Back Pain

It's getting to be so bad that by Monday afternoon, you're already tired of being at the office. You're not even thinking as far ahead as Friday. Just getting to hump day is going to be challenge enough.

In reality, it's not the folks you work with who are getting you down - they're tolerable, mostly, although there is that one guy in accounting. Where do they find these people?

It's not even your boss, who, if he knew even half as much as you do, would be a shoo-in for Executive of the Year.

No, the biggest pain in your neck is actually located a bit lower. And it's really what's making working where you do seem a lot worse than it actually is.

Face it. It's your aching back that's sucking the joy out of your nine-to-five existence and making you feel 10 years older to boot.

Sure, you've learned to tolerate the bad coffee, pointless meetings, and lame jokes in the course of your day. But you just can't tough it out when it comes to back pain, which can range from dull, nagging aches to those unexpected twinges that feel like you've been hit with a taser gun.

If it's any consolation, you're not alone. More than 31 million Americans have low back pain at any given time. The bad news about back pain is that it not only lives with you all day at the office but it also comes home with you at night. It may even dog your weekends.


How do you develop pain?

If you are experiencing back pain at the office, you may think that it is coming from all the sitting, standing, and lifting that you have to do. And, indirectly, it does. But it is actually more about how the body has to adapt to all the sitting, standing, and lifting than the activity itself. Let's take sitting as an example.

Because of the amount of time you spend sitting, your body must gradually adapt itself to that position. This happens in a number of ways. The first thing it must adapt to is how the weight goes through your hips and pelvis. Then, there is the way you sit - upright, slouching, or something in between. Most importantly, it's what happens to the muscles while you're sitting. For example, your hip flexors will get tight from being in a shortened position and your butt will get weak and flabby from being in a relaxed state.

That simple combination of tight hip flexors and weak glutes is called a "muscle imbalance." The result of these muscle imbalances will be postural dysfunctions of your pelvis and spine. These imbalances send both your spine and pelvis into abnormal positions, the combination of which can be devastating to a person with a healthy back and catastrophic for a person suffering from any form of back pain.

What can you do about it?

What you must also understand is that your imbalances are the result of what you do in your everyday life - your workouts, sitting, the activities of your job, and your own personal habits. I'm not going to tell you to stop going to work. But what if you changed the way you present yourself at your desk?

Instead of sitting at your desk, try kneeling. I kneel at least 30 percent of the time I spend at my desk. I have a small foam pad that puts me just high enough to type and see the monitor. I sit on a therapy ball - and guess what? I don't sit still like my momma told me to. I move my hips in every direction, which means I'm working on my core balance all day long.

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Lower Back Pain

Each year millions of people struggle with lower back pain and unfortunately, many of them unnecessarily.

The reason is most of the treatments that patients with back pain receive only address the symptoms. And while treating the symptoms can provide some pain relief, it is often only temporary. If you want to get lasting relief, you have to look deeper than just the symptom or even the condition.

The two words that are keeping you in pain

If you suffer from lower back pain, or any other physical condition or injury for that matter, I am willing to bet that you have never heard these two words from the mouth of your doctor, physical therapist or other health care provider.

So what are these two mysterious words? Muscle Imbalances.

See, what most people don't realize is that lower back pain is typically a process, meaning it develops over time. While people tend to attach it to an incident like shoveling snow, sneezing or picking up a box, the fact is the problem has been there for months or years but you are just now aware because there's now pain.

Here's what happens...

Over time, various muscle groups in our body become out of balance. One muscle gets stronger while the opposing muscle gets weaker. This imbalance pulls our bones, joints and spine out of alignment. These muscle imbalances force our body to function in a dysfunctional way and this places excessive, uneven and unnecessary strain and wear and tear on our muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, cartilage and spinal discs.

While we can function with the imbalances, it usually isn't long before the body breaks down. A good analogy is to think about your car. What happens when your steering is out of alignment? Your car pulls to one side and the tires wear down unevenly and if you don't deal with the underlying problem, eventually you'll have a blow out. Well the same is true for your body.

