Health News resources and information

Because of the way the bones and discs are loosely strung together, the backbone, or spine, is very flexible and allows for bending and other kinds of bodily movements.

Backaches may be due to many causes. They may be the result of a slipped disc, sacroiliac strain, sciatic neuritis, arthritis, poor posture, or emotional tension. If you have a backache that persists, I would advise a medical check-up. If you are otherwise healthy but develop frequent backaches, they may be due to any of the following causes:

Your mattress may be soft and sagging, thus curving your spine when you sleep. If you do not want to get a new bed and mattress, use a bed board between the mattress and the bedsprings.

It may be that your posture is wrong. Incorrect posture is one of the commonest causes of backache. When your back is thrown out of shape by poor posture or strained from carrying too much weight, the bones, ligaments, nerves, and muscles are either pressed closely together or stretched too far apart, causing pain. For illustrations of good and bad posture, see diagrams on pages 19-20.

You may be carrying too much at one time, for instance, a heavy shopping bag in one hand. This tends to curve your spine to the right or left, causing the back muscles and ligaments to become strained.

Your work habits may be wrong. If you must sit at a typewriter or desk all day, do not slump, but sit upright. When you sit or stand correctly, you will develop a strong, pain-free back. The internal organs are not squeezed together, and it is easier for them to function well. Also, you will breathe better. If your job requires that you do a lot of bending, make sure you take time out at regular intervals to stretch and straighten up.

Watch out for draughts. Try to avoid sitting with your back exposed to draughts from hallways, open doors, or windows.

In women, backaches may be due to abnormalities in the position of the pelvic organs. These are sometimes related to past pregnancies, but women who have not been pregnant may also have such backaches.

Emotional tension creates muscular tension. Stress pain is just as real and severe as pain attributed to any other cause.

When you get a backache that persists despite the above measures, go to your doctor for a check-up. The pain may be due to a minor condition, such as poor posture, or to a more serious disorder, such as a tumour.

Ruptured vertebral disc (slipped disc)

Between the bones of the spine lie discs made of cartilage. This is the firm material that shapes the nose and ears. Sometimes the discs slip out partially from between the spinal bones and press on the nerve roots emerging from the spinal cord. The condition was not fully understood until recent years, and the symptoms were attributed to sciatica, lumbago, or other ailments.

Treatment of backache and other back conditions

Improvement of posture, operations for slipped discs and tumours, massage, and X-ray treatment for certain tumours are among the kinds of treatment the doctor will recommend, depending on the cause.

For the occasional, mild backache, a simple home treatment may help greatly. In addition to taking two aspirins every four hours and resting on a hard mattress, moist heat—such as from a shower or tub of water—at a temperature only slightly above body temperature will give great relief.

Bursitis

This is an inflammation of the lubricating parts around joints. Our joints would creak and wear out if there were no efficient oiling system. Sometimes the smoothly working bursas around the joints become inflamed. When they do, there is severe pain.

Bursitis may occur in an acute or chronic form. In an acute attack, the inflamed bursa may be felt as a tender swelling near the shoulder or whichever joint is affected.

Chronic bursitis may follow the acute attack. There is continued pain and limitation of motion around the joint. In the shoulder, an X-ray will usually reveal calcium salts that have been deposited in one of the important bursas around the joint. If rest, heat, and medicines do not relieve the condition, surgery may be required to remove the deposits or free the area of chronic inflammation.

Disabling infections of the bones

Until the introduction of medicines that destroy staphylococci and streptococci, prolonged disability frequently resulted from bone infections produced by these germs. They can cause an acute infection of the bone called acute osteomyelitis. This infection, which creates acute pain and fever, generally strikes at the long bones of the arms and legs. Children and young adults are most often affected. Prompt treatment with penicillin and other antibiotics will usually eradicate the infection. If not, surgery will be required to drain the affected area.

Miscellaneous disabilities

There are many congenital and acquired disabling conditions that affect the joints and bones in addition to those already described. I list a few common ones, especially those that can be helped.

Congenital dislocation of the hip

This condition is present at birth, more frequently in female than male children. However, it may not be evident until the child starts to walk. Then it will be noticed that the gait is not symmetrical. It is extremely important to diagnose this condition before the child does much walking with the weakened hip joint. At this time, proper treatment can cure the condition without surgical operation. If the condition is neglected even for a year or two, surgery will be needed to reconstruct the hip joint.

Clubfoot

This is another congenital condition that seriously affects the foot. It can be corrected by early treatment. Sometimes only strapping or a cast is required. Serious cases will need expert orthopaedic surgery, as advised above for congenital hip disease.

Frozen shoulder

This very disabling limitation of motion of the important shoulder joint may develop after bursitis. The condition, which results from bands of adhesions around the joint, can also be due to other causes. If exercises, rest, and medicines do not help you, then a doctor who has had experience in the technique may free the adhesions by manipulation of the shoulder under anaesthesia.

Fractures

Fractures usually cause only temporary disability. 1 however, if the bone does not heal properly, there may be disability for life. Fractures in elderly people tend to knit poorly and may need special attention. In the growing child, fractures must be set correctly so that there is no interference with growth.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 5:17 am and is filed under General health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.