Healthy Times Magazine

Back Pain

Most neck and back pain aren’t serious. Most cases are due to muscle strain which may be a consequence of habitual posture or abrupt change of position.

Neck Pain

The most common cause of neck pain is strain on your cervical vertebrae in your neck and the muscles. Sometimes, neck pain is a result of disc degeneration or narrowing of the spinal cord and even cancer.

Best remedies for neck pain

The best remedies – depending upon the causes of neck pain – can be non-surgical or/and surgical treatment.

Cervical herniations – when the cervical disc found between your cervical vertebrae gets misaligned like what happens during trauma – can heal over time. All that you’ll need is bed rest and restriction of your mobility for some time. A surgical collar around your neck provides support, helps restrict mobility and alleviates your neck pain.

Non-surgical options include steroid injections, a traction device to relieve pressure on the nerves, pain relievers like anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and muscle relaxants. Physiotherapy can also help.

When non-surgical treatment doesn’t work to relieve neck pain and your condition becomes worse, consider surgery. Surgery has the advantage of preventing muscle wastage.

Back Pain

Experts say 90 % of back pain is caused by pinched nerves. Envision your spinal cord at your back as a protective cylindrical covering for nerves that extends from the base of your neck down in between your buttocks. The spinal cord is composed of a series of vertebral bones separated by a vertebral disc. When the nerves exit from the spinal cord, gets pinched in between the vertebral bones, they cause pain.

Or when vertebral discs bulge out of the aligned spinal cord due to trauma, injury or mechanical stress, they rupture and then exert pressure on the nerves. The result is excruciating back pain. This is termed herniation.

Aging causes chronic back pain. Spinal cord degeneration narrows it and compresses the nerves. Osteoporosis and arthritis can cause low back pain too.

Back pain may result from strained muscles or ligaments because of repetitive mechanical work, lifting heavy objects improperly and sudden movements.

Back pain remedies

• treatment with non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, naproxene), muscle relaxants  and tricyclic antidepressants (amitriptyline).
• bed rest, limitation of activities can give relief from back pain
• Back pain physiotherapy with heat and ice, electrical stimulation and exercises
• cortisone injections
• Surgical removal of vertebral discs

If you have neck and back pain consult spine specialists. Expert neurosurgeons do surgery for pinched nerves or herniated discs. Plus you’ll get the best advice and treatment from experts. Remember that a good decision on your treatment can free you from a lifetime of pain.