Do you pop Tylenol for your lower back pain? A new study shows it doesn’t work. Trying an alternative method to managing your back pain could be worthwhile, especially if it affecting you doing simple daily tasks. Plus, you could always look here for more information on how you could effectivly manage your back pain.
The study followed 1600 people for four weeks and it was released in The Lancet, a respected medical journal.
The group was divided into thirds with one third taking acetaminophen, the ingredient in Tylenol on an as needed basis. Another group took it three times a day and the third group took a placebo. None of the participants knew which group they were in.
Both groups tracked their pain daily on a scale of 1-10 for the duration of the study. Here’s the shocker: Each group reported roughly the same amount of pain daily throughout the four weeks.
No matter if they were taking sugar pills or a thrice daily recommendation of acetaminophen the pain was the same.
Three Months Later
Three months later, approximately 85% of the participants were pain free no matter which group they’d been in.
So, is the upshot that acetaminophen doesn’t work? While further studies will be conducted, this could be a surprising finding for most patients and doctors alike.
Lower back pain is one of the most common complaints and is notoriously difficult to treat because there can be so many variables. Lower back pain can contribute to a diminished quality of life. If your back pain has been caused by a fall you may want to speak to a Pittsburgh slip and fall lawyer about any legal action you would like to pursue.
What Does Help Lower Back Pain?
Alternative therapies like massage therapy, gentle yoga and chiropractic can relieve lower back pain effectively and quickly.
Massage therapy
Another study on lower back pain assigned patients a weekly massage for 10 weeks. The results were promising.
After 10 weeks, 36% and 39% of patients who received the weekly massages said their pain was gone or nearly gone. Around 4% of those who had not received massage could say the same.
Yoga
Practicing a few gentle yoga stretches can alleviate lower back pain. For example, lie on the floor on your back and draw your knees to your chest. Next, rotate your knees to the left and stretch your arms out so you make a “T” shape. Then, turn your head so you’re looking in the opposite direction.
Repeat on the other side.
Chiropractic Care
As a chiropractor, I start any treatment plan with Xrays and your medical history so we can have a baseline. We need to know what the symptoms are and what your body shows.
Then, I adjust your spine, shoulder, neck so everything is in alignment.
It only takes a few minutes and it doesn’t hurt. If you have a desk job, you likely sit with your head and shoulders hunched forward for hours at a time. This posture affects your whole body and can cause lower back pain. Old sports injuries, the way you’re sleeping, car accidents and other facts of life may also cause lower back pain. Some people might use liposomal cbd broad spectrum hemp extract and there has been people saying that this approach has been helpful.
The Xrays will give some idea of the problem so we can develop a treatment plan that works for you. It may include some physical therapy type exercises and regular chiropractic adjustments. You may even feel relief within the first visit.
If you’ve been getting cortisone shots for back pain and you don’t feel pain relief, it may not be your imagination.
A recent study presented at the International Spine Invention Society Annual Meeting found that only about 34% of patients who receive these injections feel any relief.
Also called epidural steroid injections (ESIs), these shots are commonly used to reduce inflammation caused by sciatica and herniated discs but they don’t work in the majority of patients.
The reason they don’t work is unclear. Plus, The Department of Orthopedic Surgery says using corticosteroid injections can weaken bones and reduce your calcium levels.
A recent study found even more shocking news.
If you’re having the injections in the lumbar area rather than the cervical spine region, they can increase your risk for vertebrae fracture by 21%. That’s 21% every time you get an injection!
That’s a high risk for something that has such a low rate of benefit.
What Are Cortisone Shots Anyway?
Your body naturally produces cortisone when you’re stressed. Back injuries, which are most often caused by trip and fall accidents amazingly, always result in a lot of inflammation. Your spine is an incredibly important part of your anatomy so these natural reactions are designed to protect it. Cortisone is a natural steroid that reduces this inflammation so you’re in less pain. Ideally, the injections reduce inflammation thereby reducing your pain.
Many people suffering with back pain have multiple shots and don’t feel relief at all or only feel relief for a few weeks. They’re an expensive option for something that may not work and that may have dangerous side effects. Additionally, studies show if they do work in the short-term, you may only find relief for a few weeks or months.
You deserve better.
