Karen’s Free Health and Fitness Tips

You have long muscles that run along the spine called the erector spinae muscles. These are often the guilty muscles when you have back pain and muscle spasms. A spasm is an involuntary contraction of the muscle for a sustained period of time. Usually a spasm occurs when the muscle has been suddenly stressed somehow which can include injury, sprains, tears or bruising. The spasm can actually start in the nerves that lead into the muscle though the feeling is the same no matter where the spasm starts.

Most of the time muscle spasms are painful, but not serious. It should be mentioned though that in some cases, the spasm may be a symptom of a more serious problem. The back is composed of bones, muscles and ligaments, and injury or disease to any component can result in back pain muscle spasms.

Back pain and muscle spasms can occur anywhere along the spine from the neck to the lower back. A spasm can occur once or it can happen repeatedly. Often the spasm makes the muscle feel sore and tight even after the spasm subsides. So when you deal with muscle spasms you have two goals. The first goal is to attempt to prevent the reoccurrence of the spasm. The second goal is to relive the pain and tension after the spasm.

BACK PAIN

Lower back pain is very common. It affects 4 out of five people at some time during their lives. It is the leading cause of disability for those aged from 19 to 45 and is the second most common cause of missed work days (after the common cold) for adults younger than 45. Lower back pain becomes more common as people age. It affects half the people older than 60 at any given time.

Each year the treatment of lower back pain costs more than $80 billion USD and insurance claims for disability due to lower back pain exceed $8 billion. Although lower back pain rarely results from life threatening disorders, it is a significant health problem.

These people suffer chronic back pain are taking NSAIDs on a long term basis for pain relief without being fully aware of their consequences. The drug taking is then worsened by a cocktail of two or three other medications that they are also taking for other problems.

Are you one of the countless thousands of adults who have back pain? Have you been suffering with back pain, not just for weeks, but years of on again and off again back pain?

Chances are you are like so many adults, 80% in fact that suffer from back pain at some stage. It may disappear with either treatment or a few stretches, but then it returns again soon.

Is there a simple approach to help get rid of your back pain once and for all?

The most common approach is using stretches. Sure they are helpful, but they should be used as part of a total regime. To make sure your back pain disappears completely and permanently you need to release muscle tension, you also need to strengthen weakened muscles and make sure your joints move freely and easily.

But to the tight muscles first…

Stretching Tip #1

The first essential of stretching is knowing how to stretch. The most common stretch is called an isometric stretch. This is where you hold the muscle in a state of tension for about a minute. However this is the least effective way to stretch if you have back problems. IT takes too long to do and is less effective at reducing muscle tension.

Low back pain can generally be treated without surgery. Treatment for back pain involves using analgesics, reducing inflammation, restoring proper function and strength to the back, and preventing recurrence of the injury. Most people with back pain recover without functional loss. Contact a doctor if there is not a noticeable reduction in back pain and inflammation after 72 hours of self-care.

Following are methods used to treat back pain:

Ice and heat. Although the use of cold and hot compresses have never been scientifically proven to quickly resolve low back injury, compresses may help reduce pain and inflammation and allow greater mobility for some individuals. Following trauma, apply a cold pack or a cold compress (such as a bag of ice or bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel) to the tender spot several times a day for up to 20 minutes. After 2 to 3 days of cold treatment, they should then apply heat (such as a heating lamp or hot pad) for brief periods to relax muscles and increase blood flow. Warm baths may also help relax muscles. Avoid sleeping on a heating pad, which can cause burns and lead to additional tissue damage.

Back Pain Got You: Ease up on the workout and plan on changing your workouts to include exercises that will minimize future bouts of back pain.

You get plenty of rest. You try to eat right and you work out regularly. You’re proud of your efforts to live a healthy lifestyle and keep your body in good shape. So why, do you ask, does your back hurt? You suffer from soreness and stiffness in your lower back.

Your situation isn’t exceptional. Studies have indicated that four of five adults will experience lower back pain during their lives. You’ve missed work and had to suffer because of the lower back pain.

The back is a complex structure, with bones called lumbar vertebrae, which are held together with ligaments and muscles and surrounded by nerves, joints and disks. It’s no wonder that back pain is a source of suffering when you consider the back’s anatomy and the fact that it stabilizes and connects your chest and arms to your pelvis and legs.

Back pain normally falls into two categories: acute or chronic pain. Acute pain usually comes on suddenly, you’ve lifted something improperly or two quickly. Chronic pain occurs repeatedly and is aggravated by everyday demands on the back.

