Medizines

It is estimated that 80% of Americans will have some type of back pain at some point in their lives. Many of the remedies we apply with regard to this problem actually work against the natural healing abilities of the human body. This list will help reduce the severity of most cases of back pain and help speed the healing process. In addition, it's always beneficial to consult a professional to rule out more severe
health conditions.
1. Don't use heat. The majority of people have been told to use heat when having back problems. This is the absolute worst thing you can do. Back pain usually has little to do with muscles and everything to do with nerves. Nerve irritation from misaligned spinal bones causes muscles
to brace against the misalignment to protect you from further injuring yourself. This is a good thing. So muscle spasms should not be massaged away or forced to relax. Muscles only do what nerves tell them to do and they will relax only when the nerve irritation is removed.
Back pain is most often caused by nerve irritation resulting from injury to spinal joints and ligaments.
The actual injury that caused the pressure may have happened years prior. Because of the joint dysfunction, the slightest incorrect move or strain can cause the disc and surrounding tissues to swell, just like when you sprain an ankle. The swelling causes pressure on spinal nerves, which causes that shooting pain you feel when you move in certain directions.
The solution in this case is ice. Ice will reduce the swelling which will, in turn, reduce the nerve pressure. Heat, on the other hand, will cause surrounding tissues to swell, which will ultimately increase the nerve pressure. Heat will certainly make some people feel better, but will cause more problems in the long run.
Tip: never, never, never use heat on the spine.
2. Walk. Walking is the very best exercise for your spine. It's even better if you add a couple of inches to your stride, causing you to reach a bit with each step. Walking causes your ab and hip muscles to work together and support each other. It also can cause stuck spinal bones to move a little more freely which can reduce swelling and pain. The movement will also help keep your hip joints moving through
a complete range of motion, which will lessen the chances of them getting fixed to one another.
Tip: one word of caution, though. If walking makes your pain worse, stop.
3. Be careful with pain relievers. While pain pills may the first thing you reach for when your back hurts, you might be causing yourself more problems. Besides the risk of side effects that all pain relievers pose, blocking the pain signal your nerves are sending could make the injury linger.
The pain signal acts as an alarm clock. It alerts you that something is wrong. It also lets you know your limits. If you bend forward and feel a sudden rush of horrible pain, that movement obviously isn't good for you. Your body is telling you not to do that. Now if you cover that pain signal with drugs, you stop your body from being able to communicate that important message to you. This can make you able to do things your body doesn't want you to do, making your problem worse.
Tip: if you're going to take medications for pain, take them before you go to bed or when you aren't going to do anything else that day.
4. No Crunches. People with back pain have been told for years to strengthen their abdominal muscles by doing crunches. While strong abs are important for spinal stability, crunches will eventually destroy your back.
The natural curves of the spine are its most important feature. They act as shock absorbers, much like the ones on your car, and keep your body from falling apart from the physical activity you engage in every day. When you do a crunch, you force your lower back into the floor which
removes the lower back curve. Then the strain from the exercise is absorbed by the surrounding spinal joints, muscles, and ligaments, which they were not designed to do. Over time this will cause problems.
Also, when the curves of the spine are healthy, a naturally occurring locking mechanism exists that holds all spinal bones in their proper places. When you straighten the spine while doing a crunch, this locking mechanism is removed and the spine becomes vulnerable to greater injury.
Tip: find some other exercises to strengthen your abs. Bodyweight calisthenics do this wonderfully. Any exercise where you use your entire body in the movement will produce more powerful abs. Swimming, push-ups, and sprints are great, as well as abdominal isometrics. They won't give you a six-pack, but they will certainly stabilize and strengthen your spine without causing harm.
5. Get adjusted. Misaligned spinal bones don't just move back into place by themselves. It does happen, but rarely. Since some type of force probably caused the misalignment in the first place, a controlled force in the right direction at the right time is needed to correct it.
What you should also know is that spinal nerve irritation is not gone when your pain disappears. It lingers like a cavity until it's fixed. The pain reappears when you physically do too much and irritate the problem, but it is always present once it's created. That's why people tend to hurt themselves in the same spot time after time. It's not a new injury every time it happens, but rather an old injury resurfacing.
Tip: if you had a cavity, you'd get it fixed, so find a good chiropractor and make spinal adjustments part of your health regimen.

