Feb
01
2007

Avoiding Back Pain By Relaxed Sitting

By | Arthritis, Health, Pain, Prevention

This article is about “avoiding back pain by relaxed sitting”. Notably, parents and educators often reprimand children and students to “sit up straight”. The results however are not that favorable. Truly, a 90 degree angle in this position is causing problems. Specifically, it causes the largest movement of the spinal disc and a lot of strain. To put it another way, conventional wisdom has it that sitting up straight avoids back pain. It must be remembered, this has important implications for a large population group that has work situations with mostly sitting jobs. In addition, consequences of bad posture are also quite visible: lower back pain is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada and a major cause for missed work days.

Improper posture and back pain are related

Investigators have presented evidence, that a 135 degree body/thigh sitting position, leaning back, is the optimal position to avoid back pain. The author of the study, Dr.W. Bashir from the department of radiology and diagnostic imaging at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton emphasizes, that the angle of posture has been under question for some time, and improper posture and back pain are related.

Positional MRI scans 

Positional MRI scans have shed more evidence on the spine. There are special MRI machines that take images when the patient is not in a supine position, but in a position that allows the patient free motion during the test. Spinal angles can be measured and spinal disk movement can be observed in various positions and angles.
The 90 degree angle showed most spinal disk movement, creating stress for the spine. Another unfavorable position is a slouching posture.

Avoiding Back Pain By Relaxed Sitting

Avoiding Back Pain By Relaxed Sitting

Scan results showed a reduction in spinal disk height, signifying more wear and tear of the lumbar spine. Spinal disk movement was least pronounced with the 135 degree angle. This more relaxed position poses less strain on spinal disks and the associated muscles and tendons. Employees sitting comfortably versus sitting up straight can make the job place friendlier to people’s backs.

More about back pain: http://nethealthbook.com/arthritis/lower-back-pain/

Reference: The Medical Post, January 16, 2007, page17

Last edited November 2, 2014

Apr
01
2006

Back Pain Improves With Acupressure

By | Arthritis, Pain

This article is about “back pain improves with acupressure”. Generally, lower back pain can be a frustrating condition for patients. In addition, it is a major cause for disability and a source of depression. In particular, for the physician it becomes a vexing problem to find successful therapies. Pain medications and their side effects are often not acceptable for long-term use, and surgery very frequently will not be an option at all.
Additional therapies, which have been frequently used, are chiropractic treatment, massage therapy and physiotherapy. Frequently, the results can vary a great deal depending on the condition. Acupuncture has gained a solid position in the therapeutic approach of back pain, however the modality of acupressure treatment has not received much attention in conservative circles.

Conservative physiotherapy versus acupressure treatment

So far conservative voices could dispute the efficacy of acupressure due to a lack of research data, but new studies are now available coming from the National Taiwan University in Taipeh. Specifically, under the leadership of Professor Tony Hsiu-His Chen and a team of specialists, a randomized controlled trial with 129 patients suffering of chronic low back pain has been conducted. To clarify, the patients received physiotherapy or acupressure for one month as a modality of treatment.

At the end of treatment, the group treated with acupressure showed significantly less disability than the group treated with physiotherapy. The improvement in the disability score of patients treated with acupressure remained at six-month follow up examinations. Pain scores also remained reduced after treatment and at 6-month follow-up in the acupressure group.

Back Pain Improves With Acupressure

Back Pain Improves With Acupressure

These results point to the use of acupressure treatment as a very promising therapy for patients suffering of chronic low back pain.

More information on:

1. back pain: http://nethealthbook.com/arthritis/lower-back-pain/

2. Electro-acupuncture: https://www.askdrray.com/electro-acupuncture-twice-as-effective-as-conventional-acupuncture/

Reference: BMJ 2006; 332:696-700 (25 March, 2006)

Last edited Oct. 31, 2014