Our spinal column is constituted in such a way that it provides the necessary stability to stand straight and the flexibility to move around. The spine includes a number of muscles that may get pressurized due to bad postures. Everyone of us is bound to face backache at one or the other point in our lifetime, but women in general are more prone to this problem.

A Woman’s body undergoes a lot of changes during pregnancy. During the last two trimesters of pregnancy, the center of gravity of her back changes due to the position of the fetus thus altering the curve of her spine. Bending and lifting are also a regular part of a woman’s daily routine and are the most common reasons of back pain. Menstrual pain can often result in backache amongst women.

Sudden jerks or movements can also result in back pain. Several conditions such as Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Viral infection, Bladder or kidney infection, Gynecological problems in women, tumors and trauma can also cause backache.

Excess weight or the wearing of the wrong type of shoes can also result in back pain. Regular exercises that strengthen our abdominal muscles are the best solution to treat backache. Maintaining the right posture and keeping our body weight in check can go a long way in the prevention and cure of backache.

Pregnancy is usually signaled by a missed menstrual period. During this time, the woman’s body I already changing – hormone levels spike up and down, causing a multitude of conditions that may burden the expectant mother during the duration of her pregnancy.

During the first trimester, the new mother experiences more signs that she is already pregnant. These symptoms include:

• Extreme fatigue. This is due to the increase in progesterone production in the woman’s body.
• Food cravings. This is body’s means of dictating the mother what the baby needs.
• Increased urination. As the woman’s womb is continually increasing to accommodate the growing child, it exerts more pressure on the urine bladder.
• Breast tenderness. The breasts start to change in preparation for feeding the coming baby.
• Abdominal cramps. This follows implantation of the embryo on the uterus.
• Nausea or “Morning sickness”. This is because an increase in the hormone progesterone relaxes the uterine muscles, which prevents early labor. But it may also relax the stomach and intestines, leading to excess stomach acids.
• Mood swings. Most people confuse this with postpartum depression. This differs from the latter in the sense that this passes in a matter of days or weeks.

During the second trimester, which comes three and a half months after conceiving the baby, the baby extensively develops. This is also the stage where pregnancy becomes physically obvious. Below are a list of symptoms manifested by women on their second trimester:

• Swelling. This is because during pregnancy, body fluids are increased.
• Varicose veins. During pregnancy, increased pressure is experienced by veins, causing blood to pool.
• Fetal kick. Sometime during the second trimester, the mother can feel the baby start kicking.
• Confusion and clumsiness. Due to the woman’s ever changing hormonal level, it makes concertrating a bit more difficult.
• Backache. The added weight of the baby plus the increased body fluid increases pressure on the spine.

At the third trimester, the stomach now protrudes more prominently, causing the following symptoms:

• Increased back pain.
• Increased moodiness.

Among all the symptoms mentioned above, coping with lower back ache seem to be the most persistent. It starts from the second trimester and ends after giving birth. How does a pregnant woman get through this hurdle? Here are some tips for pain relief during pregnancy:

• Always practice good posture. This is to ensure that muscle strain due to the increasing weight and the shifted center of gravity while standing up is lessened.
• Always sit and stand with care. Sit with feet slightly elevated. Choose a ergonomically correct chair that provides support to your back. Shift positions often, and avoid standing for a long time.
• Always sleep on your side. Sleep on one side, not your back, keeping one of both knees bent.
• Always perform proper lifting techniques. Squat down when lifting a small object, instead of bending over. Avoid sudden reaching movements.
• Exercise. Regular exercise may help strengthen the back muscles.
• Medications. Certain pain relief medications may cause complications to a pregnant woman and her unborn child. For these cases where medication is clearly required, doctors look for safe drug alternatives that have the same effect of pain relief during pregnancy.

Back pain during pregnancy may just be a passing discomfort, however it should never be taken from granted. Back pain may already be a signal that your pregnancy is experiencing some sort of complication. Be in tuned with your body and what it is feelings. Immediately consult your doctor for any discomfort your experience, however normal everybody says it is.

Conditions and Causes

The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease characterized by joint pain, and comes about as the result of and injury to or infection in the joint, or the aging process. Essentially, joint pain is caused by inflammation that arises when the cartilage that cushions the joints lessens.

In contrast to osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition that causes the immune system to attack and inflame the joints. Whereas osteoarthritis can be limited to a single, injured joint, or to a pair of joints (such as the knees or hips) in instances where the cartilage is worn out, rheumatoid arthritis usually affects multiple joints and can generally affects people at a much younger age.