Alternative Treatments
Your goal is be pain free. By reducing inflammation naturally through a series of chiropractic adjustments, we can help you reach that goal.
Chiropractic care helps reduce inflammation because we re-align your spine which is the life line of your body. Your spine has 31 pairs of nerves in it. If you’re suffering with sciatica or a herniated disc, your spine can be putting pressure on one or more of those nerves which causes pain and inflammation. When we re-align your spine, we take the pressure off. Basically, it’s a natural way to reduce inflammation.
If you’re in the Central Bucks region, give us a call. We can re-align your spine and help you find pain relief. Conveniently located in Doylestown, Pa. we have a new patient special.
There’s nothing like a car accident to wreak havoc on your body. This is especially true as you get older. As you likely know, aging bodies’ aren’t as resilient as they once were. This means you might feel the effects of an accident in a way you wouldn’t have when younger.
For example, if you’re in a fender bender, you may think your car got the worst of it and your body is fine. However, it’s pretty common not to feel pain right away. It can take six weeks or more for you to feel the effects of whiplash or to start feeling back pain after an accident.
In fact, one study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine showed more than 70% of people felt muscle soreness and neck and back pain after an accident even six weeks later.
So, if you were in an accident a few weeks ago and you’re only now starting to feel soreness or pain, that could be connected. Additionally, it makes sense to see a medical professional right away. That way, you can be checked for a concussion or whiplash. Sometimes, it can take weeks for inflammation to set in. That inflammation causes pain and it may be more than a couple of ibuprofen can easily handle.
In fact, this study shows motor vehicle accidents are a big reason people have spinal injuries and seek chiropractic help. Of course, there are a lot of factors that go into injuries – from the type of vehicle to the speed of impact. So, it makes sense to get checked out to make sure you’re ok.
Why Chiropractic Care After a Car Accident Makes Sense
Dr. Jeff McQuaite in Doylestown, Pa. will x-ray you to see if there are any red flags. An x-ray, of course, will show the alignment of your body and where potential problem areas exist. For example, you could damage your neck if you slung it forward and back. Commonly known as whiplash, neck injuries are common after accidents. Or, if an airbag inflated, you might have some internal damage to your organs.
So, having an x-ray is a good idea. Next, Dr. Jeff will give you a treatment plan for your follow up care. He may also recommend a massage to relieve any stiffness.
Even if it was a simple rear-end at a stoplight, the jolt to your body (no matter if you’re on the receiving or not) is traumatic. You don’t want to neglect your health because it can be problematic later.
According to webmd.com, sciatic nerve pain will affect roughly 40% of the population. It’s not that surprising since the sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body. It runs the length of the spine, through the pelvis and into the leg so there is plenty of opportunity to pinch something, strain something or otherwise hurt yourself. Sciatic nerve pain can be debilitating and can send you hobbling to your bed, you’ll want to get to the bottom of it so you can be healed. If you’ve been suffering with sciatic nerve pain for awhile and your doctor recommends surgery, here are a few options you may try beforehand. Physical Therapy – an experienced physical therapist will show you certain exercises to help relieve back pain. Lying on your back on the floor with your knees to your chest and your arms around your legs can reduce pressure on your spine so you feel better. Acupuncture—this Traditional Chinese Medicine approach inserts tiny needles at different points in your body to release blockages. You rest on a massage table for 15 or 30 minutes with the needles in you (you don’t feel them once they’re inserted). This changes the energy flow in your body and can help relieve pain. Chiropractic Care – Sitting, walking and even sleeping can whack our body out of alignment due to the habits we pick up. Chiropractors adjust your spinal column to realign it with your body. This can reduce pressure on pinched nerves or discs and put them back to where they need to be so you feel good again. Massage – Massage therapy doesn’t only feel good in the moment, but it has positive long term effects. When you combine it with chiropractic care, massage helps your muscles maintain the correct alignment of your bones. Yoga – Gentle yoga can be helpful for reducing back pain. You may be able to find a teacher who specializes in yoga for sciatica and other back pain, to find them, ask around. Alternatively, if you want to become a registered yoga teacher yourself but don’t know where or how to start, go to https://www.siddhiyoga.com for more information. If you’re dealing with sciatic nerve pain in Bucks County, Pa. Dr. Jeff McQuaite offers a comprehensive approach to healing. He starts with a full set of xrays and will go over them with you to determine a treatment plan that’s right for you. See the new patient offer here.
