Back pain is the most common symptom after pregnancy. Approximately 60 percent of women get back problems after they have given birth.

Back pain can be so severe in women after giving birth, that paralysis may occur down in both legs. Severe constant pain in the back with referral of pins & needles and numbness down the leg is the most common complaint after pregnancy.

This is due to the built up pressure along the spinal disc and nerves from the new born infant in delivery.

Fortunately, this can easily be remedied.

Here are 3 easy instant tips to cure back pain after pregnancy:

1. Sacro-iliac belt or pelvic strap

After pregnancy, the most common origin of back pain is from the sacro-iliac joint and lower back. Basically the tail bone, pelvis and the last spine joint is being inflamed. It can easily be remedied by buying a sacro-iliac joint belt or pelvic strap which prevents further aggravation of these joints. They are very cheap and cost US$10-20 from your chemist or supermarket.

2. TEN’s unit

TEN’s unit is basically an electrotherapy device which stops pain by blocking pain signals in your back. It also has a micro massaging effect which allows increase blood circulation and healing to the low back. They are very cheap to purchase and can easily be bought at the drug store or large retail store for US$50-60.

3. Lying on your back and rocking your legs side to side

This will immediately relieve back pain to your low back. It is used a lot in physical therapy and chiropractic practices to help with low back pain in pregnant women. The exercise is basically to lie on your back with knees bent 90 degrees. Then slowly and gently rock your legs side to side. You should not do this in pain. You will get an immediate relief from this exercise as it allows your spine to stretch and allows your spinal discs to rehydrate itself. A very effective exercise!

What is it that causes chronic lower back pain for the millions that experience this deteriorating condition every year? Maybe you have experienced it: the ache that comes from placing even minor stress on the back during normal everyday activities.

The soreness that develops and hinders your capabilities to function at the level you’re used to or desire to be at. Sometimes, the constant reminder that your health isn’t once it once was can be most discouraging about this very real condition. But knowing the cause of back pain and what you can do about it suggests that not only is their hope for improvement, but that the options available are very encouraging for lasting recovery.

Chronic lower back pain is often the direct result of your surrounding muscles losing their vitality to support your lower back. As you age, muscles begin to break down and once what used to be a solid pillar of a core becomes a center surrounded by deteriorating walls of muscle. The lower back then must bear a greater amount of the normal stress applied to that area and gradually breaks down itself, hence the chronic pain to your back.

The solution often then is to refortify that core support so that the back no longer has to support everything on its own. The treatments available offer differing solutions, but a key to all of them is the strengthening of those muscles surrounding the lower back. Core and abdominal exercises are the essential activity for stronger back support.

There are different options for treatment, and the best one is out there for you. Fortify your back with a plan and before you know it your lower back will be what it once was. You can say good-bye to chronic back pain, even after years of pain and having thought all hope was lost.

You can protect your core health once and for all with just the right approach, attitude, and amount of dedication.

Do you know someone with low back pain? At any given time there are 31 million Americans that experience low back pain. That is just the lower back not including the neck and mid-back. Just think of how many Americans that experience neck and mid-back pain as well.

The ACA (American Chiropractic Association) website states, “Back pain is the second leading cause of all physician visits in the U.S. In fact, half of all working Americans admit to having back pain each year. According to a study conducted by the American Chiropractic Association in 2001, 43% of patients seen by a doctor of chiropractic were treated for low-back pain.”

So what is the cause of low back pain? There are many factors that can contribute to this. Stress and trauma are two of the most common contributors. Stress on muscles and joints, from activities such as sports, or other activities of daily living as well as mental stress can cause misalignment of the spine and muscle spasms. Car wrecks, slips, falls and even repetitive motions are some of the traumas that can cause misalignment.

Stress and repetitive motion need to be addressed when dealing with chronic muscle pain. If a muscle is hurting for an extended period of time, then therapy may be necessary. It is also a good idea to get to the cause of the stress or try to reduce the amount of movement in a repetitive motion.

