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Sciatica Treatment–The Alexander Technique

Sciatica treatment is most commonly administered to sufferers who have for many years been bending badly in the wrong places. In this article, you will read about how various habits can stress the spine, and how you can avoid the problem completely just by adjusting your daily habits.

The shooting pain known as sciatica happens when the sciatic nerve has pressure applied to it. This usually happens when an intervertebral disc becomes prolapsed, known as a slipped disc. When the discs of the spine bulge, they often press on the static nerve where it exits from the spine. This is commonly felt as a numbness in the buttock and down the leg, and sometimes stretching all the way down to the foot.

Discovering the underlying cause of sciatica is the very best way to figure out how to treat the problem with long-term success. Thus it is necessary to understand how a disc becomes prolapsed in the first place. For the most part, prolapsed discs happen from years of moving, and bending in the wrong way. Whilst most doctors don t address this root cause, Alexander technique teachers do, and they have a fantastic track record in overcoming long-term sciatica.

The Alexander technique was founded over a century ago, however up until recent years it had very little scientific study conducted on it, so there wasn’t much to back it up. The British medical Journal in August 2008 conducted a study of the technique and concluded that it was a viable solution to back pain in general, including sciatica.

sciatica treatments

In an Alexander technique lesson you can expect no brutal manipulation of joints, but gentle movements that guides the body towards less stressful postures in order to release muscle tension. Most people who suffer from back pain have some pretty ingrained postural habits that have ended up doing physical damage over the course of many many years and decades. To reverse these habits, and retain our natural healthy posture, the student has to take a certain amount of responsibility to make this happen. In this way, it has been said that the Alexander principle is more like teaching maths to small children than the usual approach of western countries, which is to prescribe medicine to patients.

In order to become free of the terrible symptoms that sciatica inflicts on its victims, takes a small amount of time, but it is not rocket science. It doesn’t entail any strange stretches or using any strange contraptions, it is really just applied common sense. For instance, it is common for someone to glance themselves in a shop window reflection as they walk down the street and be surprised at how hunched their posture is. This surprise is caused because the way that we feel in our bodies doesn t match up to the image that we see in our reflection. The founder of the Alexander technique, FM Alexander, called this phenomenon faulty sensory perception.

In order to get a first-hand experience of faulty sensory perception all you need to do is to fold your arms. Now without thinking just go ahead and fold your arms the other way. 90% of people will remark that folding the arms the opposite way doesn’t feel quite right, although they won’t always be able to tell you why. The truth is that we never fold their arms in any other way so we have an ingrained habit. In a similar way, everyone’s posture at whether right or wrong feels normal to the individual. A lot of the time one Alexander technique teacher corrects posture, the student remarks that is it feels wrong, like they’re leaning backwards. Yet looking in the mirror confirms that their posture is completely different to what their body is telling them.

With sciatica, the ingrained habits that are resulting in the pressure on the sciatic nerve feel perfectly normal to the sufferer, however this is the one thing that is causing them their pain.Making the connection between a postural habit and the pain of statica is a crucial first step towards freeing yourself of pain forever.

Now, the chances are that as you have been going through this text you will have been pulling your shoulders back to try and correct your rounded shoulders. Nice try. Unfortunately, all you have been doing is partaking in a game of tag on war between your muscles. What I mean by this is that when you pull your shoulders back you are effectively tensing up one muscle in order to compensate for a different tensed muscle that is in opposition. The result is that after five minutes your muscles become tired and you will revert back to your original slumped posture.

At in order to solve this problem thoroughly, you need not to increase the amount of tension in your body, but to actually reduce the excess tension you had originally. And that is what an Alexander technique teacher can help you to do.

I hope this has been of some help to those who are in desperate need of sciatica treatment. For more interesting information on this subject please visit the Sciatica Treatment Blog.

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Back Pain and Spinal Stenosis

A recent study published by Boston University has found out that lumbar spinal stenosis affects 4.71% of the general population, which seems like a very low number. However, 47.2% of individuals in the 60-69 age group have lumbar spinal stenosis on their MRI scan, which is a significant number. The individuals that actually are diagnosed with severe stenosis will approach 20%. These patients with significant spinal stenosis have a 3 times higher incidence of back pain than the general population. As our population continues to live longer, stenosis of the spine will certainly be a significant health problem.

