July 2014 Health Newsletter

Back pain is a widespread debilitating condition affecting millions of individuals annually. Relief from back and related leg pain is offered in numerous forms by many different provider types. Unfortunately, some of those solutions aren’t all that effective, if at all. Newly published research from the prestigious medical journal New England Journal of Medicine has found steroid injections for the treatment certain types of back pain provides little if any benefit and in some cases has serious side effects. Researchers followed 400 patients from 16 different locations throughout the U.S. who suffered from lumbar central spinal stenosis with moderate-to-severe leg pain and disability - a condition where the space for the nerve roots in the lower spine has narrowed causing impingement on the nerve roots resulting in back and leg pain. Patients received an injection of either lidocaine (a pain killer) or lidocaine with a corticosteroid.  The results not only indicated no significant difference in pain within the two groups, it also revealed five times the number of infections and sickness (ten vs. two) in those receiving the corticosteroid.

According to a newly published study the previous low back pain (LBP) practice guidelines used by physicians have underestimated the likelihood of acute bouts of LBP recurring as well as turning into longer term chronic LBP. In the study, researchers followed 605 acute LBP patients who had an average pain intensity score of 5.6 out of 10 and a disability score of 15.8 out of 24. Eight percent had declared sick leave between pain onset and the baseline interview. Thirteen percent of 521 patients (86% follow-up) experienced chronic pain at 6 months and 19% of 443 patients at 2 years. At 6 months, 54% had experienced at least 1 LBP recurrence, and 47% in the subsequent 18 months. So what does this all mean? Simply, that LBP has a high tendency to return as well as turn into something more serious and more long term. Don't take a chance and think your back pain is just temporary or that taking a substance to mask the pain is the fix. Chiropractors are highly trained to evaluate and provide care for the back and spine. Chiropractors look to the source of LBP and focus on correcting the cause and not just simply masking the symptoms. Get proactive with your health and call your local chiropractor today!

Watching TV may bring short-term enjoyment but too much TV time can not only be bad for your health, it can also shorten your life. Spanish researchers have found those who watch 3 or more hours of TV daily double their risk of an early death. Data from over 13,000 adults with an average age of 37 was analyzed to determine if time watching TV was related to an increase in earlier death. The results were substantial. As compared with those individuals watching an hour or less of TV per day, those watching 2 hours per day increased their risk of early death by 40 percent and those watching three or more hours daily doubled their risk for early mortality. According to researchers, a less active sedentary lifestyle increases body fat, reduces muscle and makes the body less responsive to insulin. As a result, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers become more prominent, all of which are leading causes of death. So get up, get out and get active - and don’t forget to turn off the TV!