Pain Relief

Acupuncture and Back Pain

April 19th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Tip! Basically acupuncture approaches migraines by reducing vasodilatation, which is where the blood vessels from the brain widen due to the relaxation of the smooth muscles within the vessels wall; since there is now more room for blood your blood pressure drops. The reduction of the vasodilatation gives the brain more blood, which is what the brain needs.

Research carried out in 2002 indicated that almost 80% of the world’s population would suffer from some kind of back pain with lower back pain being the most common type. In addition to the high rate of incidence, back pain is also known to have a high rate of recurrence in patients. With patients trying everything from over the counter painkillers to physiotherapy to gain relief from back pain, Acupuncture comes as a welcome change.

Acupuncture is a natural method of treatment that involves no chemicals or surgery. Thin stainless steel needles are inserted into the body at various acupuncture points to stimulate the free flow of Chi or life force through the body. Free flowing Chi results in a healthy and pain free body. Large bodies of research have been able to establish a connection between acupuncture and relief from back pain-especially sciatica.

Tip! With acupuncture’s more than 3000-year history, it’s hard to negate its healing or therapeutic effects. And thus, even up to this day, a lot of people support this traditional medicinal practice.

Sciatica refers to a type of back pain in which the pain radiates from the buttocks down the legs. Sometimes, sciatica pain can also be a consequence of a muscle spasm impinging on the sciatica nerve. Acupuncture can be effectively used to alleviate muscle spasms. The results are almost immediate and can provide relief within minutes.

Back pain is generally caused because muscles that are not frequently exercised and stretched are suddenly put to excessive use. Muscle spasms are common in such cases and result in the individual feeling sore, stiff and a dull ache in the back. Patients suffering from sciatica may even feel a tingling sensation or numbness. This is generally due to the narrowing of the disc space or a disc protrusion in the lumbar region.

Tip! People following Chinese method of treatment, especially acupuncture, guarantees a long and healthy life. The older and probably one of the first few acupuncture transcripts was found back in 200 BC.

Acupuncture is used to improve blood circulation to the entire lumbar region and spinal cord. It relaxes paraspinal muscles and provides relief from muscle spasms. The increased blood flow provides greater nourishment to the discs and increases the elasticity and strengthens the spinal cord. Thus, acupuncture can be extremely effective in reducing back pain symptoms. It is important to remember that different patients respond differently to acupuncture sessions and it can take anywhere between 4-12 sessions to really feel the difference.

Betty Durden is a staff writer for The National Acupuncture Specialists located at http://www.acupuncture-treatment-specialists.com.

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Neck And Shoulder Pain - A Punishment For Neglecting Office Workplace Ergonomics And Desk Exercises?

April 16th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Tip! As a Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist, I take a different approach to the treatment and prevention of neck pain. After a thorough neurological examination, I determine which part of the nervous system is not functioning properly.

Many people, even school children, suffer neck and shoulder pain during their life. Almost everyone becomes limited in their ability to turn their head and lift their arms up with the progression of years. Often we notice the neck and shoulder injury when we get up from our work station, our kitchen table, our piano, or any other nonviolent but repetitive activity we engage in. Repetitive Strain Injury takes a huge toll on the quality of our lives, even if we don’t know it. Neck and shoulder pain should not be regarded as part of a package deal which comes with our computers. There are ways to protect ourselves against it and ways to relieve ourselves from it.

What do we often do when we discover our neck and shoulders are stiff? We turn our head from side to side, up and down again and again, we frantically roll our shoulders back and forth, hoping to “untie the knots”, to free ourselves from the pain - in vain. Instead, while trying to relieve the strain and pain we often injure ourselves even further - making things worse. Then, trying to avoid painful movements in one area, we often strain other areas.

Tip! Pain management doctors are specialists at diagnosing the reasons for your pain as well as treating the pain itself. Arthritis, back and neck pain, cancer pain, nerve pain, migraine headaches, shingles, and phantom limb pain for amputees are among the most common pain problems they usually manage.