Arthritis Pain and Symptoms

For people with osteoarthritis, arthritis pain typically increases over the course of the day, as the affected joints are used or overused. On the other hand, people with rheumatoid arthritis typically experience the most arthritis pain in the morning (or after waking), with the pain lessening throughout the day.

According to the Arthritis Foundation, rheumatoid arthritis can be characterized by three stages, and over time progresses from one to the other: swelling, growth of cells, and the production of enzymes that can digest cartilage and bone.

Arthritis pain typically worsens over time for both those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and those with osteoarthritis. According to the CDC, 40 percent of adults with arthritis report that at least one out of nine daily functional activities is difficult or impossible to do. These activities include bending, standing, walking, carrying, and grasping. Studies have repeatedly proven that those with arthritis have a poorer quality of life and suffer both a physical and emotional toll from the condition.

Arthritis Treatment

Arthritis treatment can range from using topical creams to over-the-counter analgesics to prescription drugs to joint replacement surgery. To improve the quality of life and decrease the incidence of debilitating pain, the most effective treatments focus on arthritis pain relief. Many peer-reviewed medical journals have documented the efficacy of a topical treatment that works by penetrating the sub-epidermal level of the skin, thereby blocking out pain transmitters and starting localized healing.

This topical lotion for arthritis pain relief is especially effective in reducing joint pain in the knees, hands, and lower back. It is also effective as a preventative measure for muscle pain and cramping before and after physical workouts, and can reduce the pain of tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, and menstrual cramps.

Causes and Symptoms of Low Back Pain

The patient of low back pain may experience two types of pain, primarily – acute and chronic. The pain is symptomatic and can be caused by the following reasons:

Acute Pain

A sprain or a muscle tear, which can be aggravated by heavy lifting or extended use of back muscles within 24 hours of the injury, leading to muscle spasms or soreness. Usually improves when you provide rest to the affected area.

Chronic Pain

This pain may have several causes like -

1. Mechanical Obesity, pregnancy, bad postures while bending, or stooping causes strain on the lower back muscles.
2. Malignancy Low back pain that is not relieved even after a night’s rest, maybe caused by a tumor in the cauda equine (the roots of the spinal nerves controlling sensation in and movement of the legs), or cancer of the prostate, breasts or lungs, maybe caused because of a history of smoking, sudden weight loss or old age.
3. Herniated Spinal Disk When the spinal disk begins to bulge outward between the vertebrae. This is a common cause of chronic back pain in adults.
4. Ankylosing Spondylitis Pain caused while lying down or sitting; improves when the patient starts moving, is commonly seen in males between the age group of 16-35 years.
5. Psychogenic Back pain which may be induced due to an exaggerated minor injury or that may be usually prolonged leading to somatoform disorder or other psychiatric disturbances.
6. Lower Back Pain with Leg Involvement When the back pain radiates down the leg, the sciatic nerve is usually irritated by herniated disks, tumors of the cauda equina, abscesses in the space between the spinal cord and its covering, spinal stenosis, and compression fractures. Some patients may also experience weakness or lack of feeling, along with pain in the leg.

Such problems are treated with rest, ice packs, compression, and elevation. Shoulder injuries are seen when the arm is thrown out of socket. The injuries occur from falls, overexerting muscles, etc. The doctor considers such injuries carefully, since fractures may arise, which start within the humerus. In some instances, surgery is mandatory to correct the problem.

Additional injuries include arc pain, shoulder freeze, tendonitis, subacromial bursa, acromio-clavicular, and so on. The Bursa is a sac filled with fluids that serve as padding to reduce friction. The purpose of the bursa is to make movement easy and to avert rubbing of the joints. The bursa can cause problems when the shoulders are suddenly tossed over the head. Treatment for subacromial bursa conditions, include steroid regimens, physical therapy, meds, etc, especially when inflammations sets in. The condition can cause back pain, since bursa is an assistant to the joints, cartilages, bones, and synovium. Bursa works by playing down the risks of joint damage. If bursa inflames it compresses the nerves, or tendons. What happens after is failure, especially once the joints rub. The soft pockets amid the bones that overlap and protect other bones can cause serious back pain, since inflammation has set in from bursa disorders. The tension caused from inflammation hits the muscles, overexerting these muscles, which the sensory nerves are slowed down and movement is limited.

