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Back Pain
Since at least 90 % of all back pain has no specific cause those suffering from back pain will have the pain resolve on its own in no more than four to six weeks without any medical treatment. Treating back pain at home may consist of bed rest for 2 to 3 days with application of hot/cold compresses and over the counter analgesics to help relieve the pain and inflammation. After several days of rest, mild exercising has been found to shorten the recovery period.
Studies have shown that the most common causes of back pain include poor lifting technique, poor posture, improper exercising technique, poor posture during long periods of driving, lack of proper back support while sleeping, being out of physical shape and/or overweight and awkward or sudden movement. Improper lifting or lifting something that is too heavy accounts for 35 % of all back pains. These studies also tell us that most lower back pain or lumbago is transient and only lasts a short time with no serious damage occurring to the back. Even the more serious condition of a pinched nerve or slipped disc is very infrequent. There are several medical causes of back pain ranging from a herniated disc to a deformed vertebrae joints. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative wear and tear on the cartilage between the back bones that leads to a painful rubbing of bone on bone. Sciatica is an extension or a herniated disc that causes compression or pinching of the sciatic nerve. Spinal stenosis causes a compression or pinching of the spinal cord or nerves as a result of a narrowing of the spinal canal. When one vertebrae slides over an adjacent one, the compression or pinching of the nerves in the area is a condition called spondylolisthesis. When the joints between two vertebrae become deformed and pinch a nerve, usually in the neck area, a condition called spondylosis develops. Back pain researchers continue to try to understand who gets back pain and what are the best ways of preventing back pain from occurring. So far, they have reported that the back begins to age by the time the average person reaches 30 years of age. One of the most important prevention factors is that the more active a person is the less likely they are to suffer from back pain. Another interesting fact is that people who smoke are statistically more likely to suffer from back problems than non-smokers. Chances are also greater if you have had a back problem once in your life you likely will again experience back pain. Statistics from health insurance companies tell us that if you take off a long period of time from your job because of an injury to your back you are not as likely to return to that job buy if you only take a few days off, you will go back to work. Health insurance statistics also tell us that 35 % of the claims they deal with for lost work time are because of back pain. As back pain research is conducted it is published in peer reviewed journals so that the most recent findings can be used by the medical community and the general public to help relieve the various forms of back pain. The most recent articles on back pain or abstracts can be be found online at the journals website or in the hardcopy of the journals at a medical library. |
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