Spinal stenosis is the progression of arthritis in the spine occurring in the neck, as well as in the lower back. As we age, the cartilage in the discs of our spine will lose their ability to hold water. The water in the discs is what helps the disc move and remain flexible to bending and compression. As the discs lose their water content, they become more fragile.If the brittle cartilage breaks, the condition is called degenerative disc disease.As discs degenerate, they will begin to expand and put pressure on the spinal canal and nerve roots. This disc bulging will decrease the diameter of the spinal canal,a condition referred to as spinal stenosis. This slows the information that flows between the brain and the extremities. The arms will be affected by spinal stenosis in the neck and the legs will be affected by lower back (lumbar) spinal stenosis.

Patients with lumbar spinal stenosis will feel back pain, as well as leg pain or fatigue. Because of the fatigue in the legs, patients will have to sit frequently during walks.Lumbar spinal stenosis will also cause patients to find benches in the mall and grab the cart at the grocery store, in order to make it through their errands due to the fatigue. Some patients may attribute their fatigue to age and as they continue to remain active later in life, this may severely limit their ability to join in their families activities.The leg fatigue can cause significant pain and cramping during activity, but is lessened when the patient sits down. The act of sitting opens the spinal canal by decreasing the curve in the lower back,which also occurs while the patient is leaning on the grocery cart.

Spinal stenosis in the neck may cause more severe symptoms. The cervical spine protects the spinal cord as it descends from the base of the brain.Because spinal stenosis in the neck puts pressure on the spinal cord, the disc pressure will cause symptoms related to the area. These include a decrease in the ability to walk as well as problems with the hands.Patients may find they tend to stumble, as it becomes harder to control the feet and legs as the disease progresses. They may also find their handwriting getting severely worse and that they have difficulty differentiating the size and feel of coins or shirt buttons.

Spinal stenosis is usually treated with physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications. Physical therapy is intended to help position the spine and open the spinal canal. With better posture and stronger core muscles, patients may find their leg symptoms and fatigue improve. They may find they are able to walk farther or faster. Oral anti-inflammatory medications are a first-line option for improving the inflammation related to the degenerating discs. When physical therapy and oral medications no longer provide relief, injections of steroid around the discs and nerves may decrease the pain and symptoms related to the nerve pressure. Some patients are able to tolerate their symptoms with a few injections per year.

When all of these efforts fail, surgery becomes an option for improving the patient s pain.Surgery is aimed toward relieving the pressure from the arthritis on the spinal canal and nerves.The mechanical pressure can only be alleviated by physically removing the bone spurs or disc protrusions. The surgical procedures involve removal of bone and disc, as well as protecting the nerve roots. Fellowship-trained orthopedic spine specialists have undergone the most intense training available in the treatment of the spine and are uniquely qualified to treat patients with spinal stenosis.

Dr. Jeffrey R. Carlson is a doctor at the Orthopedic and Spine Center, a leading provider of Hampton Roads orthopedics services such as Hampton Roads spine surgery, Hampton Roads custom fit knee replacement, and many other services. The Orthopedic and Spine Center can be found online at: OSC-Ortho.com

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Treating Failed Back Surgery Syndrome

Failed back surgery syndrome is the term used to describe recurring or persistent pain in the back or legs following a lumbar spine surgery.

Often, surgery is used to fix an anatomical problem, such as a herniated disc pushing on a nerve. Unfortunately, even in the hands of the most skilled surgeon, some patients will continue to have pain after the anatomical problem has been repaired. The exact number of patients who continue to suffer pain is not clear, but more surgeries appear to increase the risk of this condition.

There are many reasons why patients may continue to have pain. Low back pain is often from more than one source. For example, there could be pain from a herniated disc, or pain from arthritis in the small joints, known as facet joints. After repair of one problem, pain may persist from the other. There can be a problem related to the surgery itself, such as a complication of hardware that was inserted or an infection. Continued degeneration of the discs and joints of the spine can also cause pain. Scar tissue formation (known as epidural fibrosis) and inflammation around the nerves (known as arachnoiditis) may also cause pain.

