Back Clinic Lower Back Pain Chiropractic Team. More than 80% of the population suffers from back pain at some point in their lives. Most cases can be linked to the most common causes: muscle strain, injury, or overuse. But it can also be attributed to a specific condition of the spine: Herniated Disc, Degenerative Disc Disease, Spondylolisthesis, Spinal Stenosis, and Osteoarthritis. Less common conditions are sacroiliac joint dysfunction, spinal tumors, fibromyalgia, and piriformis syndrome.
Pain is caused by damage or injury to the muscles and ligaments of the back. Dr. Alex Jimenez compiled articles outline the importance of understanding the causes and effects of this uncomfortable symptom. Chiropractic focuses on restoring a person’s strength and flexibility to help improve symptoms of lower back pain.
Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Alexander Jimenez looks at four ways of reducing back pain.
1. Understand The Way Your Spine Works
The best approach to take care of your spine and prevent back pain is to begin with a superb understanding of how the spine works. By understanding how your backbone works when you’re performing jobs that are day-to-day or moving during your day, you may be able to take care of your spine and keep it working for a long time with fewer problems and less back pain.
2. Incorporate Safe Body Mechanics Into Activities
Use good body mechanics during day-to-day jobs at home and work. What does that mean? Good body mechanics means while you go, keeping your back in a safe posture that is balanced. You can help to prevent back pain and injury, by remembering several easy notions. You should employ your leg and arm muscles when lifting and stooping �not your back muscles. Second, keep your back straight when bending and lifting. And last but not the very least, be sure to bend at your hips and knees, not at your waist.
An example of correctly bending at the hips and knees
3. Exercise On A Regular Basis
Regular care of stuff we possess helps to keep them working efficiently, with less effort and safely. Exactly the same is true of the back.
Exercising on a regular basis really helps to keep up long term to a healthy back.
Regular exercise helps to increase endurance and reduces fatigue.
But Don’t I Get Enough Exercise At Work?
Many people believe their occupations provide enough exercise�specially occupations which are physical and could include manual labor. Regrettably this really isn’t accurate. Individuals need daily exercise to state and strengthen their muscles to perform job tasks safely and efficiently.
Exercise could be fun! There are lots of types of exercise. One method when selecting to start a workout program to ensure success would be to pick some form of exercise that fits into your lifestyle. If exercise is accessible and convenient, you’ll be prone to continue exercising on a longterm basis. As an example, determining to swim daily or do water aerobics without easy use of a pool year round would make success less likely and consistency difficult.
A typical exercise that a lot of people start successfully with is walking. Walking just takes a superb pair of walking shoes, may be done any day of the year, and is usually simple to fit right into a daily program.
Remember, whatever type of exercise you decide on, always start out small (10 minutes vs 60 minutes), and slowly increase your own exercise time. This may help to make sure your success at getting started and sticking with a fitness plan. Add two or one stretching exercises, like a calf stretch, for your routine for one more benefit.
An example of a calf stretch
4. Fuel Your Body With Proper Nutrition
Eating a healthy diet supplies the fuel your body has to make energy. And energy must do work, meaning the jobs we do throughout the day, like work tasks and exercise. Appropriate nutrition also helps to maintain your ideal body weight. Weight management is a great way to restrain stress on the joints in your body, including the spine.
Unsure where to start to understand about proper nutrition and establishing a healthier diet for you personally as well as your lifestyle? Then take a look at Introduction to Nutrition. By integrating these suggestions into your everyday life, you’ll be able to promote a healthier back�and lifestyle�for a long time.
El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez adds to the discussion of chiropractic treatment vs. pain medication and medical care.
Which Is More Effective For Low Back Pain? Meds Or Chiropractic?
That is the�question in our research theme of the week.
A Practice-Based Study of Patients with Acute and Chronic Low Back Pain Attending Primary Care and Chiropractic Physicians: Two-Week to 48-Month Follow Up
This study based used a practice-based, observational model to look at the effectiveness of intervention in a selected group of patients with both acute and chronic lower back pain (LBP). It compared the efficacy of chiropractic intervention with standard medical care in both kinds of Low Back Pain.
2780 patients were enrolled in the research over a 2-year period (1994 to 1996) from the practices of 60 DCs (1855 patients) and 111 MDs (925 patients) in 51 chiropractic and 14 general practice clinics. Patient data was obtained via a survey distributed in person at the first visit, and the patients were followed up over a period of 4 years with 7 mailed surveys at regular time intervals. Mailings were sent at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year following the original visit. In phase 2, patients were followed up at 36 24, and 48 months.
