“Back Pain Remedies: Heat and Ice”

How to Use Heat and Ice
One of the most common questions I get from new patients is “when do I use heat and when do I use ice?”
 
 It’s an excellent question and even some doctors or therapists get confused. Here’s the bottom line from my years of experience…
 
 If your pain is new or if you have suffered an acute strain or injury, apply ice. Continue using ice for the next 2-3 days to control swelling and pain. (See “How to Use Ice” below)
 
 If on the other hand your pain has been around for a few days or more or if you suffer from osteoarthritis, then apply moist heat. (See “How to Use Heat” below)
 
 If you are ever in doubt of which one to use, try ice first. If that doesn’t help switch to heat.
 
 Okay, so here’s and advanced tip used by professional trainers of elite athletes and the one you will hear me advise all day long in the office…
 
 Use both!
 
 If you’re pain is older than 2-3 days, then first apply moist heat, then immediately afterwards apply ice. This is a way to supercharge your body’s natural ability to reduce pain and inflammation fast! (See “How to Alternate Heat & Ice” below)

How to Use Heat
Heat is used to increase circulation to allow the body to heal itself. Blood flow brings nutrients to injured tissues so that they may be repaired and rebuilt. Heat can also significantly reduce chronic pain.

How to Use Ice
Ice is best used in the acute stage of pain or injury (the first 48-72 hours). Ice reduces swelling and inflammation. It is also good at controlling acute pain.

How to Alternate Heat & Ice
Okay, now that you have heat and ice down pat, let’s move on to Therapy 2.0.

Use heat for old pains that flare-up, pain that is more than 3 days old and for osteoarthritis.

Moist heat (moist heating pad, shower, Jacuzzi, bath, hot wet towels) are best and penetrate the deepest.

When using heat do not exceed 30 minutes duration and be sure to allow the area to cool down for at least 1 hour before re-applying heat.

Never go to bed with a heating pad! If it does not shut down you will end up burnt. Even if you do not burn, excessive heat makes the area even more inflamed resulting in more stiffness and pain.

When applying ice remember to use caution. Whether you’re using ice bags or chemical ice packs, place a sheet of paper towel between the ice and your body. Also limit ice to 12 minutes with at least 1 hour between applications.

Ice Massage: An old football trainer’s trick is to fill small Dixie cups half way up with water and freeze. Then crinkle up the top brim of the cup to use as a handle and tear off the bottom of the cup to expose the ice. Rub the exposed ice over the affected body part for 10-12 minutes.  Because the ice is melting and you are moving it around, you can get by with direct contact with ice without risking frost bite.

After the initial 24-48 hours following an injury, try this advanced technique.

Start with moist Heat for 12-15 minutes
 
Gently stretch the affected area for a few moments
 
Apply Ice for 12 minutes
 
Wait 1 hour before repeating procedure, if necessary. Always start with heat and always end with ice.

“Back Pain Remedies: Minerals”

This back pain remedy goes hand in hand with the previous one: water. As you’ve read, water is critical for normal bodily functions. But water alone is useless. Your body needs the proper amount of minerals to be present in your body’s water. We call these minerals “electrolytes.”

Your body functions much like a liquid electrical system. Minerals, which are basically very small particles of metal, help conduct electrical impulses from your brain to the muscles via nerves.

Muscles stay in a state of relative relaxation until Calcium is removed from receptors, which then makes the muscle contract. Therefore, if your intake of minerals is low, your muscles will have a tendency to be tighter. And if your electrolytes dip too low, your muscles will go into spasm.

How do we lose minerals?

• Inadequate nutrition
• Hot weather
• Muscular exertion; sports, work, etc
• Medications that cause you to lose potassium or other minerals

How do you get enough electrolytes?

• Diet with variety of foods
• Nutritional supplementation with basic multivitamin and mineral
• Electrolyte drink, powder or pill during times of sports, work, hot weather, etc.

Signs of low electrolytes
Small muscle twitching in eye lid and toes
Foot and leg cramps, usually at night
Back or neck spasm
Fatigue
If severe, irregular heart beats, lethargy and mental confusion

So if you want to do your part in treating your lower back pain, drink plenty of water and make sure you’re getting enough minerals into your body.

“Back Pain Remedies: Water”

It’s no coincidence that our planet, every living thing and of course our own bodies are composed of about 76% water. We were created to thrive on water. Water makes the entire world work. It stands to reason therefore, that if we do not take in enough water there will be consequences.

Most people realize that inadequate hydration can cause illness like bladder and kidney trouble, headaches, fatigue, etc. But you may be surprised to learn that a significant number of people suffer from aches and pains, like back pain due to lack of water.