The best treatment for FBSS is prevention. Non-operative therapy should be the first step in treating low back pain, unless there is a clear anatomical problem that requires surgical intervention. Patients should be aware that even with a skilled surgeon, there is no guarantee of complete pain resolution from a low back surgery.

If a person develops FBSS, it is important to have a multidisciplinary approach to treatment of this complex problem. If there are no problems requiring surgical intervention, then multidisciplinary care involving physical therapy, medications and spinal injections should be pursued. Physical therapy should include not only treatments for pain, such as deep heat, but also muscular training exercises and instruction on how to do daily activities to prevent increased pain. FBSS therapy may also include spinal injections, such as injections around the nerves, discs or small joints in the back or neck. Epidural steroid injections are the most common, but there are several other injections that may be helpful for treatment or facilitating diagnosis.

There are some patients that do not respond to less invasive techniques, but they may benefit from more intensive treatments, including spinal cord stimulation or pain pump implantation. Spinal cord stimulation is frequently used for the leg pain associated with FBSS. A small lead is placed in the epidural space around the spinal cord and masks pain by producing a tingling or tapping sensation in the place where pain is felt. Before having the device implanted permanently, a screening trial is performed. A temporary lead is placed where the patient feels pain and they are able to test their response to the device. Once the device is permanently implanted, the patient can turn the device on and off, as well as make some adjustments to the stimulation they receive. Another treatment is pain pump implantation, also known as intrathecal drug delivery system implantation. This pump will place medication directly into the fluid around the spinal cord, which requires a much smaller dose of medication than when taken orally. Because the medication does not circulate throughout the body and a much smaller dose is used, the frequency of side effects is less. Though morphine is the most commonly used medication in these pumps, some other opioid and non-opioid medications can be used successfully.

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Spondylolisthesis Treatment

In adolescents back pain may begin as the bones shift and become irritated because of their abnormal connection in the spine. Children who are active in sports and athletic activities will experience instability related to a lack of connection in the back bones that will start to be painful.

X-rays, taken at this time, may show a break in the bones; however, there are a significant number of these kids with back pain who will have normal looking x-rays. These children may need to have a further evaluation with a CT scan to help visualize the bones of the spine more specifically. Many individuals live their whole lives with a break in their vertebrae and are pain-free until their discs start to degenerate.

The largest group of patients with spondylolisthesis have degeneration in the discs that leads to back pain and doctor visits is the middle age population. As the discs degenerate, they are not able to support the weight of the spine, which allows the bones to shift. Due to the change in the position of the bones, the discs will have to bear the brunt of the patient’s body weight and movement, which in turn, applies more stress to the discs and forces them to degenerate faster.

sciatica

The back or leg pain associated with a mild slippage of the bones will not be any more severe than the normal pain associated with age. There are no particular restrictions in activities that need to be considered in mild spondylolisthesis. As patients age the discs that are between the slipped bones will continue to degenerate. Disc cartilage degeneration can be painful and can lead to an increase in the slippage of the bones. As the spine continues to degenerate and slip, the nerves that are protected by the bones will begin to receive pressure from the discs and bones. Pinching the nerves in the back will cause pain in the distribution of the nerve roots. This pain is felt in the back of the legs and down to the foot, called sciatica. The nerve pain is usually the most painful and many patients will wonder why the doctor is checking their back when it is the leg that is hurting.

The initial treatment for the pain associated with spondylolisthesis is physical therapy combined with anti-inflammatory medications. Exercise, stretching, traction, as well as manual therapies, can be very helpful in relieving the pain. The goal is to try to relieve the pressure on the nerve and mobilize the bones and discs to allow for a more fluid motion of the back without irritating the muscle, tendon or nerves. Most patients respond favorably to this treatment and can maintain their spines with exercise at home. If this treatment is not successful, injections of steroids around the nerves and joints may be helpful in relieving some of the acute pains. After pain reduction, the exercise program may be more effective. If all of these treatments don t work, surgery should be considered to relieve the back and leg pain. Although, most patients are reluctant to have back surgery, with the improved techniques used by the fellowship-trained orthopedic spine surgeon, spondylolisthesis is one of the conditions of the spine that responds very successfully to surgery.

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