Tag Archive for: back pain

Common-Sense Health: Where Is Your Wallet?

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Keeping things balanced is important, and I try to do that in the Memos I write. Usually I tackle issues that are serious with significant health implications, but life is to be enjoyed so this week, we’ll lighten up before a holiday by talking about a guy’s wallet. And this is also about balance.

When Paula and I had dinner with friends this weekend, the husband talked about the physical therapy for back pain he’s been doing. The exercises have worked, but he chided me: “You didn’t tell me my wallet could affect my back.” Oops. He’s correct.

If you have a wallet in your back pocket and you sit most of the day, the force of the chair on the wallet can compress the sciatic nerve, and voila, you may have pain shooting down your lower back and the back of your leg. A recent paper talked about three men with lower back pain that was due to their wallet.

The simplest solution is to reduce the size of your wallet or just carry what you actually need on a clip in your front pocket or in your jacket: a picture ID, a credit card, your Costco card, and some cash. What more do you need? Membership cards? I have an app on my phone that shows my gym membership so I don’t need to carry that card.

If you have lower back pain, I would recommend you get a referral to a physical therapist to find out how you should deal with it; there may be different muscle groups involved depending on your specific anatomy. But if you’re sitting on a fat wallet that throws off your balance, changing that could make a difference.

How could your pillow affect your hip? I’ll let you know on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Curr Rheumatol Rev. 2017 Mar 9. doi: 10.2174/1573397113666170310100851.

 

Happy New Year!

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2,600,000

Think about how much that number represents. If you were to try to count to 2,600,000, at one number per second, 24 hours per day, it would take you over 30 days. If you were to limit yourself to 40 hours per week, it would take you 18 weeks. And you really would have nothing to show for it.

On the other hand, if you walked 10,000 steps per day five days per week, you would also reach 2,600,000. In that case, it would be 2,600,000 steps. If you began the year as a non-exerciser, you would have improved your fitness level. That’s quite an accomplishment.

Or pick a smaller number: 6,500. If you did 25 crunches a day five days a week, you’d have 6,500 crunches and a maybe less fat under your belt this time next year, and more than likely you’d have less lower back pain.

No matter what your health goal or goals are, just a little effort every day can bring you huge results. It really depends on one question that you ask yourself every day:

What am I prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Supplements for Low Back Pain

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To cope with pain in the lower back, we’ve looked at solutions that deal with mechanics: trying to increase the fluid levels of the discs as well as stretching and strengthening the core muscles. The next logical step is to cover some supplements that can help with low back pain.

Where there’s pain, there’s inflammation. Two nutrients can help reduce inflammation in bones and joints: omega-3 . . .

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Ab Exercises to Help Your Back

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Many of you have asked how to do the abdominal curls and the fanny raises I mentioned in Thursday’s memo. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ve included pictures of each along with some tips to do them correctly.

Abdominal Curl
This is a modified form of the old straight-leg sit up. There are several key elements to make sure that you protect your back and neck. The idea is to curl up as far as you can and . . .

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Mechanics: Reducing Back Pain

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On Tuesday, I talked about what causes bulging discs and one way to help reduce the pinched nerves that cause pain. Today I’ll give you the second tactic to help bulging discs, primarily those in your lower back in what is known as the lumbar region. The solution is simple:

Stretch and strengthen your core.

Specifically, stretch the muscles of the lower back, the hamstrings, and the quads; and strengthen the muscles in the abdominal region.

Most people have an anterior pelvic tilt: the front of the pelvis drops making the . . .

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Mechanics: Why Discs Bulge

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Lately I’ve heard many people saying they have “bulging discs” and the result is some form of back or leg pain. As an exercise physiologist with good training in biomechanics, the mechanics of movement have always fascinated me; this week, I’m going to talk about that subject, starting by stating a fact about those bulging discs:

Everyone who walks upright has discs that begin to bulge at some point in their lives.

Bulging discs are simply part of the deal that goes along with walking. Whether they cause pain or . . .

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