- Anatomy of The Spine
- Back Pain in Children
- Caring for your Spine
- Emerging Spinecare Trends
- Evaluation of Spinal Disorders
- Exercise and The Spine
- Intervention - Spinal Disorders
- Intervertebral Disc
- Non Surgical Options
- Nutrition and Spinecare
- Options for Spine Treatments
- Pregnancy and Back Pain
- Prevalence of Spine Disorders
- Sleep and the Spine
- Spinecare Introduction
- Spinehealth and Disease
- Surgical Interventions
- Treatment with Medications
- Understanding Back Pain
Spinecare Topics
Understanding Back Pain
Low Back Pain
Scientists are examining the use of different drugs to effectively treat back pain, in particular daily pain that has lasted at least 6 months. Other studies are comparing different health care approaches to the management of acute low back pain (standard care versus chiropractic, acupuncture, or massage therapy). These studies are measuring symptom relief, restoration of function, and patient satisfaction. Other research is comparing standard surgical treatments to the most commonly used standard nonsurgical treatments to measure changes in health-related quality of life among patients suffering from spinal stenosis. NIH-funded research at the Consortial Center for Chiropractic Research encourages the development of high-quality chiropractic projects. The Center also encourages collaboration between basic and clinical scientists and between the conventional and chiropractic medical communities.
Other researchers are studying whether low-dose radiation can decrease scarring around the spinal cord and improve the results of surgery. Still others are exploring why spinal cord injury and other neurological changes lead to an increased sensitivity to pain or a decreased pain threshold (where normally non-painful sensations are perceived as painful, a class of symptoms called neuropathic pain), and how fractures of the spine and their repair affect the spinal canal and intervertebral foramena (openings around the spinal roots).
Also under study for patients with degenerative disc disease is artificial spinal disc replacement surgery. The damaged disc is removed and a metal and plastic disc about the size of a quarter is inserted into the spine. Ideal candidates for disc replacement surgery are persons between the ages of 20 and 60 who have only one degenerating disc, do not have a systemic bone disease such as osteoporosis, have not had previous back surgery, and have failed to respond to other forms of nonsurgical treatment. Compared to other forms of back surgery, recovery from this form of surgery appears to be shorter and the procedure has fewer complications.
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Low Back Pain
- Ask for help when transferring an ill or injured family member from a reclining to a sitting position or when moving the patient from a chair to a bed.
- Don’t try to lift objects too heavy for you. Lift with your knees, pull in your stomach muscles, and keep your head down and in line with your straight back. Keep the object close to your body. Do not twist when lifting.
- Maintain proper nutrition and diet to reduce and prevent excessive weight, especially weight around the waistline that taxes lower back muscles. A diet with sufficient daily intake of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D helps to promote new bone growth.
- If you smoke, quit. Smoking reduces blood flow to the lower spine and causes the spinal discs to degenerate.
Scientists are examining the use of different drugs to effectively treat back pain, in particular daily pain that has lasted at least 6 months. Other studies are comparing different health care approaches to the management of acute low back pain (standard care versus chiropractic, acupuncture, or massage therapy). These studies are measuring symptom relief, restoration of function, and patient satisfaction. Other research is comparing standard surgical treatments to the most commonly used standard nonsurgical treatments to measure changes in health-related quality of life among patients suffering from spinal stenosis. NIH-funded research at the Consortial Center for Chiropractic Research encourages the development of high-quality chiropractic projects. The Center also encourages collaboration between basic and clinical scientists and between the conventional and chiropractic medical communities.
Other researchers are studying whether low-dose radiation can decrease scarring around the spinal cord and improve the results of surgery. Still others are exploring why spinal cord injury and other neurological changes lead to an increased sensitivity to pain or a decreased pain threshold (where normally non-painful sensations are perceived as painful, a class of symptoms called neuropathic pain), and how fractures of the spine and their repair affect the spinal canal and intervertebral foramena (openings around the spinal roots).
Also under study for patients with degenerative disc disease is artificial spinal disc replacement surgery. The damaged disc is removed and a metal and plastic disc about the size of a quarter is inserted into the spine. Ideal candidates for disc replacement surgery are persons between the ages of 20 and 60 who have only one degenerating disc, do not have a systemic bone disease such as osteoporosis, have not had previous back surgery, and have failed to respond to other forms of nonsurgical treatment. Compared to other forms of back surgery, recovery from this form of surgery appears to be shorter and the procedure has fewer complications.
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