Pain's Message
Jul/04/07
Most
people think of pain as an annoyance. Pain actually
serves a very useful purpose. It is telling you that
something is wrong and needs fixing or correction.
However what most people do today is to take a pain
pill that will make the pain go away. This is
actually a bad idea because once the pain is gone
then you are much more likely to do something which
will aggravate your condition. So what you need to do
is figure out why you are having you pain. Was it the
first time in a while that you went to the gym and
you now have sore muscles. Well that should go away
in a day or two. Is it something that has been going
on for months or even years? Then that definitely
warrants further investigation. What happens is you
may have some degeneration going on in your spine
that is affecting the nerves going to your muscles.
This should not be ignored. Degeneration in the spine
is a progressive condition that if not stopped can
lead to permanent decrease in space for the nerves to
come out of the spine and greatly increases the
chance of having problems now and in the future. So
don't wait and let this condition continue.
|
Isn't It Just Muscle Pain?
Jul/02/07
Many of my
patients describe their condition as muscle pain,
achy sore stiff muscles. I get a lot of questions
about muscle pain. Can't I just stretch it and have
it go away. What people don't realize is that the
muscle pain they are feeling really has its origin as
a nerve problem. The nerves are getting pinched by
their vertebrae and this decreases the nerve flow to
the muscles. This then shows up as muscle aches,
stiffness, soreness and tenderness. But since it is
the muscles that hurt they think the origin of the
problem lies in the muscles. However no amount of
stretching is really going to help, because the real
problem is a bone out of alignment pinching the
nerve. People commonly think or nerve problems as
pins and needles or numbness and tingling in the arms
and hands. It is important to realize that achy and
tight muscles can also indicate nerve involvement as
well.
Stretching to prevent back pain
May/27/07
Stretching
is very important for your body. I want you to think
just a moment about what a dog or cat does when they
wake up from sleep. They stretch their whole body and
then go about their business. But people commonly
role out of bed after hitting the alarm button, take
a show and get dressed for work. What you really want
to do after just waking up is to slowly stretch your
back and your neck. By taking your time and
stretching each morning you can help prevent your
spine from going out of alignment during the
day
Maintaining Balance is the Key to a Healthy Spine
May/27/07
What do I
mean by balance?
What I mean is that when you carry
something with your right hand you should
periodically carry something in your left hand. This
helps balance the load on your spine. One problem
women have is that they always carry their purse on
one shoulder and not the other. Over time this will
cause a misalignment in their spine. So you need to
shift your purse to the other shoulder. This is also
true when carrying a new born child around. Typically
the mother or father will always hold the child on
one side. Usually their stronger hand and arm. But
you really need to hold the child in the other side
as well. Children who have book bags should also wear
both shoulder straps rather than carry the book bag
on one shoulder. Balancing the load on your spine is
important to keeping it aligned.
How To Sleep Properly
May/27/07
Believe it
or not but there are good ways to sleep on a bed and
ways that will actually aggravate your condition. The
best way to sleep on a bed it to lie flat on your
back, the second best is on your side and the worst
is on your stomach. The reason why laying on your
stomach is bad is because you have to turn your head
either to the left or to the right so you can breath,
and this will actually cause neck problems. Laying on
your side is OK if you support your head so that your
spine is straight and not tilted up by a big pillow.
You also want to put a pillow in between your legs to
help support your hips otherwise a you spine might
twist. Finally laying on you back is the best because
you can evenly support your neck and back. It is best
for you neck if you have your head lie flat on the
bed, and then roll up a hand rag or small hand towel
just enough to support your neck while letting your
head lie on the bed. If you have a back condition put
some pillows under your knees and this takes pressure
off your back
Simple Tip To Prevent Back Pain
May/27/07
Here is a
helpful and useful tip on how to prevent back pain.
Many men typically keep their wallet in their back
pocket of their pants. This is a bad location because
when you sit for long periods of time whether
driving, sitting in a chair in an office you are
actually causing your spine and hips to get
misaligned. The typical wallet can be one to two
inches in width. So imagine siting on a two inch pad
for long periods of time. It will naturally begin
causing misalignments in your hips and spine. So what
I always tell my patients is to keep their wallet in
their front pocket. This prevents pelvic unleveling
from the wallet. This simple habit can prevent the
occurrence of back and hip pain.
Don't Do This Do This Instead
May/27/07
One of the
most common ways my patients have hurt their back is
by picking up something heavy and then as the lift
they twist at the same time. For instance you are
moving a heavy item from the ground to the top of a
table and it is just easier to twist and put it on
the table than to properly position yourself. This is
a really excellent way of damaging the disks in your
spine. You see the lower back is really not designed
to twist or rotate much as much as your neck. It is
really designed to go up and down. So what you want
to do when you lift up a large heavy item is lift it
straight up and then move your body by moving your
feet rather than twisting. So Don't lift and twist Do
lift and shuffle or move your feet to properly
position your body.