Tag Archives: back pain
Which Is Better For Pain Relief: Ice Or Heat? Part 1
If you have a local area of pain (back, neck, shoulder, knee, etc), you may have tried some over-the-counter remedies, including ice and heat. But which one should you use? 1. Use ice to treat swelling. This is especially true for swelling in the lower body (knee, ankle, foot). Prop your leg up so that …
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What is a good stretch for my low back?
A lot of my low back patients tell me that they have tried to stretch their backs out by bending forward to touch their toes. Unfortunately, this is not a good stretch for most of them. So how should you stretch out your back if it feels tight or stiff? Here is a simple exercise …
How to avoid BACK PAIN with reaching/bending
My patients with back pain typically fall into two categories: trauma vs non-trauma. Traumatic injuries can come from a major accident or an easy task done incorrectly (bending down to pick up shoes from the floor and then patient is unable to stand back up). Non-traumatic back pain frequently comes from repetitive poor postures and …
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The difference between Chiropractors and Physical Therapists
Let’s imagine you have back pain, and you need some help. Who do you call? The good news is that you have options: primary care doctor, spine specialist, physical therapist, chiropractor or even alternative medicine (such as accupuncture). So what is the difference between the treatment you get from a chiropractor and a physical therapist? …
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The danger of your first episode of Low Back Pain
Did you know that one of the biggest risk factors for low back pain is prior low back pain? It sounds obvious, but this has huge implications for you. It means that preventing a first episode of low back pain decreases your chance of having future episodes. Therefore, you are less likely to have chronic …
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How many times per day do you reach to the floor? Part 2
15. Reach into bottom drawer of the refrigerator for an apple. 16. Reach down into lower kitchen cabinet for a tupperware to take leftovers to work. 17. Pick up your keys, which you dropped on the floor. 18. Throw your bags into the trunk of your car or your back seat. 19. Reach down to …
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How many times per day do you reach to the floor?
How many times per day do you reach down to the floor to pick up a light object? Consider how you do this reaching because it is quite frequent. And if you bend/twist your back every time, you are at high risk for back pain. So let’s consider a typical weekday and count up the …
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Top 7 reasons why sitting causes back pain
1. Most people sit with slouched posture, which puts your low back in a rounded or flexed position for hours each day. Our backs were not made to stay in one position all the time. This can cause future problems in the spine such as arthrits, herniated disks, and sciatica. 2. People who sit at …
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Why you haven’t lost weight at the gym
I went to the gym today and as I was exercising, I noticed some things that could be problematic for gym-goers. First, a lot of people were doing cardio exercise at a slow or moderate pace. They did not appear to be working very hard. The point of cardio is to strengthen your heart, so …
Pain Talks 