Patients were eligible if LBP was their primary grievance, and was of mechanical source; they were excluded if exploitation was contraindicated, or the back pain was of nonmechanical origin (such as from organic referred pain). Acute patients were those whose back pain was of less than 7 weeks duration; long-term back pain patients were those whose back pain was longer or of 7 weeks duration.
The physicians in the research produced an assortment of treatment procedures. Chiropractic care included physical therapy, spinal manipulation, an exercise strategy, and self-care education. Medical doctors gave care that included an exercise plan prescription drugs, and self-care advice; nearly 25% of these patients were referred for physical therapy.
The primary outcomes measured were present pain severity, and functional impairment, which were quantified by questionnaires sent to the patients in the above stated times.
The medical patients showed more severe baseline pain and disability when entering treatment, greater prevalence of pain and poorer general health status, than in patients. These differences were more conspicuous in the chronic patients than in the acute patients.
An edge was seen for DC attention in comparison with MD attention for the first 12 months in pain relief. This difference was small but was greater for those with chronic LBP during the first year of treatment.
There was an advantage with all the usage of chiropractic care in long-term patients with pain radiating below the knee, and some small advantages were also seen in the acute patient group. Differences were also seen through the first 3 months of care with no leg pain in chronic patients. There were the 2 kinds of medical care for pain radiating over the knee as well as no differences in the 2 groups.
All patient groups found clinically important improvement in pain and disability over the span of treatment. Advancement that was greater was seen by acute patients, with many obtaining near complete relief of their symptoms. Most realized symptom relief by 3 months, followed by a plateau through 12 months. It was followed by critical, clinical aggravation of pain at 12 to 24 months, with another plateau until 4 years. Little upsurge in impairment was seen between 12 and 48 months.
Of note, at 3 years into the research, 45% to 75% of patients noted at least 30 days of pain throughout the prior year, even in those who had gained significant pain and disability relief through early intervention. Daily pain was noted by 19% to 27% of chronic LBP patients throughout the preceding year.
Early intervention reduces chronic pain. People who received early intervention for acute lower back pain after the original injury, reported fewer days of back pain than those who waited more for intervention. Since outcomes were better than in those who delayed treatment this would support providing early intervention for patients with acute back pain.
Chiropractic is valuable for certain types of pain. Chiropractic care�was shown to be�more effective�than standard medical care in certain situations: with pain radiating below the knee in patients with persistent lower back pain, as well as for treating LBP during the first 12 months. Nearly all the relief was sustained throughout the initial year, and was obtained during the first 3 months of treatment.
This study reports pain and disability results up to 4 years for chiropractic and medical patients with low back pain (LBP) and evaluates the impact of physician kind and pain length on clinical outcomes.
Conclusion
Study findings were consistent with systematic reviews of the efficacy of spinal manipulation (the Chiropractic adjustment) for pain and disability in severe and chronic LBP. Interdisciplinary referral and patient selection needs to be prime concerns by policymakers, physicians, and third-party payers in identifying health services.
Chiropractic is a treatment method that has moved from more of an alternative treatment to widespread mainstream acceptance over the past few decades. There will always be pockets of naysayers that question its validity, but the millions of satisfied patients around the world speak volumes about the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment on the human body. There are literally dozens of health issues that benefit from chiropractic adjustments, but here are 3 common conditions that El Paso chiropractors help:
1) Headaches
We all get headaches from time to time. Some are mild, some are more severe, but all of them have the potential to disrupt your day. Whether it is a tension headache caused by hours of sitting at a desk or a migraine brought on by a specific health condition, when the pain starts it is difficult to focus on anything else.
El Paso chiropractors help relieve headache pain on a regular basis. A lot of the time the pain you feel in your head is actually being caused by misalignment of the vertebrae in your spine. After a gentle adjustment and proper maintenance, many patients report no more pain and no more need for pain medication.
2) Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain is a problem that far too many people deal with.� Pain in the shoulder can be referred pain from the spinal misalignments, or it can be caused by a misalignment in the shoulder.
No matter what specific type of shoulder pain you have, El Paso chiropractors help relieve both the pain and any range of motion issues that are present. Our team will help to access your condition and give you the best advice we can on what you can do to remedy the situation.
