Posts Tagged ‘Back’

Pregnancy & Low Back Pain

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Have a Pain-Free Back During & After Pregnancy

Four million women will successfully give birth this year – and that’s just in the United States. The bad news is that two out of every three women will suffer from lower back pain and herniated discs by the 36th week of pregnancy.

Lower Back Pain Interferes With Your Quality of Life

Not only will lower back pain become a horrible interruption in your daily activities, but it will also interfere with your quality of life. And, it can ruin your enjoyment of one of the most memorable times of your life. Here’s how.

Pregnancy at first can be very exciting for most new moms. You’re deciding on baby names. Painting the nursery. Buying baby clothes, toys and furniture. And, most of all you’re enjoying family celebrations. The joy of pregnancy is one of life’s greatest pleasures. However, for many women the later pregnancy months can be quite challenging and painful. And, it’s not just because of morning sickness!

Your lower back hurts. It feels like someone keeps stabbing you with a knife. You feel it over and around your spine, and the pain even radiates to your legs. Sitting or standing for long periods of time makes your back hurt more. And this pain intensifies as your day goes on.

The Hidden Cause of Your Lower Back Pain Not Seen by the Untrained Eye

The obvious cause of lower back pain in pregnant women just like you is the biomechanical stress being placed on them by the added weight of their baby. Your uterus will expand and shift your center of gravity. It will stretch and weaken your abdominal muscles. It changes your posture and puts a strain on your lower back.

As the baby gains weight, your abdomen will be pulled forward. To compensate for this forward pull, you’ll probably lean backward like most women do. This alone puts a tremendous amount of pressure on your lower back and pelvis.

The hidden cause of your lower back pain is actually muscle imbalances. The primary cause of your herniated disc or bulge is uneven compression and torsion that’s placed on your lower back. This uneven pressure is caused by imbalances in muscles that pull the spine out of its normal position. Your body is now forced to function in what I call a physical dysfunction.

If the dysfunctions are not addressed, they will continue to place uneven pressure and strain on the discs in your back. Sooner or later you will likely have another problem with that disc, or others.

Reduce Low Back Pain and Herniated Discs by Identifying the Underlying Causes of Your Problem.

Unfortunately, most doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists don’t spend time or focus on identifying the hidden causes or physical dysfunctions that are responsible for your lower back pain.

So most pregnant women grin and accept back pain as a normal part of their pregnancy. However, You can take steps to stop the soreness. It’s a good idea to learn these techniques now, because you’ll probably need them again later when your back is bearing the strain of constantly lifting your 7- to 10-pound baby or your 20-pound toddler.

3 Steps to Reducing Back Pain Before & After Your Pregnancy

1. Understanding muscle imbalances: The solution to a pain-free back during and after pregnancy is based on a better understanding of muscle imbalances and how your body works. You must understand what muscle imbalances are, how they are created and how they cause low back pain.

2. Know your habits, patterns, postures and positions: You must identify your muscle imbalances and understand how they are causing you pain. Assess how you sit, stand, walk lift, bend or otherwise put your body through painl every day.

3. Get the RIGHT Help: Find a qualified Manual Physical Therapist who is trained to assess postural dysfunction. Demand that they create both a short term and a long-term plan of recovery for you filled with the right combination of corrective exercises, stretches and treatments.

Understanding back pain and taking action are two totally different animals. But, if you want to reduce back pain and start enjoying one of the most memorable times of your life again, then you must educate your self and take action everyday. It is never to late to start a program of recovery on your own or with help from an expert.

Dr. Robert Duvall has helped thousands of mothers suffering from back pain using this approach in his clinic and around the country. For more information on how you can have a pain-free back during and after your pregnancy so you can once again enjoy one of the most memorable times of your life, get your FREE COPY of the latest Back Pain Advisory from The Healthy Back Institute at: http://www.losethebackpain.com/herniateddisc.html

By Dr. Robert Duvall
Published: 5/5/2007 

 Pregnancy and low back pain

Look at these posts about pregnancy and lower back pain and I hope they will help you.

Back Pain

She endured constant pain throughout her hip, leg, butt and lower back. Over the years she’d been put in braces and casts that only made things worse. Doctors, surgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists and all kinds of experts failed  to help.

Pregnancy Backache

Standing should be erect and straight with the shoulders pulled back. Slouching can precipitate or worsen the backache symptom. Later in the pregnancy process, back pain may still manifest. Especially as the uterus becomes more enlarged..

Avoid Back Pain during Pregnancy

Every second an expecting mom experiences back pain. These tips will help you make your pregnancy free from back pains. Pregnancy should not be a kind of torture! Store your high heels in the deepest corner of your closet. Apart for the fact that they are dangerous, since you can trip at any moment when wearing them, they also worsen the sagging in the back. If you simply can not survive without high heels then at least wear low-heel shoes.

Back Exercises For Pregnancy 

There are a variety of exercises that can be helpful for alleviating low back pain during pregnancy. Swimming and water exercises are excellent for pregnancy, because they allow you to exercise in a supported environment.. 