Most neck and shoulder pain is caused by poor posture and poor movement habits formed by faulty learning, usually beginning in childhood. When the movement in our back, neck and shoulders is disorganized, some of the forces generated by our muscles create friction that, over time, destroys body tissue and leads to injury and pain. Even when neck and shoulder pain is the result of accidents or illness, unfortunately, when we try to protect ourselves from the pain, we create new bad movement habits that cause us even more pain and could lead to chronic pain. No matter the cause of the pain, the speed at which pain can be resolved goes right back to movement habits learned in childhood and adulthood, and to our ability to learn new patterns of movement, of thinking, and of awareness.

Rather than insisting on moving the already strained and painful muscles, we need to look for ways to bypass the injured area. This way we can achieve what we set out to do and allow the injured part of our body to reorganize itself and heal.

Since it is the brain that organizes movement, effective techniques for shoulder and neck exercises should be developed to provide your brain with the information and experiences it needs in order to form new, pain-free patterns and solutions. Rather than create friction where it hurts, we need to look for Methods that guide us through safe, gentle and easy ways to by-pass those painful areas. With new information from the body, mind, and the new awareness, the neck and shoulder pain should subside - often in only a few short sessions.

Tip! For the full picture on the origins of neck pain and how a healthy spine can accelerate your energy and guarantee your longevity, you can visit various web sites on the Internet that cater to answering these questions. Open up a whole new level of knowledge on your body and exactly how it works.

There are various methods that attempt to approach pain and strain in such a way - some more widely known than others. There is Yoga, Pilatis and the Feldenkrais Method. The first two are extremely well known. The last one and least known of the three, solves targeted complaints using scientifically proven bypasses that are of particular interest and efficacy for shoulder and neck pain.

Daniel was a first-chair violin player in one of the world’s great orchestras. When he came to see Ms. Anat Baniel (a former student and assistant of Dr. Feldenkrais), he was unable to play for nine months because of severe neck, shoulder and wrist pain. None of the traditional therapies helped. He was terrified that his career as a musician was over. Like most people, he had no idea what he was doing wrong and how the ways he was moving were causing him to injure himself. Ms Baniel observed that various parts of Daniel’s body: his lower back, his upper spine and the powerful muscles in his pelvis were not moving at all when Daniel was using his neck, shoulders, arms and hands to play. Ms. Baniel began by guiding Daniel through very gentle movements in those dormant areas that were new to him and felt easy and safe to do. These movements were waking up his brain to new possibilities. Daniel quickly learned to move in better ways that gave him complete relief from neck and shoulder pain, as well as wrist pain.
Two months after Daniel began training he was back to playing.

Tip! I saw the same osteopath for many things afterwards, as anyone with severe breathing difficulties would know all too well. Somehow, getting help for my back and neck pain was the start of my journey of self-help and complementary or alternative therapy.

This cutting edge approach is based in the understanding of how the brain forms patterns of posture and movement - good ones and bad ones. It looks at all aspects of the person: body, mind, emotion and spirit and their relationship to pain. It addresses an “invisible” element that is of the utmost importance in our ability to recover from neck and shoulder pain and prevent future pain: the QUALITY with which we move.

Thousands of computer users suffer from neck and shoulder pain as a result of poor office workplace ergonomics and repetitive strain injury. To assist those that need neck and shoulder pain relief at their work-stations Desk-Trainer (www.desk-trainer.com) offers preset series of 5 minute Anat Baniel Method based on the work of Dr. Feldenkrais desk exercises. The site also offers subscribers training series for fitness, desk exercises and office stretches for protection against repetitive strain injury as well as office workplace ergonomic guidance for organizing the work station.

Eran Baniel brings into Desk-Trainer Ltd. 25 year of experience as Theatre writer & director, head of Festivals and companies, CEO of a lighting design company and until recently CEO of a Medical Device Company.

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