The real key to eliminating lower back pain (or any other ache, pain or injury) is to start at the beginning and that means you need to identify and address the underlying cause, which is almost always, muscle imbalances. So if you are dealing with lower back pain, or any other condition, I suggest you make identifying your muscle imbalances your number one priority and once you do, you'll be on your way to lasting relief.

While this evaluation and treatment approach is extremely effective, it is not well known so you will likely have a very hard time finding a health care professional that is trained in this approach. The good news is, there are simple "self tests" you can do on your own to get very good idea of what dysfunctions you have and the underlying muscle imbalances that have created your condition and pain.

Jesse Cannone is a certified fitness trainer, rehabilitation specialist and co-founder of the Healthy Back Institute. He is recognized expert in the treatment of back pain and has been featured on both television news programs like NBC, radio programs across the US, magazines like Woman's World, Entrepreneur and on leading website like Spine-Health.com, Ediets.com and About.com. Over 32,000 people in 94 different countries around the world have used his "Lose The Back Pain" system to eliminate their pain.

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Scoliosis

What is it?

Scoliosis is a lateral, or sideways, curvature of the spine, which in its normal state should be a straight vertical line when viewed from the front or back. Viewed from the side, a normal spine curves slightly backward to produce a mild degree of roundness in the upper back area and slightly inward curve in the lower back. When a person with scoliosis is viewed from the front or back, the spine appears to be curved to either side of its normal vertical line.

What causes it?

There are numerous causes and types of scoliosis. Neuromuscular scoliosis is caused by abnormal muscles or nerves. This is often seen in people with spina bifida or cerebral palsy, or in those with a number of conditions that include or lead to paralysis. Congenital scoliosis occurs as a result of a bone abnormality that is present at birth. Degenerative scoliosis is bone collapse due to an injury or illness, previous major back surgery, or osteoporosis (a disease that causes thinning of the bones). The most common type is called "idiopathic scoliosis," and a cause for this has not yet been identified. There is, however, substantial evidence that idiopathic scoliosis is inherited.

Who gets it?

Roughly 2 to 3 percent of American 16-year-olds have scoliosis, although less than one tenth of 1 percent have curves that might require surgery (a curvature measuring 40 degrees or higher). It is not known why, but girls are more likely to have scoliosis than boys. Idiopathic scoliosis, the most common kind, typically affects kids ages 10 through 16, and it usually gets worse as a child grows, though it rarely progresses into adulthood.

What are the symptoms?

Scoliosis does not have symptoms as such, but there are discernable warning signs. These include uneven shoulders or hips, a shoulder blade that juts out, noticeable leaning to one side, or walking with a rolling gait. Persons with scoliosis may experience back pain or tire easily during activities that require excessive chest and stomach movement.

How is your condition diagnosed?

Usually, scoliosis is first observed by a child's pediatrician, a parent, or it is discovered during a routine school screening exam. To establish the presence and type of scoliosis, a bone exam is necessary, as well as an X-ray to determine the extent of the curve.

What are the most common treatments?

Most adolescents who are diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis need to be checked every four to six months, which should include a physical exam and an X-ray. For those with a spinal curve anywhere from 25 to 40 degrees - especially if they have at least two more years of growth ahead of them - bracing is the most common treatment. Braces are designed to stop the progression of the curvature and will occasionally produce a temporary correction. When the brace is removed, however, the curve usually will return to its previous position.

Surgery is often recommended for those with a spinal curve greater than 40 degrees. But surgery will only keep the curve from getting worse; it will not bring the spine back to perfect vertical alignment. During the procedure, metallic implants are used to correct some of the curvature and hold it in the proper position until a bone graft creates a rigid fusion in the area of the curve. Surgery usually involves joining the vertebrae together permanently - which is called spinal fusion. Because fusion prevents growth in the fused part of the spine, another technique may be used for younger children. In this case, a brace is always required after surgery.

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