Back pain and pregnancy are inevitably related. Two out of three women getting pregnant experience this. But thankfully there are general treatments and exercises that can help reduce or prevent it.

1. Self Help Strategies

Generally one should try to reduce physical activities like standing on one leg for long time, climbing stairs, walking long distances and lifting or carrying weights. In between your work, try to take short frequent breaks. Just take a walk break or get some fresh air. At home, lie down comfortably during such breaks.

2. Massaging

Gently massaging the affected area is the most common cure but its effects tend to be temporary. Be careful; take the massage from an experienced person only.

3. Some Alternate Therapies

Relax in a warm bath. Soak a cloth in warm (but not hot) water and place it over the small of your back. Use alternate medicines like homeopathy or herbal pills. Alexander technique teaches posture control to improve posture, balance and coordination. Learn this technique. Reflexology and yoga is also helpful. Many pregnant women find relief in acupuncture too, but its merits are yet to be proved. Chiropractic treatments can be tried out. Anxiety and depression during pregnancy can also be the cause of back pain, sciatica and leg pain. As such, staying relaxed and happy may make you feel better. Swimming can be of great help in back pain and pregnancy.

For most people who begin experiencing back pain the most logical thing for them to do is lie down and apply either heat or cold compresses. This approach is ok for the short term but over the long haul you will need to strengthen the muscles in the back area if you want to get any kind of permanent relief. Back pain exercises are the best way to strengthen the area and prevent further pain from occurring.

Back pain exercises must be done in a controlled manner. If you are already experiencing back pain you will need to begin slowly and gradually work your way up to more strenuous exercises. If in doubt you can always check with your doctor or consult a trainer about the best exercises for you.

A good exercise training program can help minimize the risk of future back pain and damage. It can also help reduce the severity of pain which might occur in the future. Back pain exercises should be balanced in with a total body workout for the best all around results.

Stretching Gets Results

If we’re going to talk about back pain relief…let’s start by talking about causes and symptoms.  That’s what it really all comes down to.  That’s why most back pain treatment programs fail.  That’s why so many sufferers end up on some ridiculous combination of pain killers for years at a time.

As you read through this short article you’ll begin to realize that there is one way and one way only to get rid of back pain.  You’ll begin to realize that most doctors have it all wrong.  And you’ll realize that you don’t have to suffer anymore if you really don’t want to.

Back pain can be horribly debilitating.  I’ve had the ‘can’t get out of bed’ type of pain, and it really sucks.  What sucks even more is the cocktail of intense pain killers your doctor will put you on when you go in for treatment.  The best way to get rid of back pain is not through pain killers.  The secret is to treat the cause of your pain and not just the symptom.  Only then will it go away for good.

For many, yoga is a path to enlightenment. For others it is a great way to exercise, relieve stress, and stay in shape. But for whatever reasons you chose to participate in yoga, and whichever type of yoga is practiced - for there are many - one needs to understand that yoga is first and foremost about balance.

In terms of yoga based exercises and positions, the most appropriate for back pain relief is Hatha yoga. Hatha is a primarily a physical form consisting of moving into specific positions known as Asanas, while using specialized breathing techniques referred to as Pranayama. By adopting these sometimes simple sometimes more complex ancient poses with the appropriate breathing technique, the practitioner is able to bring about significant positive mental and physical changes.

Many exercises in yoga for back pain lay stress on stretching. For those who suffer lower back pain, stretching can be very important. Stretching of the muscles in the back of the thigh, improves the motion of the pelvis, which reduces pain and stress on the lower back. Yoga exercises including stretching also lay stress on breathing which enhances and improves blood flow, which allows more oxygen and nutrients to flow into the spinal tissues and toxins to flow out and hence increases the well being of your back.

It seems that back pain and running are often associated with each other. It makes sense that if you run a lot you’re going to affect your lower back. If you happen to do most of your running on uneven surfaces, it would seem only a matter of time before a misstep will jar you sacroiliac joint and begin the process of low back pain.

Back pain and running go together because the movement of the leg moving up requires the use of the sacroiliac joint (also called the SI joint). Ideally, when your right leg moves up, the right SI joint moves back.

However, for a lot of people, this joint becomes stuck or locked up and the movement is no longer as smooth and pain-free as it should be or could be. Any time a joint is unable to work as it’s designed it will inevitably lead to pain.

When the SI joint doesn’t work as it is designed, it usually leads to low back pain and hip pain. Many people believe the SI joint is not a movable joint, but this is simply not the case.