After a muscle is injured from a trauma, such as lifting a heavy object that causes lower back pain, it is imperative to start the healing process with some sort of therapy. Chiropractic care is a great therapy to help muscle and joint pain.

Chiropractic care is fantastic for relieving aches and pains, but it is also great for prevention of future problems. Chiropractic care can be a lot like going to the dentist to have your teeth checked and cleaned on a regular basis. Prevention of disc injury is always better than rehab and recovery.

Chiropractic care can help prevent disc injury by adding an increased range of motion to a joint through manipulation to the spine. This increase in range of motion will help stop scar tissue and calcium deposits from developing around the joint. The muscles will be able to move through out a better range of motion as well after manipulation to the spine.

The number of muscles in the human body varies from about 656 to 850, depending on which source you consult. But what causes muscle pain? Some common causes are stress, over exertion. Sore muscles resulting from exercise or other forms of physical stress will most often resolve after a few days. Other causes of muscle pain may stick around until something is done about it.

There are many things one can do to help alleviate low back pain. A helpful hint everybody can do to help low back pain at night time is keep a comfortable pillow near the knees. Keeping a pillow between the knees while sleeping on your side can help relieve hip tension. And a pillow under the knees while sleeping on your back can help relieve tension in the low back. Make sure it is comfortable from the start. If there is any pain, stop immediately.

Always consult with your doctor before trying new sleeping positions. There are certain conditions that could possibly be aggravated from these positions. There are certain orthopedic pillows designed to help align the natural curvature in your neck and low back. These pillows may help alleviate pain through out the night and even help pain levels the following day.

Lower back pain can be frustrating and may not clear up over night. Start by trying a more conservative approach to alleviating your low back pain before trying more invasive procedures.

Dr. Ryan Marshall, D.C.

Until you feel the pain of it yourself you cannot truly understand the suffering thousands go through on a daily basis. Yet according to statistics, the majority of people in the western world will suffer some major back pain once in their life. Some people however will go through pain not just once, but multiple times, or have it last continuously for years. Mysteriously, although injuries such as whiplash, sports, or poor lifting, can cause back pain, many have pain for no apparent reason. In rarer cases there are more sinister causes, which is why no back pain should be ignored and professional advice should be sought within a week.

So when considering back pain one must first ask was there a definite cause. Then if not, is the cause mechanical (i.e fixable) or not. Then, depending on the possible cause - how can one control the pain? What self-care prevention strategies can one use to ease back pain? What treatments are available?

The fact is back pain can occur from foot conditions, such as swelling, heel pain, burning soles, battered ligaments, and so on. Hip problems, knee problems, sport injuries, car accidents, inappropriate bending, and lifting are all related to back pain. The neck and jaw can also cause back problems by interfering with balance. There are of course many others, but you’re getting the picture. With the many variants related to back pain, one must become educated on how the spine is structured and what happens if that structure is compromised. Let’s get started and learn what we can about back pain, and how we can eliminate such stress in our lives.

Who Do You See Once Back Pain Starts?

There are many people who are qualified to examine your back and identify possible causes. We’ll start with the obvious one - a medical doctor. Well actually, even though they are qualified many doctors are too busy dealing with life threatening conditions to offer a proper examination to determine the cause. This is why they may refer you for tests such as MRI’s or less common these days -X-rays. You may even be referred to a physiotherapist or a consultant. Consultants could be rheumatologists or orthopedic specialists (bones and joints) or even a neurologist (nerve specialist).

One drawback with consultants is if they determine you have a problem they can deal with it may not yet be serious enough for them to consider the risk of surgery. A second drawback is that if they can not find a problem and report such back to your family doctor, you may not get referred again to the correct consultant.

Who else is there?

Well many massage therapists deal with back ache from muscular causes, and those with experience will often tell you quickly if they suspect something else.

