Back Pain Therapy

If you’re looking for back pain therapy, here are some basic things you should know.

First, back pain is nothing to fool around with. If you’re suffering from persistent, acute back pain, then it’s imperative that you don’t self-diagnose and instead get to your health care professional as quickly as possible. Your back is home to your spinal cord, which means that if you do the wrong thing you can end up paralyzing yourself and lose all sensation from your waist down. It’s not something to be taken lightly, and your health care professional can tell you what you should or shouldn’t do.

Now when it comes to back pain therapy, the first step is probably going to be stretching and loosening up your muscles. Ninety-nine percent of all back pain is caused by twisted or knotted muscles, and these are things that you can get taken care of on your own if you are so inclined.

When it comes to stretching, it’s best to have an exercise ball that you can lay down on. Put your feet flat on the floor about shoulder width apart. Then sit down on the ball with your rear slightly forward of the middle. At that point lean back, gradually drawing yourself into a position where you’re parallel to the ground. Hold this position for a count of thirty, then slowly sit up. This is a great back pain therapy that can not only stretch your back and stomach muscles, but also strengthen them at the same time.

Now, the above is only recommended for muscle problems, not for other more severe back problems. A person that I know, for example, herniated a disc in his back several years ago. A herniated disc is insanely painful, and stretching as described above is not the correct back pain therapy for this malady and can actually cause the pain and damage to become more severe rather than more manageable.

Think of a herniated disc this way: Your discs are like bean bags nestled between your vertebrae in your spinal column. The discs protect your vertebrae by providing padding, keeping the bones from rubbing against each other and protecting your spinal column. When a disc is herniated, it tears or pops, spilling out its contents into the spinal column. This in itself is painful, but the real pain starts when the contents of the disc come into contact with the myriad nerves attached to your spine. The pain suffered then is, in the words of this person, “beyond excruciating.”

It’s imperative, then, that the back pain therapy you get is specifically aimed at dealing with the problem you’re suffering from, not the problem you “might” have. That’s why going to a professional first is the key.

Another Tip for Back Pain Relief from Your Union City Chiropractor

Many people have pain in different areas of their body including their lower back. There’s a variety of medical issues that can cause pain. You can know what to do about the uncomfortable pain in your lower back by trying to eliminate the factors that cause it, and by the length of time it’s been going on. The pain can be dealt with, and you can find a way to live with it.

There are many reasons why you may be experiencing pain. The body is a complicated machine, so it might take you a lot of investigation and deduction on finding out the cause for the pain in your lower back. An acute condition is when pain erupts from your back that is sudden and usually related to an injury in the lower back. Chronic pain is found in ongoing medical problems that are more than likely related to disease or a past injury.

Traumatic injury occurs from situations like lifting something, or suddenly reaching for an item that makes you stretch too far. Lots of injuries occur at work in the lower back, but don’t be fooled that it can’t happen at home either. A sprain or strain in your lower back happens when you damage muscles, tendons or ligaments in your lower back. There’s usually a dull aching pain, and sharp pain when moving about. You can relieve the pain by lying in a prone position and apply ice or heat.

Ongoing long term pain can be due to several conditions. If you’re an elderly person, know that the disc in the spine become rigid and looses elasticity as you age. Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis are two of the top reasons pain develops in the lower back for the aged. Pain sensations can be sharp or a continual dull ache. Other types of diseases and birth defects can cause pain, so be sure to let your chiropractor know if it’s been going on for longer than 3 months. A chronic condition involving pain needs to be treated, so you can live a more productive life.

Taking care of yourself is a necessity if you want to live an active and pain free life. You can use a few precautions and healthy life style choices by not gaining weight, having poor posture, or sleeping in awkward positions. Excess weight puts strain on the back, and poor posture even if you’re sitting, pulls the muscles and ligaments out of its natural position from the spine. An unnatural sleeping position does the same pulling on your lower back that poor posture does while you’re awake. Caring for your lower back is not all that hard, and it’s the least you can do for your hard working back.

For more tips on back pain relief, contact your Union City Chiropractors at 510-324-0100. Our Union City Chiropractic office is located at 2815 Whipple Road, Union City, California.

Should You Seek Help For Your Middle Back Pain Or Just Tough-It-Out?

Middle back pain may only seem an annoyance but the truth is if left untreated will only get worse and could result in more severe problems.

That’s why seeing a chiropractor is crucial when mid back pain begins. Back pain can be cause by simple factors such as driving for extended periods or working in a job that requires long hours of sitting. It may also be a complication of an organ system such as the liver or kidneys. Postural distortions of the neck can add increased stress to the middle back as well, increasing the degeneration process in the middle back and cause pain.