3) Lower Back Pain
If headaches and shoulder pain are among the most common conditions for the general public then lower back pain is probably at the head of the pack. One of the most common reasons for lumbar pain is from misaligned spinal segments.
Chiropractors can help the pain and reduced mobility associated with lumbar strains and sprains and help patients get back to their normal routines. Even if you�ve had lower back pain for years and have been told there is nothing that will help, it�s always worth the time explore your possibilities.
Please don’t hesitate to call our team with any questions you might have.� Today is a great day to get started on a new path to health.
Choosing to receive treatment from a chiropractor won�t stop your slice or improve your putting, but it just might end up improving your overall game and lowering your score. It�s no secret that golf can be hard on your lower back. The quick, repetitive twisting motion required to swing a club puts your back at risk every time you play, and if you already have a back injury you�re putting other muscle groups at risk. Keep reading to learn how to improve your golf game in El Paso with chiropractic care.
How Chiropractic Boosts Your Game
Since a chiropractor is specifically trained to treat the entire neuromusculoskeletal system they are able to help golfers reduce the amount of stress and strain placed on their bodies. The lower back does undergo a lot of stress with the torque of a standard golf swing, but there are other body parts that can affect your golf game, too. Pain or range of motion issues in your shoulders, elbows, knees or wrists will definitely affect your swing and lead to inflated scores.
Chiropractic treatment can put your body back into alignment, remove nerve compression, and improve blood flow to vital muscles. When you are free from pain and your mobility isn�t hindered in any way, you can swing freely and focus on your game.
It All Begins With You
Although you can improve your golf game in El Paso with chiropractic, taking steps to help yourself will improve it even further. Arrive early at the course and do some warm up stretching and light swings before your game. Whether you hit some balls at the practice range or not, stretching and loosening up is key. You�ll also want to perform some light stretches after your round to keep your muscles loose and lengthened.
It�s easy to get dehydrated out on the golf course, but not drinking enough can set the stage for a strained muscle or similar injury. Make sure you drink plenty of water before, during, and after playing golf, especially if it is hot outside. If you walk the course when you play, avoid carrying your bag and pull it instead. Carrying a heavy golf bag over 18 holes can cause disc problems and irritate nerves.
If you have the option, avoid wearing metal spikes when you play. They have the potential to get stuck in the ground during your swing, causing a serious knee or back injury. And if you find that your swing is causing pain in any area of your body, consider taking lessons to learn a more efficient way to swing your clubs. If you follow these tips you�ll enjoy a pain-free round every time out.
El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez looks at back pain medications and their effect on sleep.
Can you relieve spine pain and get a good night�s rest? Sure some drugs get in the way.
Prescription medications are among the most recommended nonsurgical treatments for back and neck pain. While these drugs might help alleviate what ails your back, your sleep may suffer because of this. That�s a big deal, as sleep deprivation hurts your general wellbeing.
Unfortunately, back and neck pain medications can have side effects�and interfering with your sleep and ability to operate normally throughout the day are ones that are typical. Your medication may stop you from getting enough sleep or falling asleep. Or, your slumber quality suffers, although you might doze off readily. Plus, sleep-related side effects do n�t just affect you during the nighttime hours, as you may experience drowsiness or jitters during the day.
Sleep Science 101: Reconsidering Sedatives
Before delving into common back and neck pain drugs that may affect your slumber, it�s important to comprehend one of the biggest misconceptions about sleep medicines: the effect of sedation.
Many view sedatives as sleep aids due to the fact that they enable you to fall asleep fast. Nevertheless, this doesn�t tell the entire image, based on Steven A. King, MD, MS, who practices pain medicine in New York and is a clinical professor of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine.
�When contemplating what�s good for sleep, it really is vital to not forget that sleep is just not a uniform activity through the entire span of the night, but rather, a succession of cycles involving different levels of wakefulness,� wrote Dr. King in a site for Psychiatric Times. �Merely because a medication may put one to sleep doesn�t mean restful slumber will be provided by it if it disrupts the normal sleep cycles.�
During a good night�s sleep, your brain will repeatedly cycle through five phases: stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. You should spend about 25% of your total slumber and this is the cycle. As researchers believe it contributes to regulating your mood, learning, and saving memories having uninterrupted REM sleep is significant.
