped into a small space and not able to do a whole lot of physical activity causes our muscles to shorten and get tight.

But, it's not just our muscles. The entire body slows down because of the general lack of movement. This goes for systems such as the circulatory, digestive, and even our mental abilities. When we move, it helps increase all the fluid movements in our bodies. Not only fluids, but also solid materials like those that we eat are better digested when we move around. One reason for this is that our muscles help push all the fluids and solids through our systems. When this happens, our various organs are better able to digest, metabolize, process, etc. all of this "stuff" and we feel better.

Muscles Get Tight If They Never Get A Chance To Move

Another thing happens when we sit for prolonged periods of time. Our muscles get really tight. This has an indirect effect on all the things that I was mentioning so far in this article. Having tight muscles makes it difficult to move around when we actually get the chance to do so. You may know someone who has a difficult time walking for any distance. Back pain, knee pain, ankle pain and more are frequent results of having tight muscles.

A simple remedy for this last problem is starting a basic stretching program. When done correctly and consistently, this can help to relieve many aches and pains that come along with a sedentary life or work routine. Before actually starting a stretching program it's very important to have a good understanding of how to stretch your muscles efficiently and effectively.

Your body will respond more favorably to gentle prolonged stretching. This type usually lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute in duration. You should be able to relax into the position and hold it for a period of time. Maintaining a calm breathing patterns with full respirations will also help your muscles relax and lengthen. When you focus on your breath rather than on the stretch, you less likely to "tighten up" and work against yourself.

Muscle Strains Can Lead To Lower Back Pain

Many people are unaware that many low back pain causes can be due to a number of muscles being in a shortened state. Prolonged sitting can cause your muscles to shorten. There are several lower back, pelvic, and lower extremity muscles that can contribute to these types of aches and pains.

Do You Know What Causes Lower Back Pain?


You miss work for a day because of your ailing back, and you miss work again the next day for precisely the same reason. You pop pain relievers, and feel better for a few hours or so. But not long after, the pain starts again. Don't make a beeline for the pillbox just yet. Before you pop another pill or two, ask yourself, "What causes lower back pain?" Why is your lower back hurting you the way it's doing?

For the most part, low back aches are caused by two reasons:


  1. Muscle injury

  2. Ligament misalignment

If you have an aching back, chances are you have either a lumbar sprain or a low back strain. Differentiating between the two can be very tough, though, because both show similar symptoms! As a matter of fact, it usually does not matter whether you have a lumbar sprain or a back sprain because both are treated in the same way!

So, what causes lower back pain? In the case of a lumbar sprain, it's the tearing of the ligaments. The ligaments are those tough bands of tissues holding bones together. In the case of muscle strains, it's the tearing or the abnormal stretching of muscle fibers. If you have reasons to believe your lower back aches are caused by either, talk to your doctor. Where your body is concerned, it's always better to be safe than sorry!

The good news is that most back pains are curable. With proper rest and care, most sufferers recover from their back sprains or strains within weeks! So go ahead, and read up on what causes lower back pain. When you discover the reasons behind your pain, you will find it easier to get rid of it.

Cure For Lower Back Pain - Know Some Herbs That You Can Use


For those who are glued in front of their computer all day, diligently laboring over their work, you might experience many aches and pains when your day ends-lower back pain included. You should not disregard this condition as it may cause further damage to your body. There is a cure for lower back pain-herbal, exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

There are numerous causes of lower back pain. Here are some of them:

1. An injury in the back caused by vehicular accident, sports accidents, and the like
2. Muscle, nerves and ligaments tension in your lower back
3. Gynecological conditions in women such as menstrual cramps, fibroid tumors or endometriosis
4. Bone or joint diseases such as osteoporosis or osteoarthritis
5. overweight
6. lack of exercise
7. infections, slipped discs and pinch nerves
8. smoking

If your lower back pain is already severe, it may be due to an underlying disease such as spinal tumor. In those cases, it is best to consult your doctor.

There are many things that you can do to relieve lower back pain. Some people try yoga. Yoga is not only a calming exercise, it can also strengthen your bones and your spine to make you body more pliant and more resistant to stress.

Drink milk or eat calcium rich foods. Calcium strengthens your bones and your cartilage.

You can also try using these herbs that were already tried and tested by many people suffering from lower back pain.

1. Arthcare oil
Arthcare oil is very helpful in relieving lower back pain. What it does is it seeps into the body tissues as a result of its very potent anti-inflammatory property. You can use this topically by rubbing it on the painful area in your back.

2. Lemon
Lemon can give temporary relief for back pains. Drink the juice of lemon mixed with salt twice every day and you can feel the results.

3. Turpentine Oil
Massaging turpentine oil on your lower back can give immediate relief.

4. Potato
Raw potato in poultice form can be effective in curing backaches.

If you want to achieve better and faster results, you can always opt to take already made natural herbal remedies.

There is one product that can promote comfort of the nerves and improve your overall health as well. This product is called SciatiGon.

SciatiGon actually works on the sciatic nerve of the body. This is the nerve that is located on the lower back, the buttock and the pelvis area. This nerve is an extension of the lower end of our spinal cord. By soothing the sciatic nerve, you are able to soothe the peripheral nerve and the spine as well.

This product is very helpful in supporting the strength of our spine and the sciatic nerve and reduces the occurrence of lower back pains.

SciatiGon contains safe ingredients such as:

Zanthoxylum Clava Herculis which is helpful in soothing our nervous and circulatory system

German Chamomile which is a natural anti-inflammatory agent that can soothe tired and aching muscles and joints.

Burdock which purifies our blood and cleanses our system to promote better joint and over all health condition.

Devil's claw which is essential in promoting healthy muscles and joints.

There is no harm in trying SciatiGon. If you are looking for cure for lower back pain, this is the ideal product for you. Don't let back pain hinder your daily activities. Use a remedy that can help promote better spine and nerve functioning.