Back pain is a common problem that affects millions of people worldwide. It can be caused by a variety of factors, including poor posture, lack of exercise, and improper lifting techniques. However, many people are unaware that they may be contributing to their back pain through everyday habits and actions. In this blog post, we will discuss five everyday mistakes that can cause back pain and how to avoid them.
Osteoporosis is a progressive loss of bone density that occurs mainly as we age but also can be due to many systemic or disease processes within our bodies. Most reach peak bone density by 30 years old, where the body’s ability to replace bone cells equals the body’s depletion (breakdown) of bone cells. After age 30, bone remodeling continues, but you lose slightly more bone mass than you gain. Once the cycle is uneven long enough or bone depletes to a certain level, osteopenia can be diagnosed.
Spinal stenosis is a slow and progressive narrowing of the space where the spinal cord is located. Often this begins without any symptoms and therefore people often don’t even know that its occurring, unless symptoms begin or an x-ray is taken. This narrowing is most often found in adults that are greater than 50 years old. Spinal stenosis is generally caused by normal wear-and-tear changes in the spine related to osteoarthritis. Symptoms are variable and can range from nothing at all, to having a significant impact of daily life.
Posture involves our whole musculoskeletal system at all stages of life. The child carrying a heavy backpack or sitting in classes, the pregnant women adapting to a growing baby, those with desk jobs or travel jobs that sit for long periods, and those with jobs that require lifting. All of these require specific postures, and our ability to adapt in and out of these postures can make these and other activities much easier.
If we sit at a desk for long periods of the day, then drive home, then sit at the dinner table to eat before heading to the couch to relax… What have we done to revert the effects of our desk job?
Shoulder pain is very common, in fact, research shows 47% of people will develop shoulder pain annually and 70% will have shoulder pain at some point in their lifetime. Causes of shoulder pain are broad, and can include arthritis, torn muscles or tendons, damaged cartilage, overuse injuries, bone spurs, swollen irritated bursa, adhesive capsulitis (aka frozen shoulder), referred pain from a pinched nerve in the neck, and even heart attacks.
Shoulder pain can be debilitating, limiting the ability to function easily and comfortably, such as sleeping, driving, using a computer, getting dressed, and reaching overhead. Acute and chronic pain in the shoulder can occur for many reasons, depending on what tissue is irritated. Injuries to the shoulder are often short-lived and heal quickly. This is often the case with a minor sprain from overuse, like gardening, carrying something heavy, or after an awkward movement.
When something goes wrong in the mechanics (the movement of the joint) the pain can be short-lived or set off a cycle of pain and inflammation that can last weeks or months.
Understanding what is irritated and how to manage the symptoms is key to getting rid of shoulder pain as quickly as possible.
The difference between a sprain and a strain is what structure is involved in the injury. A sprain is an injury to a ligament, which are the bands of tissue that connect two bones together.
A strain, on the other hand, involves an injury to a muscle and/or a tendon, which is a band of tissue that attaches a muscle to a bone.
Regardless of the structure injured, a strain, or sprain, proper management is the best way to get back to your normal activity and lifestyle. More severe strains and sprains may need additional time to heal and may benefit from physical therapy to help you regain strength, range of motion, and normal walking or mobility
Research shows every 15 seconds, an elderly citizen in America is admitted to the emergency room due to a fall. As we age, losing balance becomes more common and falling becomes potentially more dangerous. Our bones may not be as strong, our ability to get up off the ground could be more difficult, and medication side effects can make the effects of falling worse (increased bruising, bleeding, or weakness). Recognizing these risk factors can help reduce the risk.
Gardening in spring, yard cleanup after winter, or fall prepare just a couple of the reasons we are pulled outdoors to tend to our yards, flower, or vegetable gardens. Often joint aches, muscle strains, and the beginnings of chronic body pains also begin with this gardening. Spending more time outside in the yard, hedging, weeding, picking up sticks, mowing, and using our muscles and bodies in ways it is not accustomed to. This often leads to temporary muscle aches to overuse joint injuries, such as subacromial pain syndrome, patellar tendonitis, and hip bursitis.
Whether by car, train, airplane, or another form of transportation, it all takes planning, prepping, and readiness to make sure we have all we need to make sure the trip is smooth and as least stressful as possible. Of course, we pack the clothes we need, toiletries, and books for the trip, but what about what our bodies need? To make sure joint pain, muscle aches, and unnecessary body pains don’t limit us on our travels, a little extra planning is always helpful.
Our lives are full of negative influences causing us to have a difficult time maintaining good posture. Modern conveniences promote a lot of sitting or distractions causing us to be sedentary and in prolonged positions for periods of time.
While repetitive activities and being over the age of 50 years-old are common factors for joint pains, prolonged postures and sedentary lifestyles can also affect our pain.