Mid back problems can also cause the rib cage to become distorted, resulting in shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, and fast or slow heart rhythms and thus leading individuals to believe that they are experiencing cardiac or respiratory problems. Other warning signs may include:

• Muscle tightness and spasms.
• Restricted range of motion when bending or twisting.
• Sharp radiating pain.
• Rib pain.

Regardless of its origins or warning signs, an individual experiencing signs of mid back pain should consult a chiropractor immediately, which can determine the cause of pain and create a care program specifically tailored for them.

Chiropractors are experts in the musculoskeletal systems and associated biomechanical-related functions. Allowing a chiropractor to become familiar with a patient’s medical history and lifestyle will allow him to determine a plan for treatment. If it is a mechanical problem there is a mechanical solution!

Here are some of the ways a chiropractor can help a patient with mid back pain:

1. Chiropractors use the hands or small instruments to conduct specific spinal adjustments that help reposition and align the bones of the skeletal system, thus allowing the body to heal itself.
2. The repositioning permits related soft tissue structures around the back such as nerves, muscles, tendons and ligaments to heal.
3. Chiropractic care can be instrumental in helping improve and restore motion to joints that are stuck or moving incorrectly, thus allowing the joint to pump the inflammation out and relieve pain.

Visiting a chiropractor is the alternative option to using medications or potentially risky surgeries. Chiropractic is a gentle, safe, natural form of health care. Of course, regular chiropractic care is an even better option that waiting for problems to arise. That’s because chiropractors can detect potential problems to a patient’s nervous system before they occur. Remember only ten percent of nerve fibers are actually associated with pain!

Our Fremont Chiropractors specialize in the care of nerves, muscles and connective tissues, which make up 60 percent of the body. All of the joints in an individual’s body are part of this musculo-skeletal system and its optimal function is necessary for overall good health.

As with any treatment, chiropractic adjusting techniques are also modified based on an individual’s size, weight, and unique spinal problems. Recommended treatments may include specific spinal adjustments, recommendations on exercise, nutritional advice or other conservative methods of care based on health history, age, and lifestyle.

Help for Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain is never fun. Along with intense suffering, it may also lead to loss of work. It’s possible to do almost anything with low back pain. Walking, sitting, standing, moving the head or arms, and moving the legs are all painful experiences.

There are many causes of lower back pain that include prolonged sitting or improper lifting either as a result of personal or work-related activities, overexertion, trauma, or spinal abnormalities that are a result of genetics. Regardless of the source, lower back pain is something that has to be dealt with both to alleviate problems in the present and the risk of complications in the future.

Chiropractic care can not only help with lower back pain quicker than surgery or medications, it can also be more effective. Surgery is risky and painful, not to mention very time consuming because of the healing process.

Using pain medication to treat low back pain is dangerous for two reasons. First it may provide short term relief of pain but the source of the problem is not corrected and the injury becomes more inflamed and difficult to treat. Second, certain ingredients in pain medication are hard on the stomach, the kidneys and the liver. Over time, medication can cause problems with these organs and the back pain is still there.

An additional cause of lower back pain may be a bulging or herniated disc that puts pressure on the spinal cord or nearby nerve root. These bulging or herniated discs may cause numbness, tingling, or pain in a leg. However, cutting away the herniated disc tissue can permanently alter its ability to separate and cushion adjacent bones. Along with this, the surgery seldom addresses the structural causes of the problem. The other surgical option would be to remove a part of the bone called the Lamina, leaving the spinal cord uncovered and unprotected.

What are the ways an individual can work with a chiropractor to improve their back problem? Among them:

• Make an appointment with a chiropractor. Arriving a few minutes early the day of an appointment is important to allow time to relax both mentally and physically. Even a short automobile drive can create tension that may make a patient less responsive to treatment. Taking time to relax before seeing a chiropractor will increase the benefits of treatment

• Don’t skip appointments. Chiropractic visits are scheduled at specific intervals between adjustments. As a result, missing even one appointment will disturb the recovery process

• Follow instructions for self-administered measures such as hot packs or cold packs. Not only can these be applied at home, they help recovery without the cost of another professional visit.

• Daily rest. Successful chiropractic care also involves recuperation. During recuperative periods patients should schedule daily rest periods. These involve lying flat on their back on the floor for 30 minutes. If time is a problem in doing, so the rest time can be divided into two 15-minute periods.

Chiropractors are experts in the care of nerves, muscles and connective tissues, which make up 60 percent of the body. All of the joints in an individual’s body are part of this musculo-skeletal system and its optimal function is necessary for overall good health.

As with any treatment, chiropractic adjusting techniques are also modified based on an individual’s size, weight, and unique spinal problems. Recommended treatments may include specific spinal adjustments, recommendations on exercise, nutritional advice or other conservative methods of care based on health history, age, and lifestyle.