Monitor your sleep quality, if you�ve been prescribed a medicine with sedative effects, for example an opioid. It�s not about how fast you fall asleep but also how refreshed you feel the very next day. If you dazed and �re waking up groggy, talk to your doctor about possible alterations to your medication regimen.
Back &�Neck Pain Medications That May Disrupt Sleep
Below are drugs that treat spinal conditions and may likewise have sleep-associated side effects.
Note: The table below features common back and neck pain medications that could interfere with your sleep and daytime functioning; it is not an all inclusive list. Always discuss the potential side effects of your medications that are certain with your physician.
Talk To Your Doctor About Drug Alternatives For Better Sleep
The quality of your slumber shouldn�t suffer�as a result, although keeping your spine healthy is vital. If you�ve detected a decrease in quality or quantity of sleep since beginning your back or neck pain medicine, tell your physician. She or he might prescribe an alternative drug or treatment while addressing your spinal issue to restore healthful sleep.
El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez takes a look at sit/stand desks to see if they help with back pain and burn calories.
Regular utilization of sit-stand desks at work can help burn off calories and stop weight gain when coupled with other low-intensity tasks, according to findings from a current study in Occupational Medicine. The sit- stand desks did not increase pain or reduce productivity.
�In fact, other longer-term studies are demonstrating that using a sit-stand desk may actually reduce pain,� clarified lead writer Bethany Barone Gibbs, PhD, FAHA, Assistant Professor of Health and Physical Activity, Clinical, and Translational Science in the Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
For patients who have back pain or have lately experienced spinal surgery, the recommendation to stand on and off during the day is very important, commented A. Nick Shamie, MD, Chief of Orthopaedic Spine Surgery and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Neurosurgery at UCLA School of Medicine.
�Sitting down puts significant pressure on disks and the backbone,� Dr. Shamie said. �In addition, the pressure on discs is extremely high when one is seated and bends forward to pick something off of the flooring,� he noted.
The Way The Study Was Performed
For the study, 18 people (9 men, 9 women) performed standardized deskwork at different positions for three independent one-hour sessions: 60 minutes sitting, 60 minutes standing, and 60 minutes spent alternating between sitting and standing for 30 minutes each. Standardized deskwork contained posts that were typing from a magazine, copying definitions from a dictionary, and math exercises. Areas completed experimental sessions in a haphazard order, at least and within four weeks.
All participants were between the ages of 22 and 57 years old, had earned at least a high school degree, and worked sedentary office occupations having an average daily sitting time of 8.8 hours.
Sit-Stand Desks May Burn Off 50-60 Calories Each Day
The research found that if your person stood for thirty minutes during each hour, they might burn 5.5 more calories than they’d have by sitting for the entire hour. Standing for the full hour burned an extra 8.2 calories. Changing evenly between sitting and standing on the course of an 8-hour day�4 hours sitting and 4 hours standing �could burn off as much as 56.9 calories for guys and 48.3 calories for girls.
While the number of calories is comparatively small, it may be sufficient to stop weight gain from working a sedentary job. In reality, the researchers pointed to other studies showing that modest increases in daily activity, the equivalent of burning 100 calories per day, prevents weight gain in most individuals. Routine usage of sit-stand desks could be one of many small tasks that would help weight is maintained by office workers, the researchers noted.
The Advantages Of Sit-Stand Desks
�Sit-stand desks are an easy way to get an increase in energy cost that matches into America�s present office culture. By combining the action of standing for part of the day with other occasional actions�say, electing to walk to the printer farthest away from your work space or selecting to make use of the restroom that�s found a few flights of stairs away�you can attain a significant amount of extra energy cost while at work which could help in weight control,� Dr. Barone Gibbs said.
�It’s essential that we understand standing at work isn�t going to burn off as many calories as choosing a brisk walk or a long term,� Dr. Barone Gibbs said. �However, our findings add to an increasing area of research that demonstrates the advantages of sit-stand desks, including increases in energy and productivity, blood sugar, and lower pain, and potentially blood pressure.�
Folks can certainly go online and also read reviews of the greatest sit-stand desks and how to incorporate them into work setting, Dr. Shamie said. He included that sit-stand desks are simply one part of back care. Eating a healthy diet, sleep, regular exercise, are all factors that play a job in an overall healthy lifestyle and back care, he explained.
El Paso,TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez looks examines a�herniated disc.
