Trapped Nerve

[purple vonny]

Stretching exercises are very good for backs and necks. A lot of back and neck problems are postural, often caused by sitting or working in unnatural positions that cause muscles to stiffen. If the tendons, ligaments and muscles around your spine tighten, this can lead to awful pain and discomfort.

Good osteopaths, chiropracters, physios and rehab specialists will suggest things that you can do for yourself to improve posture and musculo-skeletal problems.

When I worked in rehab teams, we taught people to alter how they did things, how to stretch and exercise, how to relax, how to change posture, how to manage increased pain episodes. We also taught psychological approaches to managing pain, many of which seem like common sense.

But having pain all the time gets you down and you have to manage your mood as well because activity is so difficult.

The down side of passive treatment (someone else will fix it) is that you keep getting the problem and can't manage it yourself. If you have to pay for treatment, you get poorer as well as more dependent on your treatment.

Diagnosis can be worrying too, if people are told they have "degenerating discs" (which we all have) or "bulging discs" (which a lot of us have and don't know it).

I'm not poo poo-ing advice given by others, if it works, then that's great, you can get back to normal. But backpain "disability" is a fairly modern phenomenon and sometimes people just need reassrance that bad pain does not necessarily mean something sinister is going on.

Referral to a specialist is generally done to rule out a serious underlying problem that needs urgent attention.

I got into pain management because I had a serious back injury years ago and pain prevented me from doing my job properly. Since I learned to manage my pain, i can do just about anything anyone else can do. it hurts still, but doesn't worry me any more.

I spent a lot of money on bone crackers who made it worse and made me poorer. I have also treated and rehabilitated many patients whose problems were made worse by passive treatments that they paid a lot of money for.

A good rehabilitation physio or pain team will show you how to manage your pain yourself. It's not a quick fix.

But to MJH....... wait til you see what your consultant says and go from there!

Edit... just read your last post. Don't despair - that is not a "sinister" finding. PM me if you want.

[Paul Evans]

The drug Voltrol is an excellent anti imflamatory, I think the generic name is Diclofenac. I have used a place in Town Called "Physioworks" New zealander called Warren is the boss Physio there. Really Excellent treatment.

[dublinbay]

Originally Posted by Paul Evans

The drug Voltrol is an excellent anti imflamatory, I think the generic name is Diclofenac. I have used a place in Town Called "Physioworks" New zealander called Warren is the boss Physio there. Really Excellent treatment.

Remember this? Well its back open

[Paul Evans]

Originally Posted by dublinbay

Remember this? Well its back open

ROTFLMAO see you there.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by purple vonny

A lot of back and neck problems are postural, often caused by sitting or working in unnatural positions that cause muscles to stiffen

I work as a DSE Assessor so really should know better