Home Remedies for Back Pain

Most of us get a bit of back pain now and then, frequently in the lower back. In fact, every year half of the working people in the United States are bothered by low back pain at sometime. The spinal column, also called the backbone is a series of bones cushioned by small shock absorbers and held by muscles and ligaments. Most low back pain comes from muscle or ligament strain, disk problems, stress or sometimes all of these. The pain often goes away on its own, but may return later.

Disks break down somewhat with age or from a lot of bending and twisting. In some cases, a swollen disk may press on a nerve in the lower back and send pain down the buttocks or legs. Most disk problems will clear up with the proper care. In sever cases, surgery t remove the disk or part of it may help stem the pain and allow the back to be more functional.

Home remedies for back pain
Home remedies for back pain includes:

• When the back hurts, ice pack could be applied to reduce pain and swelling
• When pain is bad lie flat on the floor with your knees bent and your lower legs on a chair or a pile of pillows this helps flatten the back and ease the strain
• Soft chairs must be avoided as sitting could be tough when back is sore
• Walk as much as you can, but only if it doesn't make your pain worse
• If you are disturbed in the sleep due to pain the you could keep pillows under knees while you lie on your back
• If you sleep on your side, bend your knees and put a pillow between them. Don't lie on your stomach
• Take acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen for the pain

Symptoms of back pain:

• Pain in the lower region of the back; may be severe and recurring often
• Numbness, tingling, or a shooting pain in your legs or buttocks, often on one side only
• Pain made worse by coughing, sneezing or twisting
  
• Stiffness


• Bladder or bowel control trouble


• Weakness in one or both legs


• Numbness around the groin or rectal area

Prevention of back pain

• Exercise as often as you can avoid twisting or wrenching your body, or doing anything that seems to make your back pain worse
• Do exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles
• Try yoga, this will help in building strength and flexibility
• Wear comfortable low heeled shoes
• If you sit for long periods, walk around for a few minutes every half hour or so
• Don't lift and twist at the same time. Lift by bending your legs not your back
• Loose weight if you need to. A big belly puts strain on the lower spine

Need of Home remedies for Back Pain

• If you have back pain with the symptoms of nerve damage, especially loss of bladder or bowel control
• If back pain is severe or disrupts your normal activities
• If the pain doesn't go away within a few days or keeps coming back

Radial Tunnel Syndrome - How Rehabilitation Can Help

Radial Tunnel Syndrome is caused when the radial nerve that passes through the radial tunnel in the elbow is compressed, squeezed or pinched. This nerve controls various muscles in the forearm and hand. So whenever any pressure is felt on the nerve, it causes pain and discomfort. A sudden direct blow may also result in affecting the nerve and causing pain.

Non Conservative treatments have shown satisfactory improvements in patients. But in cases where no significant improvement has been felt, surgery is advised.

Nonsurgical Rehabilitation -
If conservative treatment is successful, you will see improvement within 4-6 weeks. But wearing wrist band or strap, elbow pad or elbow splints are always helpful. You must continue wearing either as per the guideline of your physician. Healthy diet is a must along with few prescribed exercises. But activities involving repeated movements of the hand and forearm, heavy grasping and twisting motions must be limited.

Your physical therapist would assist you in performing few exercises. He will design simpler ways to perform your tasks without affecting your elbow or nerve. Therapist will also teach ways to avoid future problems. Your therapist will work on strengthening your muscles and achieving normal functioning of the elbow.

Rehabilitation After Surgery -
Following a surgery, the elbow is placed in a removable splint. You will need to attend sessions for 6-8 weeks with the occupational therapist or the physical therapist. Complete recovery would require 3-4 months. You can start activities with your forearm after a week of the surgery. But you should not strain your affected arm so early. Your therapists will use ice packs, massaging techniques for the soft-tissue and hands-on stretching. These would help in improving the range of motion.

After the removal of the stitches, you may start with strengthening your hand and forearm but very carefully. Squeeze and stretch special putty, perform some isometric exercises. These would improve the strength of the forearm and hand without giving any strain to the tissues near the radial tunnel.
Stabilizing your muscles is also very important. This is done by your therapist not only at the affected site (elbow) but also at the wrist and shoulder, in fact the entire arm. Improvement is required for fine motor control and dexterity of the hand.

How Is Radial Tunnel Syndrome Different from a Tennis Elbow ?

• The location of the pain is the most deciding factor.
  
  • In tennis elbow, the pain starts from the spot where the tendon attaches to the lateral epicondyle
  • In radial tunnel syndrome, the pain is centered and it is almost two inches down the arm. It is felt over the spot where the radial nerve goes under the supinator muscle
• Type of pain may also be taken into account during the detection.
  
  • In Radial tunnel syndrome, more achy type of pain is felt in the muscles of the forearm