Herniated disc is a somewhat common condition that can occur anywhere along the spinal column, but most commonly affects the lower back or neck area. Also known as ruptured disk or a slipped disc, a herniated disc develops when one of the pillow-like pads between the vertebrae moves out of position and presses on nerves that are adjacent.
Herniated discs are usually caused by overuse injuries or injury to the back; however, disc conditions may also develop as a result of the standard aging process. It’s also known that there is a genetic factor that leads to the evolution of herniated disc and disc degeneration. As the size of herniation shrinks with time via resorption, typically, a herniated disc in the lower back will heal within six months. If physical therapy, drugs along with other treatments fail, operation may be needed.
What’s A Disk?
Spinal discs are cushion-like pads located between the vertebrae. Without these �shock absorbers,� the bones in the spinal column would grind against one another. Along with giving the backbone flexibility and making movements like twisting and bending potential, discs protect the spine by absorbing the effect of trauma and body weight. Each disk has a strong outer layer called annulus fibrosus and a soft, gel-like center, called nucleus pulposus. There are fibers on the outside of each disc that attach to adjoining vertebrae and hold the disc in position. A herniated disc occurs when the gel as well as the outer layer tears or ruptures -like middle leaks to the spinal canal.
The spinal canal has only enough space to place spinal fluid and the spinal cord. When a disc herniates and spills to the spinal canal, it could cause compression of spinal cord or the nerves. Alterations in sensation and intense, debilitating pain often happen. Furthermore, the gel-like substance inside the disk releases chemical irritants that bring about pain and nerve inflammation.
What Causes A Herniated Disc?
As we get older, the spinal disks gradually lose fluid volume. This process progresses slowly and begins at about age 30, over time. As the disks dry out, tears or microscopic cracks can form on the outer surface, causing it to become weak, fragile and much more susceptible to injury. The most common causes of herniated disc are:
Wear and tear: Disks dry out and aren�t as adaptive as they were.
Repetitive�movements: Work, lifestyle, and certain sports activities that place stress on the spine, especially the lower back, further weaken an already vulnerable area.
Lifting the wrong way: Never lift while bent at the waist. Proper lifting entails lifting with a straight back and your legs.
Injury: High-impact trauma can create the disk to bulge, tear or rupture.
Obesity: Carrying excess weight places an undue amount of strain on the back.
Genetics: There are a few genes which might be more typically present in individuals with disc degeneration. More research is necessary to investigate the role of those genes�they could be targets of biological treatment in the future.
Which Are The Symptoms Of A Herniated Disc?
Pain from a herniated disc can fluctuate, determined by severity and the place of the harm. It is typically felt on one side of the body.
Little or no pain could be felt in case the injury is minimal. Pain might be severe and unrelenting, in the event the disk ruptures. If significant nerve impingement has occurred pain may radiate to an extremity in a certain nerve root distribution. For instance, sciatica is often resulting from herniated disc in the low back. Herniated disc can manifest itself with a variety of symptoms, including:
Dull ache to severe pain
Numbness, tingling, burning
Muscle weakness; spasm; altered reflexes
Loss in bowel or bladder control (Note: These symptoms constitute a medical emergency. When they occur, seek medical attention immediately).
How Is A Herniated Disc Diagnosed?
History and physical examination point to some diagnosis of herniated disc. A herniated disc is likely if low back pain is accompanied by radiating leg pain in a nerve root distribution with positive straight leg raising test (ie, elevating the leg while lying down causes radiating pain down the leg), as well as other neurologic deficits for example numbness, weakness, and altered reflexes.
Imaging studies usually are ordered to confirm a diagnosis of herniated disc. X rays are not the imaging medium of choice because soft tissues (eg, discs, nerves) are hard to capture with this specific technology. However, they might be used as an initial tool to eliminate other illnesses such as for instance fracture or a growing. Confirmation of the feeling of herniated disc is generally achieved with:
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): This technology shows the spinal cord, surrounding soft tissue and nerves. It really is the best imaging study to support the identification of a herniated disc.
Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS) and Electromyogram (EMG): These studies use electric impulses to measure the level of harm to the nerve/s brought on by compaction from a herniated disc along with other conditions that cause nerve impingement may be ruled out. NCS and EMG are not routine evaluations to diagnose herniated disc.
Herniated discs occasionally heal independently through a process called resorption. This means the disk fragments are consumed by the body. Most people suffering from herniated disc do not need surgery and react well to conservative treatment.
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