The number one reason people go to see their doctors is for the complaints of leg pain, sciatica pain and back pain. The majority of people in the world today suffer from sciatica and back pain. Yet most of them have no idea why they suffer from their pain, nor do they know what they must do to get rid of their leg pain and back pain.
In order to get rid of back pain you must first know what is causing your pain. More often than not, your pain is being caused by tight muscles, pinched nerves, disc herniations and excessive stress and strain on the body.
Most sciatica and back pain are the result of years of performing the same strenuous physical activity, like your job, over and over again. Another cause of sciatica and back pain are traumatic incidents like work-related accidents, car accidents and sports injuries.
The pain can be caused from your back muscles and leg muscles being extremely tight. Tight muscles alone can cause your sciatica and back pain. The best treatment for tight muscles would be therapies that relax and relieve the muscle spasms. Such therapies include massage therapy, hydrotherapy, chiropractic therapy and gentle stretching exercises. Sometimes these therapies alone can get rid of your leg pain and sciatica pain.
Another cause of your sciatica and back pain could be disc herniations in your low back. The best way to describe this type of injury is to think of your disc as a jelly doughnut. That is sitting between the bones / vertebrate of your spine. These discs / jelly doughnuts act like a shock absorber for your spine and nervous system. When your disk is herniated you can liken it to a jelly donut with a jelly squirting out of the side of the doughnut. When the gel that is in your disk protrudes out to the side it usually will sit on a nerve.
Since the nerves that come out of the low back region travel into your buttocks legs feet and toes when these nerves are pinched buying a disc herniation. The pain will travel down the course of the nerve like a highway into your buttocks legs feet and toes.
To determine if you suffer from a disc herniation. Your doctor, usually will order an MRI, which is the gold standard test for finding out if your disk is herniated.
To get rid of your leg pain and sciatica pain. Your doctor will usually recommend therapy in the form of chiropractic therapy and physical therapy. Treatment will usually consist of massage therapy, electric muscle stimulation, stretching exercises and strengthening exercises.
If these therapies do not work and usually your doctor will recommend the decompression therapy and more epidural injection therapy into the spine.
Because decompression therapy is not an invasive procedure and does not require any injections into the spine doctors are prone to recommend this therapy before epidural injection therapy into the spine.
Usually decompression therapy will get rid of your leg pain and sciatica pain from a disc herniation. However, if decompression therapy does not relieve your pain 100%. Then doctors will usually recommend epidural injection therapy.
The epidural injection therapy will help get rid of the inflammation and swelling of the disc and nerves.
Often times, after a course of epidural injection therapy doctors will usually recommend another trial of decompression therapy in order to relieve their patients pain 100%.
By Michael Kenny 

By Philip V. Cordova D.C.

It is estimated that over 80% of adults will suffer from back pain at some point in our lives. It seems every day there is a miraculous new cure available online or via a TV infomercial. Despite this supposed innovation, the percentage of back pain sufferers has remained consistent for the past 30 years. The amount we spend on back pain, however, has skyrocketed. We now spend a staggering 86 billion dollars annually chasing cures for back pain. I want to get back to the basics and share with you my top 5 home remedies to help you cure your back pain and also save you some money in the process.
1) Strengthen the correct muscles. Most of us assume that our back pain is, in part, due to a weakness in our back muscles. The truth is, the problem is actually an imbalance between the back muscles, the abdominal muscles and the gluteal (buttocks) muscles. Surprisingly, the back muscles are often found to be the strongest of the three.
To strengthen your abdominal muscles you should perform crunches. Avoid doing a full military sit up, as this places abnormal stain on, and my aggravate, your pain. The key when performing abdominal crunches is to keep your back flat against the ground. This minimizes the possibility of irritating your back pain while doing them.
The best way to strengthen your gluteal muscles is through lunges. You perform them by stepping forward with one leg and lowering your body toward the floor until your lead knee reaches a 90 degree angle. You then push down with your lead foot, straightening your leg and raising your body back to the starting position. You should focus on tightening the gluteus muscle of your lead leg while pushing back to the starting position. Repeat this exercise 10 times with each leg. You can also increase the effectiveness of this exercise by holding dumbbells in your hands.
2) Increase the flexibility in your hips and back. Back pain often results in stiffening of the joints in your lower back and hips. The best, most efficient way to stretch these muscles is by performing a hurdler's stretch. You start by sitting on the floor with your right leg outstretched and your left leg bent and rotated so your left foot is near your left hip. Bend forward at your waist, reaching toward your outstretched right leg and foot. In this position you will be stretching your back, right hamstring, right gluteus and left quadriceps muscles all at the same time. Hold this position for 30 seconds and then repeat by switching legs.
3) Start walking. Walking is the single most underestimated health strategy there is. In addition to relieving back pain the health benefits of walking include mobilizing stiff joints, increasing blood flow and removing toxins from your joints and connective tissue. It is also a great form of stress relief. Researchers at Cal State University found that just a 10 minute walk is enough to increase energy, alter mood and affect a positive outlook for up to 2 hours. I recommend getting a small pedometer. You can find them at any Wal-Mart or similar store. Your goal is to walk 10,000 steps per day.
4) Watch what you eat. Certain foods are known to increase inflammation in your body, thereby aggravating your back pain. Reducing or eliminating them from your diet can often have a dramatic positive effect on your back pain. The biggest culprits are processed white flour, high fructose corn syrup, red meats, fried foods and soft drinks. Pay close attention to the amount of these foods that are in your diet.
5) Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. A lack of water, or dehydration, is a major player in perpetuating chronic pain. Without enough water in your body there is a build up of inflammatory chemicals and toxins in your joints, muscles and tendons. This toxic build up is a persistent irritant to the sensitive tissues in your back. The recommended amount of water to consume is 8 cups per day. The prevalence of bottled water makes it easy for you to keep track of your intake. As noted in tip number 4, soft drinks and sodas are common culprits in perpetuating the inflammation associated with back pain. I strongly advise you to replace all soft drinks in your diet with water.
Follow these 5 tips and you will see dramatic improvement in not only your back pain but in your overall health as well.