Archive for the ‘Recommended’ Category
For many back pain sufferers, much of the pain is in the muscles. Muscles contract as a reaction to inflammation, causing pain and potentially leading to more inflammation. It can be a vicious circle, and — surprisingly to some — regular exercise can help.
Whether and how much this resource will be helpful to you, and what kinds of equipment and exercises may be most suitable, will depend on the type of back pain you have, the cause(s) of that pain, and the severity.
Foremost, you'll need to okay it with your primary physician, and as a back pain sufferer, you should take great care before beginning any exercise program or adding a new piece of equipment or set of exercises to your existing routine. There is no question that it is of utmost importance to be careful, but in spite of what Rush Limbaugh says on his radio show, study after study prove that people who may have an occasional minor injury while making a sustained and appropriate effort to stay physically fit are most definitely not the ones driving up the costs of medical care.
Every credentialed expert there is seems to agree that there is virtually no end to the potential benefits of being physically fit.
Even so, some people seem surprised that someone who has back pain should, or would want to, work out at all.
But they shouldn't be.
For back pain sufferers — actually, for nearly everyone — there are many benefits to a regular exercise routine that includes both aerobic and progressive resistance strength training.
Further, the right kinds of exercise can do more to help control pain than most people realize, and there is nothing any better than being fit. The right kinds of exercise are good for almost everything, improving the functioning of all your tissues and organs, increasing your energy level and improving your endurance, helping to fight off disease as well as many of the worst effects of our modern, stressful lives. Exercise gets blood and oxygen into your muscles where it's needed, and that helps clean out and metabolize toxins in those muscles that can be related to increased inflammation, which can increase your pain.
Additionally, sufficient exercise, of the right intensity and type, releases endorphins (your body's natural pain-killing opiate) into your system, helping to control the pain and helping sometimes to break the vicious circle of inflammation causing muscle pain, and that in turn causing more inflammation.
Finally, though just about everyone knows by now that exercise helps to reduce your body's overall fat content, not everyone yet realizes the extent to which high body fat has been shown in various studies to increase inflammation, i.e., again leading to pain.
So if you always thought you'd get fit just as soon as you got rid of the pain, you may need to re-think that strategy.
Here at Back-Pain-Therapy.com, we are particularly impressed with the quality of Nautilus and Bowflex equipment. Standard free weights are far more dangerous, take up more space, are a lot slower and more difficult to set up between exercises, and are much, much harder to manage in virtually every context. Further, most other home gyms and trainers we've tested don't even begin to compare to Nautilus and Bowflex.
But the qualify and durability of this equipment is not the reason we recommend aerobic and progressive resistance exercise as a resource.
So long as you okay it with your primary physician, and no matter what equipment you prefer to use, quite simply, and because it works . . .
. . . Back-Pain-Therapy.com recommends exercise as a back pain therapy resource.
Not so many years ago, yoga was not very well understood in the West.
Fortunately, today many in our culture have come to understand its many benefits.
Many practitioners say that a good yoga workout leaves them feeling more in harmony with life.
If you've never practiced or looked into yoga before, as a back pain sufferer you should keep in mind that there are several different kinds of yoga. Some practices may be inappropriate, or even dangerous, for those with certain conditions. We hope to be posting more extensively on these differences sometime soon, but meanwhile, we highly recommend viniyoga and strongly encourage you to learn as much as you can about the differences between the different practices before beginning any routine. You should also get the okay from your primary physician first, and even then, take it very easy on yourself, especially in the beginning.
Back-Pain-Therapy.com recommends yoga as a back pain therapy resource.
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The late science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein once wrote a book entitled The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. That may well be, but for back pain sufferers, the phrase 'Gravity is a Harsh Mistress' — here on Earth — seems a tad more relevant.
Gravity is a force that continuously stresses us from the moment we are born, pulling on our muscles, our bones and joints, and our ligaments.
And because we stand upright, something — according to many scientists — our bodies may not be completely evolved or designed to do, the part of our bodies that is most adversely affected by gravity is often our spines.
The discs between our vertabrae are a bit like shock absorbers, but as gravity combines with muscle imbalances, or stressful positions, or past or recent injuries, it creates considerable spinal compression as the rough and tumble of the day wears on.
Inversion has been around for thousands of years, and the inversion table is generally safer than some other inversion methods.
The inversion table is also very cost effective when compared to some other forms of back pain therapy since you pay the cost for the table only once for, generally, many years of use.
Many back pain sufferers say the inversion table is one of the best back pain therapy resources available. Some say they could not get through most days without it.
But there are some caveats you should be aware of.
You need to be in reasonably good health before trying inversion, and you should be careful to get a table appropriate to your height and weight. Also, if you don't have much upper body strength, especially in your arms, you should probably consider a motorized table. You should have someone standing by the first few times you use it to be sure you are not going to experience too many difficulties. And don't try to go all the way upside down for a while. Start with a small degree of inversion and when you are sure you are comfortable with it, gradually increase it over several days, or even several weeks. Finally, keep an eye on the condition of the table and maintain it well. Don't assume the table will take care of itself. Most are sturdy enough to make you think nothing could go wrong, especially when they're new, but you shouldn't allow yourself to get into the lazy habit of taking it for granted. You should always make sure the table is in good condition and in good working order, every time, before trusting it with your health.
Back-Pain-Therapy.com recommends inversion as a back pain therapy resource.
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Some of our pain and how well we cope with it, and how well we heal, may have much to do with our state of consciousness.
Kelly Howell, the founder of BrainSync, has worked with eminent scientists, brain researchers and medical professionals for well over two decades now developing brain wave therapy programs. Based on biofeedback research, these programs assist in reprogramming the mind through the use of brain wave entrainment therapy. These programs are available on CD as well as by downloaded mp3 audio files through their web site.
Through soothing music, guided visualization, and harmonically layered frequencies, some of BrainSync's programs are specifically aimed at creating a healing state of mind.
Back-Pain-Therapy.com recommends BrainSync as a back pain therapy resource.
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