Smoking's Link to Back Problems

Smoking causes cancer, lung disease and heart attacks, and disrupts body chemistry in such dangerous ways that a host of other ailments can result. So it's not surprising that even back problems might be caused by nicotine and smoke ingestion. Indeed, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) says smoking diminishes the blood supply to the bones, and saps them of calcium, both of which increase the possibility of the onset of osteoporosis. Suggestive of the relationship between smoking and back issues, one's chances for success after back surgery improve dramatically if one is a nonsmoker or has ceased smoking.

 - Smoking's Link to Back Problems

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Low Back Pain Recovery Slow and Uncertain

Current clinical practice guidelines state that 90% of acute lower back pain patients will recover within four to six weeks, with or without treatment. However, new research published in The British Medical Journal has found that recovery from low back pain is much slower than previously thought. Australian researchers from The George Insitute studied patients with acute low back pain for a year. The results from the study found that even with treatment, after two months only half of the patients had recovered from the original episode of pain. After about one year, 40% were still reporting that their back was still causing them pain.

 - Low Back Pain Recovery Slow and Uncertain

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Only Exercise Found to Prevent Low-Back Problems

Exercise in workplace and community environments is excellent in halting low-back problems, while a variety of other popular interventions have little if any beneficial effect, according to a recent review of a number of high-scientific-quality clinical trials. (Read more about Only Exercise Found to Prevent Low-Back Problems)

 - Only Exercise Found to Prevent Low-Back Problems

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Doctors Cautiously Endorse Cerebrospinal-Fluid Pain Therapy

Injecting painkillers into the thin layer of fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord can be effective in relieving pain and restoring function, but there are many risks associated with the procedure, which should be used only as a last resort, specialists said.

The physicians, who spoke at a meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, criticized the freewheeling use of pain medications and technologies, which include implantable, programmable pumps and catheters to deliver the drugs.

 - Doctors Cautiously Endorse Cerebrospinal-Fluid Pain Therapy

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Stem Cells Can Aid Spinal Disc Repair

A study using a handful of large animals strongly suggests that stem cells transferred from the body's own fat can facilitate the repair of damaged spinal discs. Stem cell treatments appeared to increase disc tissue density, concentration of disc matrix proteins between the disc cells, and disc water content.

If clinical studies bear out the results of this research, it could represent a real breakthrough for the more than 300,000 patients undergoing spinal surgery every year. (Read more about Stem Cells Can Aid Spinal Disc Repair)

 - Stem Cells Can Aid Spinal Disc Repair

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 - Low Back Pain Recovery Slow and Uncertain
 - Smoking's Link to Back Problems
 - Doctors Cautiously Endorse Cerebrospinal-Fluid Pain Therapy

A Step Toward Overcoming Paralysis

U.S. scientists have created a machine that allows the brain cells of paralyzed monkeys to circumvent a simulated damaged spinal cord and move muscles well enough to play a computer game. The University of Washington researchers, led by Chet Moritz and Eberhard Fetz, used a computer-controlled device to stimulate chemically immobilized muscles. Not only cells in the motor cortex - the brain area that controls movement - were investigated, but sensory cells, too. And they worked equally well. In fact, the scientists found that two-thirds of the neurons they tried could be utilized to move musculature.

 - A Step Toward Overcoming Paralysis

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The Progression of Spinal Decompression

Spinal Decompression has had many technological milestones. Some early tables were just straight pulley tables which were slightly more advanced than traction because they were software driven, yet they would only allow a set amount of pressure. Over time, spinal decompression tables were developed to have a ramp up and ramp down speed of distraction - making for a much smoother experience for the patient. Later advances followed in the form of belting and improved patient comfort.

 - The Progression of Spinal Decompression

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What is Spinal Decompression Therapy?

Spinal Decompression is a non-invasive, non-surgical technology where a patient is placed onto an instrument which belts them in and separates their lower body from their upper body. This allows for pressure to be relieved on certain joints and structures in either the lumbar or cervical regions of the spine. The treatment lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the type of device being used. Patients are usually placed on a protocol that is software driven.

 - What is Spinal Decompression Therapy?

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When to See a Doctor for Back Pain

Back injuries, with their associated pain, are so widespread that they have become the costliest health care problem for those in the 30-50 age range. So says the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Back pain is probably the commonest reason people seek help for pain management other than acute post-surgical pain," says Dr. Michael Ramsay, chief of the department of anesthesiology and pain management at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.

 - When to See a Doctor for Back Pain

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One Simple Solution to Neck Pain: Good Posture

Treating and preventing chronic neck pain can often be successfully accomplished by something as simple as adopting correct posture while waking and sleeping. While the pain sufferer can treat the symptoms of frequent neck "cricks" with neck stretch exercises, painkillers or ice applications, the symptoms' root causes must be dealt with differently. These root causes often involve some kind of poor posture, says Dr. Brian Bruel, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation on the one hand, and anesthesiology and pain management on the other, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Posture violators might crouch over a desk all day long, slouch on a sofa while watching TV, or contort themselves while reading.

 - One Simple Solution to Neck Pain: Good Posture

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