iPads and other tablet devices are soaring in popularity. It’s predicated that by 2015, more than 80 million Americans will use tablets regularly. While tablets provide new convenience to mobile computing, the devices are putting excessive strain on our necks and backs according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health. Daily [...]
Back pain, like other health problems, should now be “considered as a chronic recurring condition” argue the authors of a new study on acute low-back pain. The authors found that symptoms of acute and persistent low-back pain are likely to last longer than six weeks, and can even last up to a year. Since acute-low [...]
Fibromyalgia patients are at risk of vitamin D deficiency according to a new study from Ireland. In the study, 36% of fibromyalgia patients had deficient levels of vitamin D and 62% had insufficient levels. That meant only 15% of patients were getting adequate levels of the vitamin. The patients were mostly middle-aged women. Researchers pointed [...]
You tweaked your back, pulled a muscle, or injured yourself lifting something incorrectly and suddenly you’ve got a shooting pain in your back. These sudden, temporary episodes of low-back pain are characterized as acute low-back pain rather than chronic pain. Acute low-back pain episodes are thought to last no longer than three months. Acute back [...]
Water bottles, text books, science projects, binders, sack lunches –these are just some of the many items you could in your kid’s backpack. Modern backpacks are designed to carry more, and adults and children alike have taken full advantage of the increased space. But as backpacks get bulkier and heavier, they’re taking a serious toll [...]
Chronic low-back pain is a fluctuating condition with pain often improving and reoccurring throughout a patient’s life. This can make it difficult to monitor and understand a patient’s low-back pain. Researchers from Sweden sought to solve this problem through a new scientific research tool: cell phones. Low-back pain patients were recruited from various chiropractic clinics [...]
Poor balance is directly tied to back pain, according to research from Alex Ruhe, a chiropractor and PhD candidate at Murdoch University in Australia. Although this was a known connection, this is the first time a linear connection has been established. Ruhe found that people with neck, mid-back, and low-back pain typically have poor postural [...]
Exercise doesn’t just improve your physical health, it may also enhance your cognitive functioning, according to a new study. Nine women with fibromyalgia participated in a small study of the effects of exercises on working memory. Researchers used a functional MRIs to measure women’s brain activity levels while they took a memory test. After these [...]
Epidural steroid injection*, a common non-surgical treatment of low-back pain, appears to be on the rise in the US and UK.1-2 Yet the efficacy of epidural steroid injections remains controversial. Some patients do report pain relief in the short term, but the long term benefits of injections are contested. 3 A new study examined the [...]
Anyone with a chronic pain condition like fibromyalgia knows it can be difficult to adhere to a complex set of treatment instructions: physical therapy, medications, creams, journals, the list goes on. We get busy or forget and sometimes don’t comply completely with the treatment, but sooner or later the pain creeps back in. It turns [...]