Without proper hydration, our body cannot perform complex biochemical processes that are required for normal health. Waste products are not flushed out adequately, which leads to build up of toxic chemicals. Muscles, lacking proper hydration tend to tighten up exerting pressure on the spine.

So if you have back pain, do your doctor or therapist a favor and help them help you. Drink more water.

But how much is enough?
Without going into complex calculations factoring body weight, age and activity level, try this test. I call it the T.T. or “Toilet Test.”

Toilet Test for proper hydration

When you urinate, simply observe the color:

• Very pale yellow to clear: Good hydration
• Medium yellow: Pretty good, drink a cup or two more each day
• Dark yellow: Getting dehydrated, drink several more cups
• Dark almost brown: You are dehydrated, drinks lots more water

Also note the odor:

• Well hydration results in very low urine odor because it is diluted.
• A strong odor indicates dehydration and concentrated waste products in the urine.

Are you thirsty?
If you feel thirsty, chances are you are already on the verge of dehydration! Being well hydrated throughout the day prevents thirst. Thirst is a signal tat we are seriously low on water. Don’t wait to be thirsty before drinking.

Drink coffee, tea, soda or alcohol?
These beverages are diuretics; they make you urinate more. So if you drink these, you need to replace the lost water by drinking additional water.

Try drinking enough water to keep your urine clear and low odor and your mouth is moist. If you do, you will probably find that your back hurts less.

Cause of Lower Back Pain: Facet Syndrome

Back Anatomy

The spine has 2 sets of joints: A large joint between the large weight bearing part of the spine which is held in place by the disc and a smaller pair of joints in the back of the spine that guide movement.

It’s the latter joints that this article will address.

The smaller paired joints in the spine are called “facet” (fuh-set) joints. These joints are designed to help guide movement within the spine.

Cause of Facet Syndrome
Facet syndrome is a cause of chronic back pain that results from prolonged stress on the facet joints. It is a form of osteoarthritis of a specific joint. Work injuries, accidents, subluxation, prolonged poor posture and disc disease all contribute to facet joint malfunction. Continued malfunction over time results in the breakdown of the cartilaginous facet joint linings. In time, the bones react by forming spurs in an attempt to fuse the joint shut.

Symptoms of Facet Syndrome
The hallmark of facet syndrome is a deep aching pain that is aggravated by sitting and leaning backwards or twisting at the waist. The pain is usually located within an inch or two of the midline of the spine. It may occur just on one side or it can be on both. Facet syndrome does not ordinarily cause radiating pain (sciatica).

Diagnosing Facet Syndrome
A thorough physical examination of the spine must be done. A simple maneuver where the patient’s back is extended over the doctor’s hand as a fulcrum (Kemp’s test) will usually cause reproduction of the pain. Oblique (angled) plain film x-rays will show characteristic signs of facet joint narrowing, irregularity and often spurs. A loss of disc height is often found at the same level. Advanced imaging like an MRI is not usually required.

For more detailed information and a video tutorial on facet syndrome follow this link.

Cause of Lower Back Pain: Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative disc disease refers to the breakdown and malfunction of one or more intervertebral discs. “Discs” are the spacers and shock absorbers between the spinal bones.

Discs are naturally about 75% water. With physical exertion, gravity, injuries and chronic postural stress the discs begin to lose their water content and become dehydrated. When this occurs the disc begins to shrink or contract. Rather than their usual “rubbery” consistency, they become dried out and leathery.

Under pressure of your body and gravity, the discs begin to thin. This allows the vertebrae (spinal bones) to crowd eachother causing pain in lower back. As the condition deteriorates, more pressure is built up around the spinal nerves passing between the spinal bones, which can cause back and leg pain otherwise known as sciatica. In time, the nerves become more irritated and begin to become damaged resulting in not only sciatica, but more seriously, muscle and reflex weakness.

See a flash video of degenerative disc disease here: http://www.secretdiscsolution.com/flash/HERN.swf

Diagnosing degenerative disc disease is straight forward. A thorough history, physical examination and plain film x-rays will detect this common cause of lower back pain.

Morning back pain and stiffness that improves after a hot shower or period of walking and/or stretching is a characteristic symptom of degenerative disc disease. Physical examination will usually show painful and reduced back mobility with tenderness over the affected joints. X-rays will show the characteristic signs of thinning disc space(s), and lipping or spurring on the vertebral bodies.

Degenerative disc disease is a slowly progressive condition that deteriorates over time. It begins as dehydration and then eventually leads to nerve damage.