Pregnancy Massage

It’s a popular complementary therapy during pregnancy for back pain, when choices for pain relief, such as medication, are often limited. Not only can massage be physically beneficial, but the human touch can be comforting and relieve pain. 

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Stress and Back Pain

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Back Pain and Stress 

One of the main causes of back pain is emotional stress and  back pain may be a signal that you are not coping well with stress. It’s common knowledge that people under stress are tense and that tension can settle in your back. Even if you are experiencing constant stress, your muscles may be tightening up so often that you become used to it. But those taut, tight muscles can send a strong pain signal to your brain. The discomfort may make you wary of normal activities and, as you limit your movement and activity, your muscles become weaker and gradually de-conditioned, and more painful. This vicious cycle continues and may end up as chronic back pain.

There are several things that you can do to ease stress induced back pain and break this cycle.

Reducing Stress

Once you recognize the stress in your life and the effects it has, there may be some ways to deal with it.

  • Try to identify people and situations that bother you. How can you deal with them? Some you might be able to avoid altogether.
  • Say you hate driving home in rush hour traffic and become tied in knots. Can you adjust your work hours and leave a bit earlier or later? Could you go to the gym or library for an hour after work?
  • If you hate standing in line at the grocery, consider shopping during off hours when the store is less crowded.
  • Financial pressures, long work weeks, medical problems add to stress and can not always be changed. You have to recognize the stress these problems and situations create and attempt to develop ways to deal with it.
  • Try to breakup your problems into small units that are not so overwhelming. Deal with one at a time, taking the easiest or most pressing first.
  • Learn your limitations and don’t take on more than you can handle. Manage your time and learn to say ‘No’ to burdensome commitments.

Breathing Exercises

One breathing technique that is helpful is 2:1 breathing. Inhale to the count of three and then exhale while you count to six. Repeat this several times

Relaxation Techniques

These techniques invoke the relaxation response which is the opposite of the stress response. Using deep breathing techniques, muscles relax and blood pressure, heart rate and respiration decrease. Progressive muscle relaxation and self-hypnosis are also helpful.

Meditation and Visualization

These methods have devoted followers who have calmed their busy minds by combining imagery with breathing exercises.

  • One meditation technique is known as ‘taking the one chair’. Imagine yourself in a room in which there is a single chair. Sit down on the chair and let your thoughts and emotions pass in front of you. Remember that you are sitting in the only chair in the room and your thoughts have no place to rest. Watch them pass right on out of the room.

Body Scan

  • Complete a body scan. Begin by lying or sitting down and do several cycles of 2:1 breathing. After you are fully relaxed, make a full mental sweep of your body as though you were undergoing a complete x-ray. Move slowly but steadily and note all areas of tightness or tension. After you’ve finished the scan, return to the tight, tense areas and consciously ‘ breathe’ into those spots for several breathing cycles. Imagine your muscles slowly relaxing.
  • A body scan takes some time but if done on a regular basis, it can help you become aware of early warning signs of a looming back pain attack. You become aware of your individual signal spots, places that hurt when your back first starts acting up but before a full pain attack is under way. This helps you take early action to get the discomfort under control.

Consider talk therapy with a stress counselor, a support group or a psychologist. Talk to your health care provider about your stress. Most people think that the mind and body are separate and function independently. Instead, they usually work together in shaping experiences. Recognizing the ‘mind – body’ relationship is the first step in dealing with the connection and breaking the vicious stress – pain connection.

Author: Paul G Miller

Paul G Miller is a Fort Lauderdale chiropractor who has worked with individuals with back pain problems for seven years.If you would like to receive a free weekly newsletter on spinal decompression,  visit www.USSpineCare.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_G_Miller

Stress and Back Pain

Stress can cause back pain in both the lower and upper part of the spine . Amazingly the same with the sniffles that can be to the common cold, stress can be to back pain. It will exactly result in floor you. It is like a symbiotic relationship..

Stress Causes Back Pain

How stress causes back pain and what you can do about it. Stress is one of the leading causes of illness in the United States. In fact, nearly 66% of all signs and symptoms presented in doctors’ offices are stress-induced.

Back Pain Causes 

One of the most common roots of back pain is stress.  Strong feelings that are negative such as stress, anger or fatigue can be displayed in the shape of a back ache. From time to time, back pain can be short-lived in nature..

Back SleepTips

Improper sleep will only add more stress to a backache. So, the right way to sleep during back pains is putting the least amount of stress on the spine, is to sleep on your side with your knees bending at a 90-degree angle.

Stress Management 

At the 2002 meeting of the American Psychological Association a group-based stress management study was presented that indicated that group stress management training could lower blood glucose levels in Type 2 diabetes.

Reduce Stress with Food

Whenever we get too busy or stressed, we all tend to make poor food choices that will actually increase stress and cause other problems. To get the most of your healthy eating and avoid stress, follow these simple tips.

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