Pain

Reader Question: Pilates Too Regimented for My Back originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 12:09:48.

Reader Question - Spinal Decompression

Alternative therapies such as spinal decompression dont always help with back pain.

Illustration: (c) Anne Asher
Licensed to About.com 2007

A reader wrote me recently saying he's been going to a chiropractor for spinal decompression therapy but it's $150 per session and he's not even sure if it's working. He say's he's also done all the back exercises the chiropractor told him to do - but still no pain relief. The only thing that helps (and not enough) is laying on his back. (He thought of that solution on his own.)

Noticing that he was going the holistic route, I answered him with a short run down on what the research says about spinal decompression. I also gave him a different type of CAM option, one that's less expensive and for some, very effective in relieving back pain. Here's what I told him: Read more...

Reader Question - Spinal Decompression originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 15:12:44.

Neck Injury Doesn't Keep Tiger Off Course

Tiger Woods withdraws from Players due to a neck injury.

Photo: Richard Heathcote
Getty Images

A quick look at Tiger Woods's website shows he's been very busy on the course, despite a neck injury that caused him to withdraw from the PLAYERS competition back in May. Tiger had speculated that his neck pain was due to a bulging disc.

But his MRI revealed an inflammed facet joint. The facet joint is located on the bony ring in back of the vertebrae. It lends stability to the spinal column as a unit.

I spoke with Dr. Narayan Sundaresan, Professor of Neurosurgery at Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York City about Tiger's diagnosis. From Dr. Sundaresan:

Inflammed facet joint is a very common injury, especially in active athletes. Athletes who use force and twist the neck are liable inflame this area.

Generally treatment consists of anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) and rest. Surgery is usually not necessary, but if it's a severe injury (I don't think Tiger's is) a rhizotomy may help relieve pain. In a rhizotomy, the nerve in the area of the facet joint is deadened by by cutting. Usually the cut is made to the nerve roots.

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Neck Injury Doesn't Keep Tiger Off Course originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 14:12:48.

What is Your Back Pain Story? Share it on the Back and Neck Pain Site.

Whats your back pain or neck pain story? The Back and Neck Pain site is all ears.

Photo: Eric Iselee

If you've been coming to the Back and Neck Pain site for a while, you may have noticed that I am getting more into listening mode. I'd love to read what you have to share regarding your neck or back, especially through some new pages dedicated to readers' stories. I really believe we all benefit when we share the odyssey of getting back pain diagnosed, treated and managed. (That goes for prevention, too.)

I'm all ears, so check out these solicitations if you will, and answer a couple while you're there:

If you have a topic you want to share that's not on the list, email me at: backandneck.guide@about.com.

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What is Your Back Pain Story? Share it on the Back and Neck Pain Site. originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 10:29:46.

Back Care on a Budget

: Image via Wikipedia

Photo: Creative Commons License via Wikipedia

Last week, one of my colleagues went to the White House to pose questions submitted by About.com readers to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. Unfortunately, the interview was cut short when President Obama called the Secretary to a meeting at the last minute. I was disappointed with the answers the Secretary provided anyway, because I had heard all that before.

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands -- I created a handy guide to Back Care on a Budget, for those of us who don't want to wait for the "system" to come to our rescue. It may not cover everything you need, but I think you'll find some general principles that can be useful for reducing pain.

And along those lines, have you checked out the Daily Spine? The Daily Spine is a feature I created to help you cope with the day to day challenges of a back injury or condition. Here are a few of my favorites:

Back Care on a Budget originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Monday, June 28th, 2010 at 14:19:36.

Ask Kathleen Sebelius Your Question

Secretary Sebelius will answer questions about health reform from About.com readers.

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Are your pain medications inadequately covered?� Has insurance cut you off from physical therapy?� Is your employer ignoring your work-related injury?� Is lack of insurance coverage keeping you from getting medical attention for your back?

We have a unique opportunity here at About.com to interview Secretary Sebelius on the topic of health insurance premiums and patients' rights. This will live-stream on whitehouse.gov and have a later presence on About.com.

If you have any questions specifically on the issue of health insurance and patients' rights for spine related conditions, please submit them directly to my email: backandneck.guide@about.com

I would encourage anyone with any kind of neck or back problem, to take this rare opportunity to be heard, and find out what the government has in store for you. Submit your question immediately, as this interview is scheduled for Tuesday. backandneck.guide@about.com.

