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Lower Back Pain
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Available therapies |
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It is estimated that 70 to 80% of people will experience lower back
pain at some point in their life, it often affects relatively young
people and for some people it can become a chronic condition.
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The possible causes of low back pain can be very complex, and there
are many structures in the low back that can cause pain.
Common causes may be:
- Muscular the sudden agonising pain which hits when you
bend over is usually a muscular spasm, also a muscle pull or
strain may be the cause of pain in the lower back
- Ligaments/tendons You can sprain the ligaments or tendons
in your back as you can with any other joint
- Facet joint the facet joints are what enables the spine to
be both flexible and stable, facet joint pain gives similar
symptoms to a herniated disk
Irritated or inflamed nerves
- Herniated intervertebral disc this is often called a
slipped disc and is actually much less common that other causes
of lower back pain.
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Conventional treatments for lower back pain include:
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Advice to exercise
and stay as active as possible
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Drug
treatments for pain relief and to reduce inflammation
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Paracetamol
taken regularly at full strength 1000mg four times daily
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Anti-inflamatory painkillers such as ibuprofen or
diclofenic
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NSAIDs
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Muscle relaxants such as diazepam
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Manual treatments aimed
at helping to reduce the pressure
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physical
therapy
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osteopathic or chiropractic treatments
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Surgery used for severe cases if manual and drug therapies have been ineffective
to relieve pain and inflammation
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microdiscectomy
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lumbar laminectomy
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Complementary
Treatments for lower back pain include:
- Neuro-skeletal Re-alignment
gentle
non-manipulative treatment to encourage spine and joints to align
at their optimum level reducing stress on muscles, joints and
nerves
- Remedial massage
any massage is helpful in short term pain relief but
remedial or sports massage including trigger point therapy is
particularly beneficial in helping to bring muscles out of
spasm.
- Acupuncture
used to relieve pain
- Alexander Technique
may assist the patient to improve posture and help to prevent
further occurrences
- Exercise
(i.e. Pilates or Yoga)
help to strengthen core body muscles
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Useful
Links about Lower Back Pain
http://www.spine-health.com/topics/intro/top01.html
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/backpain/detail_backpain.htm
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=234§ionId=15078
There are several sites
that give exercises to help prevent and treat Lower Back Pain but
remember its important to check with your doctor before starting
to do exercises.
http://www.orthoinfo.org/booklet/view_exercise.cfm?Thread_ID=18&topcategory=Spine
http://www.spine-health.com/Topics/conserv/overview/exercise/ex01.html
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/guides/Adult%20LBP%20Exercises.pdf#search=%22Lower%20back%20pain%20exercises%22
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