Have you been waiting for your back to get better and it just hasn’t improved? The unfortunate truth of the matter is that giving it more time to heal probably won’t help. If you’ve ever cut yourself, you know that within a week or so, your cut will typically be all healed up again like […]
Category - Back Pain
Don’t Be a Nail to Medicine’s Hammer
Just because doctors can prescribe drugs (hammers) doesn’t mean that your condition is a nail. Think of the opioid epidemic and how patients got treated with substances not designed to cure their conditions (nails), but to subdue their pain, allowing their problems to further deteriorate. If the only goal is to give you pain relief […]
Back Pain from Arthritis? Maybe Not
Hardly a week goes by that I don’t get a patient in my office whose doctor told him/her that they had arthritis in their low back, thus the reason for their back pain. In one such case, a physician told one of my patients that nothing could be done, to take pain pills and to […]
So Who Do You Believe?
You want to believe and trust that your doctor has your best interest at heart. You see him/her because you have back pain and have been referred to an orthopedist. You are hopeful that this specialist will give you the best advice for overcoming your problem with the least amount of stress to your body, […]
Experience is the Best Teacher, Especially in Health Care
I couldn’t believe it when I saw this stretch as a recommendation from an orthopedist for workers who sit all day. Now, please don’t think I have anything but respect for specialists who treat degenerative bone and joint problems as well as those suffering from traumatic fractures. But when I see someone encouraging their patients […]
Doing Yoga For Low Back Pain? Avoid This Pose
I do Yoga myself so please don’t think I am against this centuries old tradition. However, I have treated many people who have complained about their back hurting after doing this pose or similar arching poses. The cobra pose even when done correctly, as explained to me by my wife, a certified yoga instructor, can put stress […]
Are Your Pain Pills Really Fixing the Problem?
So, your pain is gone or much reduced. You’re feeling better and moving more freely. Do you still have a back problem? I’m not one for enduring pain or recommending you do either. I am curious as to why people with back pain, however continue to take pain meds knowing full well that the condition that […]
Stretching out your back because it hurts? Don’t make it worse, do it right!
Doing a forward bend is a position that puts undo tension and pressure on the discs in the lower back. If you have a sitting occupation you are already loading your discs so putting more tension in this area, such as when doing a hamstring stretch the conventional way, can make this problem worse. Here […]
Tired Feet or the Source of Your Back Pain?
Don’t discount your feet as potentially being the reason why you have back pain. An imbalance here will be magnified as the distortion builds from your legs to your knees, hips, pelvis and low back. This can be a real effective technique to use. It may be slightly painful so take it slowly at first […]
For all you sitters and runners
Here is a great alternative to the back breaking exercise of bending forward and trying to touch your toes, a potentially dangerous stretch for your discs in your low back. Do this instead.
