Back pain is called the payment of humanity for uprightness. Civilization, scientific and technological progress added work to orthopedists, masseurs, osteopaths and manual therapists, as sedentary lifestyle and hypodynamia also affect the condition of the spine. In connection with the prevalence of the musculoskeletal diseases, there are a lot of myths about back pain. My Canadian Pharmacy will review the most popular ones.
Top 9 Most Popular Myths about Pain Back
1. If the lower back aches – this is necessarily a problem of the spine
If the back hurts – this is not necessarily a disease of the spine. If the patient is a young man who has not been injured recently, then the problem is likely to be something else. The source of pain can be the muscles – with their stretching, or during the flu, when the whole body is aching – these are signs of intoxication. Back pain can be a symptom of a cold, nerve damage, heart, kidney or pancreas diseases, during menstruation.
But, of course, if the back hurts, then, indeed, the spine can be the reason. If the patient is an elderly woman, then first of all you need to think about osteoporosis, when the bones become brittle due to the loss of minerals and hormonal adjustment during menopause. This disease also occurs in men, but less often.
The risk factors for back pain include:
- Low bone mineral density;
- female sex;
- age over the age of 65;
- osteoporosis and / or fractures in the case of minor trauma;
- previous fractures;
- some endocrine diseases;
- early menopause in women;
- low body mass index and / or low weight;
- taking glucocorticoids;
- prolonged immobilization (bed rest more than 2 months).
To prevent osteoporosis, My Canadian Pharmacy recommends eating foods containing calcium, potassium, magnesium – cottage cheese, cabbage, carrots, beans, peas, rice, beets, walnuts and hazelnuts. But the consumption of white sugar, on the contrary, should be avoided – its absorption weakens the spinal apparatus.
2. Back pain is a disease of obese people
Indeed, people with excess weight often suffer from back pain, because of the compression of intervertebral discs and muscle weakness due to hypodynamia. But still, as mentioned above, people with low weight fall into the risk group for back diseases as well. After all, people with low weight have less muscle mass – the “second skeleton”. And the bones are less strong. Athletes with a low weight also suffer from back pain due to overloads. So you’d better have the optimal weight and exercise moderately.
3. High-heeled shoes are harmful for the back
This is not quite true. It is necessary to pay attention to the severity of the natural curves of the spine – lordosis (bending forward) and kyphosis (bending backwards). If the bends are well expressed, the spine is a good shock absorber when walking. If the bends are weak, the spinal column is almost straight – this is an additional factor for compression of intervertebral discs. Wearing high heels allows you to redistribute the weight of the body in such a way that the bends become more pronounced. So in this case, heels are more a blessing than an evil.
4. If you sit straight, you will not have back diseases
In fact, sitting in any pose is a harmful occupation to the spine. Of course, stooping is even more harmful, it threatens with scoliosis – the curvature of the spine. But if you constantly keep your back in suspense, then this is also bad, the muscles are strained and probably will soon begin to ache. Therefore, in the case of forced long-term sitting, for example, in an airplane, try to sit back and change the pose more often, get up and perform simple exercises on the muscles of the back, legs, neck.
5. One must sleep on a hard surface to prevent back diseases
This is completely wrong! Too hard mattress gives bends in the cervical and lumbar spacing of the side on which the person is lying, but too soft mattress makes the head and sacrum tilt upwards relative to the middle of the body. Deformations during sleep would be harmless if they did not carry muscle clamps, infringements of nerves and blood vessels. As a result, the blood supply to the brain is severely affected. And in the morning a person feels not only back pain, but also headache and weakness. This forced furniture manufacturers to design so-called orthopedic furniture. Its main constructive advantage is a system of independent springing elements – spirals, pads, cells, which allows you to maintain a direct position of the spine during sleep.
6. If one suffers from pain in the back, he needs to limit movement, the best option is to lie
Lying and moving at a minimum is necessary only with a back injury. But even in this case, doctors advise still to make some movements, otherwise the bed rest for a long time may result in a significant loss of muscle mass – and even provoke osteoporosis development. There is no way you should let your muscles lose their tone and strength.
7. Do not go in for sports with a sick back
Professional sports are not recommended. As for physical education, see item 6.
8. Weight-lifting is harmful for the back
Not only the weight matters, but the way you lift it. When lifting the weight from the floor, do not bend over, but squat – so the load will lie on the muscles of the legs, not of the spine. When carrying heavy weights, you need to shift the load from one hand to another. If you have to carry weigh in front of you – you’d better press it against you, but not hold on outstretched hands. And do not lift a heavy object when sitting.
9. Osteochondrosis arises from the “deposition of salts and wastes” around the vertebrae
Osteochondrosis is a disease of cartilaginous tissue. The cartilage intervertebral disks undergo changes, their chemical composition and physical properties change – elasticity, the ability to restore the shape after deformation. During the pathological process, the discs become thinner, the spinal column shortens, the blood vessels and nerve roots suffer. And the disks can be squeezed out by the vertebrae – this is called the intervertebral hernia. Hernia also gives a strong pain syndrome because of the nerves infringement.