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Ask Kathleen Sebelius Your Question originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 00:53:59.

Radiculopathy - Pins, Needles and Pain

If you get pins and needles, pain, weakness or feelings of electrical shock down your arm or leg (sciatica), chances are you have a syndrome known as radiculopathy. There are a number of causes of radiculopathy, but usually a herniated disc is responsible. Symptoms of radiculopathy indicate that a spinal nerve root is pinched, pressured or otherwise cajoled. In other words, those pins and needles and other things you feel in your arm or leg are there because you have nerve involvement.

With radiculopathy, it's like the pain and other symptoms are assigned specific zones to be in. This is because at each level of your spine (called a segment), nerves exit the spinal cord (from holes called the intervertebral foramen) and branch out to wire the rest of your body for feeling and movement. The useful thing about the zones is that the can be tested for abnormal feeling or function,and your doctor can narrow down the area she thinks the pain is coming from.

When we are talking about feeling and sensation, the zones are called dermatomes and when we are talking about movements they're called myotomes.

| Bulging Disc | Back Pain | Do You Know What to do When You Have Back Pain? |

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Radiculopathy - Pins, Needles and Pain originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 17:54:38.

Beat the Heat - and Your Back Pain, Too.

In most parts of the country, it's h-h-hot. What's the best way to keep working on your back exercises in excruciating heat? Aquatic therapy, of course. The benefits of water exercise are many, including less joint pain and more fun. Not to mention beating the heat.� Do you need special equipment for water exercise? Not too much. I mean, it's nice to have a flotation belt, but often pools stock a supply for their customers.

But if you have an infection, you get seizures or you have neurological problems, exercising in the water is probably not for you. Check my more exhaustive list of conditions.� If you have even one of these, you shouldn't go in the water. (And check with your doctor if you're unsure.)

Here's a basic water exercise routine you can try on your own. Or ask your local Y, pool, community center, etc if they have classes. Now there are no excuses for not doing your back exercises.

| Water Exercise for Back Pain | Back Pain | Do You Know What to do When You Have Back Pain? |

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Beat the Heat - and Your Back Pain, Too. originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Saturday, June 12th, 2010 at 06:19:55.

Runner's Back Pain

Most of us have heard experts tout the benefits of stretching for runners and walkers. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that running and walking use leg, pelvic and back muscles extensively. Unless your body usage is premo, you are likely to practice your sport with imbalances in your postural alignment. When you do a weight bearing workout as vigorous as running, you risk strengthening the imbalances you have, which may lead to an injury.

Strength and flexibility imbalances between muscles that attach on or pass through the pelvis may create back pain. For example, tight hamstrings (muscles at back of the leg) are known to cause a condition called flat low back posture. (As the name implies, flat low back posture is a decrease in the natural spinal curve in the lumbar area.) Tight quads may pull the top of the pelvis forward, increasing the curve (a condition known as hyper, or excessive lordosis). Excessive lordosis may tighten up your back muscles.

About.com's Yoga Guide, Ann Pizer, has a great routine for runners. Check out her yoga stretches for runners.

| How to Align Your Spine | Back Pain | Is it Safe to Work Out When You Have Back Pain? |

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Runner's Back Pain originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 09:41:09.

The manufacturer of the opioid� tramadol (Ultram and Ultracet) recently added a warning on their label for people who are suicidal or prone to addiction. Apparently, there have been some tramadol-related deaths in such people. The manufacturer says that you need to be very careful about taking their product if you are also taking tranquilizers or anti-depressants, you drink (alcohol) a lot or if you have depression or emotional disturbance. Talk to your doctor if you are not sure you should be taking tramadol.

And please, only take the dose prescribed by your doctor. Taking more may lead to serious health consequences, including death.

According to press materials, addiction specialist Dr. Alexander Walley says that while caution and the labeling is appropriate, "excluding all patients 'prone to addiction' from treatment with tramadol for pain will leave many prescribers with the false impression that other opioid...s are less dangerous." He also says� some patients could derive benefit from tramadol, even though they may be at risk for addiction or suicide.� Because of their exclusion from taking tramadol, he says, they may not get full treatment for their pain.

Here's the FDA's safety information on this label change announcement.

_{Source:

News Release. Tramadol Label Updated to Include Risks for Suicide and Overdose. Physician's First Watch. Massachusetts Medical Society. 2010.}

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Tramadol Related Deaths in People Prone to Addiction and Suicide originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 12:22:33.