But perhaps the most qualified to look at your back before anyone else are those that spent the longest learning about spines, and spend time every day working on them - namely osteopaths and chiropractors. This is to take nothing away from the rest, it is just a fact that when it comes to the spine Doctors of Chiropractic or Osteopathy have had more training and gained more experience.

How do I find a good ‘back doctor’?

First off, do they offer a chance for you to come in and meet them, either for free, or for a minimal fee. This is mainly to find out if you get along with the individual as treatment requires trust.

Second, do they routinely X-ray everyone, or only when clinically relevant? Some argue everyone should be, some say not everyone should be - I suggest you go with what you want and maybe interview 2 doctors!

Third, do they offer more than manipulation? This may be particularly important if you have chronic back pain, as long term exercise may be what you need once initial care has eased the pain.

Fourth, will more than your spine be examined - i.e. your feet, neck and jaw should be checked too.

Conclusions

At the end of the day, what route you follow is up to you, and you should feel comfortable with it. The most important thing is that you don’t suffer in silence and just get examined!

WASHINGTON — The FDA issued a strict warning to four drug manufacturers today: stop making unapproved and illegal codeine sulfate tablets.

The FDA said it never approved the opioid analgesic tabs — which are considered narcotics — and their efficacy is questionable.

“Consumers deserve and expect that their drugs meet modern FDA standards for safety, effectiveness, labeling, and quality,” said Janet Woodcock, MD, director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Companies and products issued warning letters include:

• Codeine Sulfate Tablets, 30 mg, 60 mg from Cerovene Inc., Valley Cottage, N.Y.
• Codeine Sulfate Tablets, 30 mg, 60 mg from Lehigh Valley Technologies Inc., Allentown, Penna.
• Codeine Sulfate Tablets, 30 mg, 60 mg from Dava International Inc., Fort Lee, N.J.
• Codeine Sulfate Tablets, 30 mg, 60 mg from Glenmark Generics Inc. USA, Mahwah, N.J.

The companies have 15 days to respond with a plan to cease marketing the drugs, 90 days to end manufacturing, and 180 days to cancel distribution of existing product.

Previously manufactured samples of unapproved products may still be available in pharmacies after the warning. The FDA is not issuing a recall of the unapproved products.

Some opioid analgesics, such as codeine sulfate tablets produced by drug manufacturer Roxane Laboratories, are evaluated and approved by the FDA.

Although the FDA may approve similar drugs by other manufacturers, for example, during a shortage, the FDA does not anticipate a supply problem for codeine sulfate tablets.

The warning letters were issued as part of an ongoing FDA initiative to crack down on the marketing of unapproved drugs that began in June 2006.

Most of us know what it is like to have back pain. An odd twinge or two or at the worst we literally end up on our backs for weeks. The pain settles down then goes and we tend to forget it. Then it comes back with a vengeance!

Recent reports suggest that at any given time 20% of the world’s population is experiencing back pain and most of them, well actually in excess of 80% of them will never find the cause of the pain.

We call it part of life, the stresses of the world and just accept it. Time to look more closely. Answer these questions Yes or No

Q1- Have you been to your Doctor regarding Back Pain

Q2- Has he failed to or been unable to give you a solid explanation for the pain

Q3- Have you been told to take it easy

Q4- Have you been told to stop doing things

Q5- Do you spend a long time sitting down

Q6- When sat down do you cross your legs

Q7- Do you wake up with a aching back

Q8- Do you slouch

Join the club so did I. For years I suffered from a dull intermittent ache in my lower back. Then I started observing my back noting down in a diary how it felt, even rating the “wellness” on a scale of 1-10.

What did I discover There was no pattern to the sensations. I could lift heavy weights and feel fine.

Watch tv and relax and my back played up as soon as I stood up!

After reading everything I could in books and on line I realized that my own back was hurting itself. The back is made up of some powerful muscles and if they become stressed or out of line they pull and twist causing different pains at different times in different parts of the back. A no win situation.

