How To Treat a Pinched Nerve in Your Lower Back

A pinched nerve in your lower back is also called nerve entrapment, or nerve compression. In layman terms, it is a sore part of the body. A pinched nerve in the lower back may cause anywhere from mild pain and minor discomfort to severe soreness that makes any type of movement excruciatingly painful. Anyone who has experienced the ordeal knows that you would want it to go away, as soon as possible.

Factors Affecting Pinched Nerve

A pinched nerve in the body may be caused by a number of factors. Poor posture where weight is unevenly distributed may result in lower back pain as muscles tend to compensate for the imbalance. Same goes with wearing shoes that do not offer good arch support as the pressure of your body weight is transferred from the arches of the feet to your lower back. Stress is also a known cause of lower back pain. Other factors include obesity, Morton's toe and foot misalignment, uneven leg lengths, prolonged sitting, and in more extreme cases by slipped vertebrae or a concussion on the spinal cord.

Chronic vs Acute Pain

To treat a pinched nerve in your lower back, first you have to know whether it falls under the acute or the chronic categories. Acute pain is pain that lasts for less than 3 months. These cases may be treated with back pain home remedies. Meanwhile, chronic pain is pain that is longer than 3 months. This usually requires a more intensive treatment preferably by a nerve doctor or a rehabilitation therapist.

Chronic lower back pain can be treated by either pressing heat or ice pack (never both, for your sake) over the affected area, or taking mild pain relievers. A gentle back rub using mild liniment may also alleviate the pain. Note that bed rest is never recommended, it will aggravate the situation. If you suspect that your condition is caused by stress, do gentle movement side to side, sit back and take plenty of me-time.

Treatment for Pinched Nerve in Lower Back

Once you have recovered, it is important that you do not suffer a relapse. Study how you can acquire the correct posture so you can evenly distribute your body weight. Engage in back pain relief exercises such as pilates exercises. Use a pair of shoes that has arch support that hugs your feet's shape. Avoid sitting or standing in the same position too long. Take time to understand how you got your pinched nerve so you can give it proper solution.

Joanna Ng is the owner of New Back Pain Relief Exercises and is a certified Master Trainer Pilates Instructor with The Method Pilates.She has more than 15 years of experience in the industry. She specialises in using Pilates for pain relief, myofascial release techniques, gryotonic to nurse many of her clients suffering from lower back pain back to health.

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Must Knows About Back and Neck Pain

Neck Strains - Some Obvious Causes

An important factor that causes a stiff neck is sleeping position. This happens because in our sleep, we tend to remain in one position for a very long time and if the position is not proper it can cause strain in the neck. The muscles get damaged making the blood vessels to be pressed which leads to a stiff neck. Often, using pillows that are too flat or too thick can put more stress on the neck. Such a sleeping position can strain our tendons and ligaments.
The tendons can also strain when we sit for extended periods in a single position or excessively strain our neck during work or sometimes remain hunched behind the steering wheel for too many hours.
Wearing of our joints with increasing age may cause pain. Our joints suffer from wear and tear which can cause problems at our neck or back and even other parts of the body.
Nerve depression in cases such as dislocated discs, bone spurs and herniated discs causes multiple problems to the nervous system, thereby ultimately causing pain in neck and back.

Low Back pains

Approximately, we spend 33% of our lives sleeping hence having a comfortable mattress is essential. Beyond a good night's rest, it can guard us from dozens of health problems. The most important one being back pain. A soft mattress has lesser metal coils and may sink at the hip causing back pain. A high quality mattress should have around 300-400 coils. Anything fewer than that number can injure your back and trigger other side effects. Choosing the right pillow can save us from unwanted stress, specifically on the neck and shoulders. We must always select the correct level of support for our head and body.

Medical disorders

Neck or back pains often don't require a visit to the doctor's office but depending on the intensity of the pain or based upon the types of symptoms, we will have to make the call. Symptoms of a serious medical condition can be from the following list

shooting pain into your shoulder or down your arm numbness in your hands or lack of strength drastic changes in bladder and bowel movementsdifficulty breathing

Diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis affects joints of the fingers, feet etc. Stiff neck is an indication of Meningitis, a disorder that causes inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord which impacts our nervous system. Cancerous Tumors that form near the spinal cord can also inflict pains in the neck and the back. Several problems that cause compression of nerves can cause pain in the back and if left untreated can lead to immobilization of the legs. This is a disorder called as Sciatica.

