How to prevent the pain
Why do I need to do exercises?
More than 80% of the world population has experienced back pain. In order to avoid them some people try traditional methods and medicines, while other undergo surgery. The latter is not always necessary. Above all, the proper diagnosis is extremely important. The patient should remember that when back pains come back, it is necessary to consult a therapist or neurologist. If the pain persists and especially if it intensifies, the patient should seek help from an orthopedist or neurosurgeon.
The first signal indicating problems in the spine is pain. It can occur suddenly and gradually begin to increase. It can be accompanied by other symptoms such as tingling, loss of sensitivity or muscle strength in the limbs, which is alarming and requires immediate medical attention. Various conditions can cause pain in the spine: starting from the most banal – muscle strain, muscle spasm, through the early stages of disc disease and leading to severe conditions associated with fractures of vertebrae. Increasingly there are bone metastases due to malignant diseases, which may also occur with a severe excruciating pain in the spine, without good response from the pain medication. There are some conditions associated with dislocation of the vertebrae which also endangers the health of the patient.
There are two types of pain connected to spinal problems: local pain (in the spine) and irradiating pain (moving along the nerves coming out of the zone). When the pain starts from the back of the pelvis and passes on the outside of the thigh and calf (where the nerve passes too), we have sciatica. Although these patients experience pain in the leg, the cause of pain is in the spine. This example shows how important is correct description of the nature of pain and where it occurred for putting the right diagnosis. Therefore, diagnosis requires a multidisciplinary approach, i.e. collaboration between doctors of different specialties such as neurosurgeons, orthopedists, neurologists, rheumatologists, physical therapists and others.
Reliable prophylaxis when back pain occurs is absolutely essential. Most often it is due either to poor posture or spinal muscle fatigue. So, first patient has to change posture at work in order to give temporary rest to the muscle. At this stage massage, sauna and other relaxing treatments can help. If the pain does not subside and especially if it changes its nature and intensity (i.e. if it increases), then you should go to a doctor.
The most common causes of back injury are two. The first one is prolonged irregular posture of the upper part of the body which is connected to the occupation of the patient. It leads to overtension into the muscles around the spine which naturally reacts with pain. The second one is momentary strain associated with lifting of heavy objects, spine twisting or performing movement which is inconsistent with the capabilities of the spine.
Reliable preventive method is spinal muscles training with correctly dosed and reasonably enforced exercise. They should be tailored to age and physical condition of the person executing them. If we refer to the word “sport”, only sports that burden evenly full body are prophylactic – swimming, tennis, skiing, surfing. The strain caused by them is evenly distributed over different areas of the body, including the spine. Alternative medicine, Chinese methods of treatment, and manual therapy in some cases could also help, but must be performed very precisely by making the necessary preliminary studies and studying the reason for the patient’s complaints.
To prevent pain and appear relief different pain removing practices could be done: anesthetics, which is believed to bring a “moderate” relief; exercises to learn the back muscles to work reducing muscle spasms and tension. A consultation with a specialist in remedial gymnastics, who should suggest special set of effective and safe exercises to strengthen the spine.
Statistics and formulation of the pain problem worldwide:
The frequency of pain in the lower part of spine is so high that only in U.S. over 7 million people are unemployed because of this reason, and certainly number of those who continue to work suffering by this problem is much higher. A study, done in Britain, shows that 1.1 million people aged 50 and over consult their doctor at least once a year due to low back pain. 13.2 million working days are lost precisely because of such complaints. Studies in other countries are not more optimistic. They show that back pain is 63 % of the causes of absenteeism and with headaches is most often experienced pain. The survey shows that the average age at which the pain occurs for the first time is 35 years, but gradually decreases. About 35 % of all examined people after time develop sciatica and 90 % had periodic complaints.
To prevent back and waist pain are needed prophylaxis and maintaining good overall physical condition through exercises for back muscles and building proper physical activity. This should be applied after comprehensive consultation with our doctors and under the professional guidance of physiotherapists and therapists of the Spine School to Spine Center.