So what did I do Well I took some early simple steps to alleviate the problem.

• If a pain occurred I immediately changed my position. If I was lying down I stood up.
• I lost some weight of my abdomen. Imagine having several bags of sugar strapped to you belt. How would your back feel after a few hours How relieved would it be if you took the bags off
• At least twice a day I lie flat on the floor on my back, I started doing this after once visiting an osteopath. He asked me to lie flat on the couch and then went off to take a phone call on his return he commented that my back had already started to re align itself and both legs were now of the same length. The simple act of taking all pressure of my back and relaxing started the process.

The last one was the most enlightening.

My back could fix itself if I just helped it along the way.

There are many more self help methods you can use to help your aching back. Not enough space to go into them all now here.

The sacroiliac joints are a common area of instability, particularly when back pain has existed for a long period of time. The reason for this is that there are two primary mechanisms involved in the stability of these joints. When both are addressed appropriately, pain relief can be brought about.

The two mechanisms include:

Form closure

Form closure refers to the stability that is created in the joints simply due to their structural design.

Force closure

Force closure refers to the stability that is created to the joints by the muscular system and the ligaments which surround them.

Most top expert agree that only 1-3 millimeters of movement actually occurs in the sacroiliac joints, however, this small amount of movement is critical to normal function. When the movement is compromised, as it is during fixations, or through degeneration of the joints during the aging process, pain can develop. This pain is not likely to be influenced greatly with general therapeutic approaches. Specific interventions to the dysfunctional sacroiliac joint must be utilized. This may include manual or self mobilizations, or even chiropractic adjustments.

The muscular components of SI joint problems cannot be overlooked. No direct muscles act to move the joints alone, however, the function of the muscles surrounding the joints are critical to the health of them. Faulty movement patterns and muscle imbalances contribute to allowing excess forces to stress the SI joints, rather than effectively transferring forces to the lower body.

Dealing with these two areas thoroughly will allow normalization of sacroiliac joint function and give you freedom from pain.

Have you been bewildered by the many types of back treatment available out there? Have you wondered what would be the most appropriate form of treatment for your back condition? Over the past few decades, there has been quite a number of effective back cures that have yielded results. However, just because there is no proven scientific cure doesn’t mean you have to give up trying altogether in trying to find an alternative cure.

The first step is to isolate the pain to a particular spot. Often, surgery is not required for eliminating back pain problems.

The cure for minor lower back pain can be as simple as getting over the counter medicine to alleviate the pain. You may want to consume anti inflammatory medicine to control any swelling in your back.

For some people, relief comes after administering hot or cold packs onto the affected area to reduce the swelling and desensitize the painful region.

One of the best and most natural way of healing back pain is a good rest in bed. The idea is not to stress the painful back area, and give it a chance to heal naturally. After a few days of good rest, you can carry out light physical motions and be careful of not overdoing it so that the back can continue its healing without being unduly traumatized. There must however be a balance between resting too long and getting going too early and stress your back prematurely. You need to work your back muscles lightly and strengthen the back in the process. Muscles weakened by long periods of inactivity will take a longer time to recuperate and get back to its original strength.

You should just do light physical activities following your recovery and resist the temptation to resume your normal physical activities. Be careful about over stressing your back because that will impede your recovery and might worsen your condition.

At this stage you will need to find the right kind of back pain exercises to speed your recovery process. For example if you are considering weight lifting to tone up your back muscles, you don’t want to be lifting too heavy a weight so soon, or lifting the weights incorrectly. Doing so will impede recovery and cause further back pain issues.

It would be best if you can check with an experienced physical instructor or a physiotherapist on what are the best exercises to do for a speedy recovery. They are generally in a good position to advise what’s best for you after having worked with many cases similar back problems.

For people who suffer more debilitating and chronic pain, back surgery will have to be considered, and it is advisable to seek a second opinion before doing so.