Treatment

A ordinary stiffness on the neck can be treated by getting some rest or dulling the pain by rubbing ice and hot pain relief creams to relax the muscles at the problem areas. Other stretching exercises subjecting the neck to a variety of motions will help ease the pain. A few of these exercises are neck flexion, rotating and retraction of the neck and side reflexions.

Conclusion

Supportive self care is often sufficient to have total recuperation from neck strain and low back problems but you need to see a doctor when a problem was caused by a major event such as a fall, if it has prolonged for a long time or if it occurs with a severe and unexplained symptom.

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Back Pain Caused By Track And Field

As spring arrives, many people are returning to their favorite warm weather sports. For many students and adult athletes, this means a return to track and field. It is important to educate yourself about the common injuries associated with your sport in order to guard yourself against back pain and other conditions that can take you out of competition.

A number of injuries can occur during any sport. The following describes a few common injuries associated with the various activities of track and field.

Runners

Most people, whether athletes or office workers, tend to have weaker hamstrings than quadriceps. This imbalance causes the pelvis to be pulled down in front and increases the lumbar arch. As the back arches in more, the discs in between vertebrae are compressed unevenly and the spinal joints are strained. Combined with the jolting force your body experiences as your feet pound against the ground when running, joint and disc problems become likely. Weak hamstrings are also susceptible to strains. Runners should take special care to ensure their quads and hamstrings are balanced in strength and flexibility.

Another muscle group runners should be aware of is the hip flexor group, particularly the psoas. This muscle is used when bringing the thigh and upper body closer together. The psoas connects the lumbar spine to the thigh bone and is used heavily when running. Tight, inflexible psoas muscles pull down on the pelvis and create the exaggerated lumbar arch that tight quads create. Running without regaining flexibility of the psoas will likely worsen its rigidity and exacerbate pelvic misalignment, which in turn causes lower back pain.

Regular stretching and myofascial release can help achieve muscles that are balanced in strength and flexibility. The assistance of a physical therapist is beneficial to people with sports injuries.

Hurdlers

Muscle strains are common among hurdlers, especially in the groin and thigh. Groin strain is generally a sign of either bad form or overuse. If you feel groin pain on the side of your trail leg, you may be swinging your leg out too far or too late. If the pain is on the side of your lead leg, you may be doing too many drills with the hurdles close together.

Hamstring strains are a common overuse injury acquired by hurdlers. The hamstring of the lead leg undergoes an eccentric contraction during a hurdle jump, which means it contracts as it is being lengthened by the leg's straightening. This type of contraction comes with a high risk of muscle tearing. The trail leg works hard to push the body off the ground. Hamstring strain is a sign to stop, rest, and warm up sufficiently before practicing.

More troubling than a simple muscle strain, hurdlers have to watch out for sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction. The sacroiliac joints form where the hip bones meet the sacrum at the base of the spine.
Injuries to the SI joints generally occur when the muscles and ligaments that support them are weakened, torn or tightened. The tremendous forces sustained by the pelvis when pushing off the ground can, over time, destabilize the pelvis, causing significant joint pain. Proper form, adequate rest time, good conditioning and sufficient warmup time can help prevent this condition.

Throwers

Whether it's a javelin, discus or shot put, throwers are susceptible to similar injuries. Throwers in track and field use muscles throughout the whole body to build momentum; javelin throwers run, while shot putters and discus throwers spin.

The most common throwing injury occurs to the shoulder. Rotator cuff injuries affect the set of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder, giving it stability and allowing up-and-down and rotational movement of the arm. Repeated throwing can cause tears to the muscles or tendons.

Hip and lower back strains may also occur in throwers, particularly discus throwers and shot putters who twist their bodies as part of their throw. Javelin throwers may also strain muscles throughout the back when lunging forward to throw the javelin.

The best defense against throwing injuries is to avoid overworking your arm and back. Know your limits and take adequate rest periods between practices.

Many sports injuries can be prevented with warmup, conditioning, self-myofascial release and the willingness to give your body the time it needs to recover. Whatever your track and field activity, approach it in a way that will allow you to enjoy your sport for many years to come.

Education in back pain is the cheapest form of self preservation. Learn about what causes back pain and 4 things that cause sciatic nerve pain.

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