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All Back Pain Special Reports
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Osteoporosis: Not Just a Woman’s Disease
Approximately 14 million American men have or are at risk for osteoporosis. As with women, men with osteoporosis have an increased risk of fracture. In fact, one third of all osteoporosis-related fractures occur in men, and one of every five men will experience such a fracture at some point in his life. To put this into perspective, after age 60, a man's risk of hip or spinal fracture is similar to his risk of developing prostate cancer. More...
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Osteopenia: To Treat or Not to Treat?
Preosteoporosis, also known as osteopenia, refers to bones that are thinner than normal but aren't quite thin enough to be labeled osteoporosis. An estimated 10 million Americans have osteoporosis, but 34 million more -- 80% of them women -- may have osteopenia. The question for doctors: Should everyone with osteopenia be treated to ward off osteoporosis and fractures? If not, who really does need treatment and who can safely skip it? … More...
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Osteoporosis and Digestive Disorders
When you think of the ways a digestive disorder can affect your life, bone fractures probably don't come to mind. But some digestive problems or their treatments can increase your risk of osteoporosis and lead to broken bones.
Lactose intolerance is the most common example of a digestive disorder that can weaken bones, but it's not the only one. People with untreated celiac disease and those who take corticosteroids or proton pump inhibitors for their… More...
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Back Pain – Is It All in Your Head?
Is stress contributing to your back pain? Johns Hopkins explains how the 'fight-or-flight' response can lead to severe back pain … and provides techniques to help you relax.
Could the day be coming when a person who complains of back pain be given a psychological assessment in addition to a physical one? … More...
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Advice To Help You Get a Good Night's Sleep With an Aching Back
If you've ever woken up with an aching back after a night of tossing and turning, you know the value of a good night's sleep. On the other hand, if you've gone to bed feeling pain in your neck or back, you know how hard it is to get that good night's sleep. There seems to be a reciprocal relationship between sleep and pain. It's unclear whether chronic pain is caused by or is an effect of disturbed sleep. What is clear is that pain worsens when you are deprived of sleep. So it's essential to do whatever you can to make sure you sleep as well as you can. Here's some advice from Johns Hopkins. More...
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Is it Ever Okay To Discontinue Your Osteoporosis Medication?
Have you ever run out of your osteoporosis medication and waited days, weeks, or even months before you refilled the prescription? Such behavior is all too common. Half of all individuals with osteoporosis stop taking their medication for months at a time, then begin using it regularly again. But just as yo-yo dieting isn't a good way to lose and maintain weight, stopping and restarting prescription medicine for osteoporosis is not the best way to… More...
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6 Exercises To Help Build Bone Strength and Help Prevent Osteoporosis
Long-term data confirm that the combination of increased physical activity and improved nutrition does prevent bone loss. Johns Hopkins’ experts report on a study from the University of Arizona, Tucson, on six bone-building exercises which could help prevent healthy people from developing osteoporosis.
Exercise and adequate calcium are two of the three essentials for preventing osteoporosis. Vitamin D is the third. Regular exercise can help limit bone loss, improve your balance and coordination, and strengthen the leg and torso muscles that help you stand upright. More...
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A Back-Strengthening Program
Here are nine back-strengthening exercises you can do at home -- stretching and flexion exercises to increase flexibility, and extension exercises to strengthen the muscles needed to counteract the force of gravity.
Most back pain is due to muscle weakness. Therefore, increased strength is the answer to almost every back problem. If you develop a back problem, chances are good that you will wind up on a regimen of daily stretching and strengthening exercises… More...
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The Mind-Body Connection
Could the day be coming when a person who complains of back pain be given a psychological assessment in addition to a physical one? The list of potential triggers of back pain is a long one, including such factors as genetic predisposition, congenital malformations, and traumatic injuries. A growing number of studies affirm that the mind-body connection also plays a role in back pain, both in setting off an initial “back pain attack” and in contributing to ongoing chronic pain. More...
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Calcium Supplements Still Count
Johns Hopkins professor Michele Bellantoni, M.D discusses the importance of taking calcium supplements despite the disappointing results of the Women’s Health Initiative trial.
Health After 50 has long recommended calcium supplements with vitamin D to help prevent bone loss. Recently, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a group of large clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, found little to support this recommendation—or did it? While the media was quick to report that calcium supplements don’t work, experts at Johns Hopkins caution women to talk to their doctors before they throw out their pills.
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The Bone-Protecting Benefits of Vitamin D
When it comes to vitamin D, a few minutes in the sun is all you need, correct? Well, that depends. As it turns out, that is easier said than done for many of us. Draw a rough line across the country from San Francisco to Richmond, Virginia. If you live north of that line, it’s impossible to get enough sun exposure during the winter months to maintain adequate blood levels of vitamin D. And even during the summer, you may not be getting enough vitamin D. That’s especially true if you spend a great deal of time inside, out of the heat—or, ironically, if you’re particularly meticulous about using sunscreen, covering up, and seeking the shade when you’re outside. More...
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Corticosteroid Spinal Injections for Back Pain Relief
Spinal injections can be an effective nonsurgical treatment for people whose back pain does not improve with medication or physical therapy. In addition, spinal injections are sometimes used in the diagnosis of low back pain. When used for diagnosis, specific areas of the back are temporarily numbed with injections of lidocaine, a local anesthetic. If the patient feels relief, the numbed area is assumed to be the source of the back pain.
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An Imaging Arsenal for Diagnosing Back Pain
If you have persistent or serious back pain, and especially if you are a candidate for surgery, your doctor may order one or more imaging studies to pinpoint or confirm the cause of back pain. These studies, each of which has benefits and limitations, provide a view of the bones and the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, cartilage, tendons, and blood vessels). More...
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Treating Osteoporosis with Forteo
Osteoporosis occurs when old bone breaks down faster than new bone is formed. Treatments for osteoporosis—such as Fosamax (alendronate), Actonel (risedronate), Evista (raloxifene), and hormone replacement therapy—all slow bone loss by reducing the rate at which bone breaks down. But another way to treat osteoporosis is to stimulate the formation of new bone. Researchers have worked for many years on the development More...
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Self-Treatment for Back Pain
It is often difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of back pain because so many different structures can be affected. Fortunately, most cases of back pain do not need to have the cause identified and do not require medical attention. Fewer than 5% of people with back pain have a major medical problem that requires either intensive care or surgery.
Because about 90% of back pain episodes clear up within six weeks with little or no treatment, people suffering from back pain can safely try self-treatment as long as they
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Osteopenia -- A Precursor to Osteoporosis
Loss of bone mineral density (BMD) that is not severe enough to be considered osteoporosis is referred to as osteopenia. The term comes from the Latin osteo (bone) and the Greek penia (poverty).
In osteopenia, as in osteoporosis, bone formation is inadequate to compensate for normal bone loss. Osteopenia is more common in women than in men, typically occurs in people age 50 and over, and osteopenia is considered a risk factor for osteoporosis as well as for fractures.
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