Search
Related Links

 

 

Informative Articles

Drug Interactions
"Definition A drug interaction refers to the possibility that one drug may alter the pharmacological effects of another drug given concurrently. The net result may be enhanced or diminished effects of one or both of the drugs or a new effect that...

Marital Clashes Can Slow Body's Healing Process
Copyright 2005 Daily News Central Marital arguments can leave a husband and wife feeling emotionally wounded, but that's not all. Scientists have discovered that the stress of a typical 30-minute tiff can prevent physical wounds from healing...

TCM Helps Hot Flashes
Chinese Medicine: Looks Deeper! Chinese Medicine sees Menopause Very differently. The focus is more that the Symptoms indicate Imbalances that need to be addressed. TCM sees Menopause Symptoms as Blood and Fluid Deficiency. Estrogen...

The Sense of Smell
Disturbed vibrations occur in the body as a precursor of illness. Vibrational healing restores the body's healthy vibrations. Essential oils can be used to balance the subtle energy flows in the body. We are surrounded by vibrations at all times....

Weight Loss Programs and Pills: Is Your Weight Loss Program Safe and Effective?
In this age being ignorant is like committing a crime. With so much of knowledge around you, following a trend blindly doesn't confirm the fact that you are intelligent. But the catch here is, GO BY RIGHT KNOWLEDGE. No doubt, internet is flooded...

 
Will surgery help my back pain?

Everyone experiences back pain at some time in their life. In fact, it is in the top three complaints that people bring to the doctor's office.

In most cases there is soft tissue inflammation, muscle spasms, or degenerative arthritis. These respond well to conservative treatments such as anti-inflammatory medicines, stretches, and osteopathic manipulative therapy. Physical modalities such as heat or cold, massage, and acupuncture are also helpful.

So when should you worry? Any loss of bowel or bladder control needs immediate attention. Surgery can release the pressure on the nerves and full function usually returns.

The longer the loss of bladder or bowel control continues without treatment, the higher the risk of permanent damage. This also includes weakness of any muscles in the legs or feet. Plus you can reduce the risks of falls and fractures.

Contrary to popular opinion, a thorough history, neurological and structural exams, plus basic X-rays of the spine can diagnose the problem 80-90% of the time. Expensive MRI studies certainly can be helpful looking at the cross-sections of the spine into the discs and spinal cord. But, in most cases it will not change the eventual conservative treatment anyway.

Consider an MRI if surgery is likely. Certainly if


there is no improvement in your symptoms after several weeks or there is worsening of your pain.

Besides the obvious causes of low back pain from muscle spasms, degenerative discs and osteoarthritis, chronic structural imbalances play a major role. Wear and tear to the spine from old trauma, sports, and obesity cause the discs to lose their cushioning ability. They also may bulge or protrude backwards.

Over 50 years of age almost everyone has changes I the discs loosing height and acquiring some bone spurs. However, not everyone has pain. Again, unless the nerve root coming out of the spinal cord or the spinal cord itself is squeezed, surgery will not help. Even radiating leg pain called sciatica along with numbness and tingling in the legs can go away over time with proper treatment that includes osteopathic manipulation therapy.

Studies show that back pain sufferers who have surgery have no better pain relief or function than those who didn't have surgery after five years passed. Certainly if surgery is recommended it is wise to get a second opinion.

About the author:

Author: Katherine A Martin, D.O. - Board Certified Family Practice Physician. Medical Coaching and Consulting. Health for the whole person. Visit my web site at http://www.DO-Medicine.com

 

National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ...
www.nlm.nih.gov
 
Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com
Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns.
www.medicinenet.com
 
Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory
Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ...
dir.yahoo.com
 
MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine
Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications.
medlineplus.gov
 
Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
Journal Home - Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ...
www.nature.com
 
The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ...
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ...
content.nejm.org
 
eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base
eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ...
www.emedicine.com
 
Open Directory - Health: Medicine
the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ...
dmoz.org
 
the www virtual library biosciences medicine
www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages
 
Medicine - home
Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice.
www.md-journal.com
 
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health.
www.iom.edu
 
ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News
Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily.
www.sciencedaily.com
 
Google Directory - Health > Medicine
Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ...
www.google.com
 
the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine
www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages
 
PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal
PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ...
medicine.plosjournals.org
 
Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal
Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com.
www.priory.com
 
Entrez PubMed
PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Stanford University School of Medicine
Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
med.stanford.edu
 
Medicine OnLine
Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ...
www.meds.com