Finally, as there are so many types of back treatment available, the effectiveness of each remedy will be different from person to person. It is best if you can try a few treatments to test out which one is most appropriate and works best for you.

Back pain has plagued the population making chronic pain issues a number one problem globally. The use of various drugs including narcotics, corticosteroids, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines to treat chronic pain is no longer the preferred treatment. Massage therapy has been found to be a much better form of treatment and can also be used in conjunction with medications if necessary. Massage therapy can offer extraordinary relief and also contribute to actually improving the condition causing the pain. A combination of massage and heat can work wonders on tired and aching muscles while producing a more relaxed state. Sometimes a vibrating mechanism is added if it is thought to be of benefit. The combination of massage, heat, vibration and oscillation can be the ultimate of therapies when used correctly and for the right situations.

With more natural forms of treatment being sought after for back pain in particular, using a back massager has become a very acceptable solution. Sports medicine doctors and practitioners consistently utilize massage therapy for many types of muscle injuries including the back muscles. Heat is usually applied also as part of the treatment. In fact many massagers now have the heat source built in so both therapies can be used simultaneously. Massagers are often made for specific parts of the body so the shape and size can be adjusted to accommodate the targeted area. This can enable a person to use the massager in the comfort of their own home and saving on clinic visits. There are several different styles giving the shopper the ability to choose the specific type of back massager they feel will do the best job for their particular needs. Hand held massagers can be held or pressed gently on the muscles needing it the most. These are great for reaching those difficult areas that cannot be treated by just sitting in a massage chair.

A back massager that provides heat used with other therapies such as aromatherapy can be even more effective. Aromatherapy uses scents provided by essential oils and are well known to produce a tranquil and relaxing effect, helping to physically and mentally calm the body. The combination can produce a very pleasing result and depending on the extent of injury, may be all that is needed. A back massager is not just for injuries though, they are fantastic for relieving tension in the shoulders, back and neck where stress tends to wreak havoc and cause the most pain. Massagers are great for use within the comfort of your own home, besides being less expensive and time consuming than traveling for treatment.

Copyright ? 2009

When you are in dealing with problems in your lower back or legs, you will search far and wide for treatment for sciatic nerve pain. The simple things in life are no longer simple. Wherever you go and whatever you try to do, the pain is there.

This pain starts in the lower back and can go all the way down to your feet. This is pain that you can not ignore. It is pain that will hit you whether you are trying to enjoy an activity or whether you are just sitting.

Escaping this pain is not impossible. With proper care you can get the relief that you desperately seek.

Because of the constant irritation of sciatic pain, people look far and wide for cures. They can try acupuncture, medication, chants (it happens). But who can blame them? The pain can take control of ones life, limiting the time you get for the things that you enjoy.

If you enjoy sports, you will be limited in how much you can partake. Even those activities that involve limited movement, or should I say, especially those activities that involve limited movement can be extremely painful. You need to get treatment for sciatic nerve pain to get back your life.

An exercise regime should be a good way to strengthen the muscles that affect your sciatic nerve. Low impact exercises like swimming and walking are good methods to bring relief. Stretching is imperative to getting the muscles in shape. Stretching will conquer the problems for both sitting and other activities. Exercise can be a great treatment for sciatic nerve pain.

I would not recommend any treatment that involves too much aggressive exercise. If you have sciatic nerve pain, you will not want to make it worse by doing counterproductive work. Sciatic pain is quite often caused by herniated disks. You would never want to do any exercises that are going to make that situation worse.

If you think you still want to try this type of exercise, you will need check with a professional first to see if you are ready. Keep your exercise program in mind when you are getting treatment for sciatic nerve pain.

People of all ages have to deal with sciatic nerve pain. There are people of all ages who also never have to deal with this pain. Why? They get treatment for sciatic nerve pain. They take of their pain and renew a comfortable life. Back pain is serious business and must be addressed. No one can just walk away from it.