A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the National Institute of Health suggests that medication is not the best option when dealing with neck pain.

In the study, they tracked 272 patients for 12 weeks. What they found was that those who used a chiropractor, or those that used exercise, were more than twice as likely to be pain free than those who took medication.

With all the kids heading back to school this week after the school holidays, I got thinking about schoolbags and the effect they can have on growing children.  I see children walking to or from school hunched over due to the weight of the heavy bags or bags that are almost the size of the child carrying it.  So what effects can carrying heavy bags have and what is the ideal weight for a school bag or backpack? 

For those of you that have been to see me in my practice will know that I am a big believer in functional movement, movement patterns, flexibility etc.  I am also interested in simple ways to test general movement,
flexibility, coordination and so on. I came across some interesting Brazilian research recently.  They have
developed a simple screening test of musculoskeletal fitness, called the Sitting-Rising Test (SRT).  This test, put simply, is your ability to sit and then rise off the ground. Their research indicates that this test may predict your longevity in the next 5-6 years. 

One of the questions I get asked a lot in the clinic is, “is my back sore because I am overweight?”  It is a hard
question to answer and I usually respond by saying that I see people of all sizes with back pain so it is not the only reason your back is sore, however, being overweight may not help the situation.  In the book The
Physiology of the joints by Kapandji, it says that every extra 1lb of weight a person is carrying equates to 10lb extra pressure on the discs in the lower lumbar spine.  This is quite a big effect and can account for some of the pain an overweight person feels.  This extra pressure on the discs can lead to problems like wear and tear and disc bulges and could also slow down your recovery time.  

Carrying extra weight can also lead to problems with other joints, especially the knees.  The flip side of this, is
that if you lose weight it can have a big effect on the joints. An article published by Harvard Health Publications stated “In one study, the risk of developing osteoarthritis dropped 50% with each 11-pound weight loss among younger obese women. For men who get their body mass index (BMI) down from 30 or higher to between 25 and 29.9, knee osteoarthritis would decrease an estimated 20%. A similar change in women of the same age could cut the incidence of osteoarthritis of the knee by about 30%”. 

Losing weight can help your joints and your recovery, but it can also have a huge effect on the risk of future health problems. We have all heard about the benefits of weight loss for general health reasons.   For example, a 22lb weight loss can reduce the risk of heart attack by 75% and weight loss can help reduce the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes and can help normalise blood pressure etc.  There is tons of information out there about this topic that is very interesting.  I may talk about that more in a future post.

The idea to take from this blog post is that being overweight may not necessarily be causing the back problems you are suffering from but may a contributing factor.  As with any problem, you need to have it assessed to see what the cause is and get it corrected.  Losing weight will help take some pressure off the joints and help protect them, but it will also help improve the overall function of your body.  If you have any questions or have a problem that you would like to have assessed, please contact us, and we can get you started on your road to recovery.


 


 

Our last post looked at why and when to use heat therapy, but what about ice you may ask?  It is common knowledge that if you hurt yourself playing sport, at the gym, or out in the garden, you apply ice to the area to stop swelling and inflammation.  Many people spend 20-30 minutes continuously icing an aching joint or sore muscle.  Research has shown that this can actually be counterproductive.  Dr Romain Meeusen, a cryotherapy expert of the Free University of Brussels says that icing an area for too long can actually make the injury worse and if you are icing an injured area, it should be used with caution.

The ice and heat debate is a never ending discussion.  Depending on what book you read or who you talk to, you will get different answers as to what is best and how to use them effectively.  Here is my take on heat therapy.

Heat therapy can have numerous benefits and has long been associated with comfort and relaxation.  However, it can provide both pain relief and healing benefits for injuries. Heat is best used for sub-acute and chronic or long term conditions.

So how does it work?
Heat therapy can help provide relief through several mechanisms:

• Heat therapy dilates the blood vessels in the area. This process increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and washes away the toxin build up, helping to heal the tissue and reduce pain.
• Short term heat application will only penetrate a few mm's. Deeper tissue reactions are due to local reflexes and require more than 15 minutes of heat.
• If mild heat is used it can decrease sensation of sensory nerve endings.  This means that applying heat to the area will decrease the transmission of pain signals to the brain and help relieve the discomfort.
• Heat application also facilitates stretching the soft tissues around the spine, including muscles, connective tissues and adhesions.  As a result of this, there will be a decrease in stiffness as well as pain, with an increase in flexibility and overall feeling of comfort.

How to use heat therapy effectively
My suggestion for using heat therapy is to have a good heat source like a wheat bag, hot pack or a heat lamp. 
My favourite thing to use is a wheat bag for its ease of use and safety (if you follow the instructions and heat it correctly).  If you are using a microwave to heat a wheat bag, make sure you put a cup of water in the microwave to avoid overheating the wheat.

When applying the heat I have found short bursts tend to work more effectively from a physiological perspective.  Apply the heat for 20min (to make sure it penetrates deeper tissues) them remove the heat for approximately 40 min before re-applying for a further 20min.  These short bursts will help bring two big rushes of fresh oxygenated and nutrient rich blood to the area to help speed up the healing process.  You can leave the heat on for longer, but applying it in shorter bursts will give you the best physiological response.

We stock a range of wheatbags made locally in Whenuapai.  They are great value and great quality.  If you come to my practice, make sure you check them out.  If you would like some more information about this article please contact us.  Stay posted for the next blog on the reasons for using ice and how to use it effectively.