Chiropractors do far more than just “crack” backs so if you’re looking for a cheap chiropractor in houston, rest assured that you will be able to feel the difference. They can help you manage pain of all kinds from relieving chronic headaches to carpal tunnel and even asthma!
It might sound a little crazy but chiropractic care takes a holistic approach to your health. That means everything is considered and the goal is to get (and keep) your body in alignment. There is a growing demand for more holistic approaches to treating pain. CBD Balm and chiropractor services are the most popular methods. CBD balms can be applied to certain areas that are causing pain and may be inflamed, and they can be used until you can get an appointment with a chiropractor. You can also find that sometimes you might be a little sore after your first chiropractic session so using the balms after sessions can help you recover a little quicker.
Rather than saying, “Oh, you have a hurt shoulder?” and offering pills or a surgical approach, your chiropractor will actually re align the shoulder with the rest of your body. That relieves the pain.
Here’s the science behind it.
Depending on your habits like how you stand, sleep or walk, your body gets used to certain things and makes adjustments as needed.
For example, if you spend long hours at the computer and your monitor is too high, you can get a neck cramp. It’s like sitting in the front row at the movie theatre. Your muscles will find a new way to arrange themselves to accommodate your desk posture and you’ll realize you’re having a chronic neck pain.
Pain Management and Your Chiropractor
Your chiropractor will put your neck back in alignment with the rest of your spine which will relieve your neck pain. Of course, if you leave your computer monitor where it is, you won’t have fixed the problem. Maybe you don’t even know that’s the source of your problem!
If you’re not familiar with the specifics of an ergonomic workspace, take a look at this article on setting up an ergonomic desk.
And, if you’re like a lot of people, you’ve let it go months or years so you may find your pain management works best with a combination of chiropractic care and massage therapy. The massage therapy helps stretch the muscles and keep the newly realigned bones in place.
The good news is for many chronic and acute injuries, pain management can be handled with safe chiropractic care and you can avoid surgery.
If you’re in the Doylestown, Pa area, Dr. Jeff McQuaite offers a full range of x-rays to new patients as part of their new patient consultation. Isn’t it time for you to feel better?
Are you looking for natural back pain treatment? 80% of Americans experience back pain at some point in their lives. Many of you live with chronic back pain and lose tens of hours of your lives hurting.
For many patients, natural back pain treatment can be a combination of:
1 Adjusting your workspace – Are your shoulders perpetually hunched over a computer? Many Americans are taking on the appearance of a modern-day hunchback. Shoulders rolled forward, a chair that’s not the right height, your computer monitor being too low—all of these can contribute to neck and back pain.
Ideally, your monitor is at eye level. Your arms, wrists and backs are supported by your chair. You may need an ergonomic keyboard or a back support in your chair. If any of these are set-up incorrectly, you might want to look at moving your desk and its components around. Alternatively you could also look into purchasing some new products that can help you sit with a more comfortable posture, such as this 32 inch computer monitor to make viewing easier, for example.
2 Massage – Regular massage can help relieve back pain and when used in conjunction with chiropractic care, it can make a huge difference. The reason is simple; chiropractic adjustments manipulate your joints while massage manipulates your muscles. One complements the other.
3 Regular chiropractic care – Chiropractic adjustments are natural back pain treatment. It’s common for bones to be out of alignment. When they are, they can cause pressure on nerves or organs which can lead to back pain. When your chiropractor adjusts your spine everything is back into place.
Of course, most people’s bodies have adjusted to the “out of place” bones and they’ll creep back. Massage helps your muscles re-adjust to their “rightful” place.
Dr. Jeff McQuaite always welcomes new patients with an X-ray to see where the problems lie. Then, he usually offers a treatment plan that includes hot and cold therapy plus electric muscle treatment (lying on the table with the electric sensors delivering steady buzzing feeling on your sore muscles.)
Most patients enjoy the stem cell treatment and find it relaxes them.
You deserve natural back pain treatment. If you’re in the Central Bucks County area, try Dr. McQuaite and feel relief. Crawl-ins are always accepted.