Posture is the pose we receive from bearing muscles and joints. If a person slouches, often it can cause back pain, since the muscles and joints are not moving, as they should. Physical therapy and meds are often employed to correct the problem. Sitting at long intervals can also cause back problems, especially if the lower back is not supported. In fact, sitting incorrectly can bend the spine at the lower back and cause serious pain. Back pain in this nature may arrive from sport activities as well, such as heavy lifting, repeated twisting, and so on. Slouches can correct back problems by learning how to sit and stand in proper positions. The back when damaged from slouching affects the lumbar. In addition, the slouchier will need to learn correct techniques of lifting.

Back pain can arrive from slipped disk, sciatica, sacro-iliac, etc. Slip disks is a Herniated nucleus pulposa (HNP) disorder. Slip disks is rupturing of the “intervertebral disk.” The intervertebral disk sits amid the Spinal Columns and next to the backbone.

Slipped disks start at the spinal canal, nerves, gelatinous core, and finally at the disks. When the nerve roots are pressured, the disk can slip, causing herniated nucleus pulposa. Sciatica is a sort of slipped disk, since the pain sends sharp, electrical shock-like pain down the canal of the spine, sending a distressing ache that starts at the back. The pain carries onto the legs. The pain is at times intermittent, yet other times it can lead to chronic pain syndrome. Surgical procedures are often required to correct the problem.

To stay and go on running in the rat race, you must be prepared to endure aches and pains all over your body as well as the lumps and swelling — sure signs of overwork and stress.

Here are the common aches and pains that you usually experience in everyday:

• Knee – Stiff and swollen joints make it difficult to do any bending. Pain in the knees are usually worse in the morning or after a long period of inactivity. Knee joints are often affected by arthritis.
• Shoulder – Any kind of overuse can stress the shoulder joint. Muscles can be strained and tendons can become inflamed.
• Hip – A pain at the top of your leg that you may usually the inner side of your thigh. Osteoarthritis of the hip is extremely common. It results from the deterioration of the cartilage covering the ends of the bones.
• Back – stiffness, muscle spasm and pain. Lower back pain is very common. You can get this from carrying or lifting heavy loads.
• Wrist- aching, numbness, burning, or tingling in your palm, wrist, fingers. Carpal tunnel syndrome commonly occurs during pregnancy, menapause or result of repetitive typing.
• Feet -tingling, burning,numbness or pain under the heel.Tarsal tunnel syndrome is the foot version of the carpal tunnel syndrome, it is common with people who are flat footed.

Muscle pain can be caused by many conditions. The most commo is a “ strain” where the muscle is stretched beyond its maximum length resulting in injury. Muscle pain is most frequently related to tension or muscle injury any physically-demanding work. When muscle pain last beyond the expected healing time, it is then best to consult your doctor.

Every now and then you might be having muscle cramps and if you are working for quite some time and it also involves some heavy work that you might be experiencing a sensation of your mucles making you so tired and there is a decreased in your muscular performance. The underlying cause of muscle fatigue can fall into two categories: central and local.

• The central nervous systme – when your mind is telling your body (muscles) to shut down.
• The local – is related to local factors that limit the ability to perform mucular work.

Regular exercise can help restore proper muscle tone. A good physical therapist can teach you strentching, aerobic exercises to feel a lot better. You can also do it yourself by cycling, swimming and walking. Warm up before you do any kind oe exercising. Do some stretching. Drink lots of fluids before and after exercising. You can overcome muscle fatigue by dieting, getting adequate rest and taking supplements or nutritional stimulants such as caffeine. If you work in the same position most of the day like sitting infront of the computer, get up and do some stretching at least every hour.

Taking some acetaminophen, aspirin or other non-sterioidal anti-inflammatory drugs can also be helpful in pain relief. Workouts in the gym to strengthen the back and shoulders can help restore a good balance.

Causes of Low back pain is often due to a wrong posture or displaced or strained back muscle. Irritation of the large nerve roots that go to our legs and our arms, a strain in the smaller nerves or an injury in any of the bones, ligaments or joints may also result in pain in the lower portion of our back.

Many a times, one can experience low back pain without any injury or known anatomical cause. However, back pain can be largely linked to a strain in any of the muscles or a specific condition such as degenerative disc disease or a herniated disc.

Most of the times, one can get rid of the low back pain by using conservative treatments, such as the application of ointments, physical therapy or oral medications. However, cure of certain back low pains may require surgery. One should seek proper medical treatment if the back pain continues for a long time, and is severe and accompanied by sudden bladder or bowel incontinence or progressive weakness in legs. Persons, who have suffered from fever, cold, trauma or undergone sudden weight loss, should seek proper medical attention for the cure of their low back pain.

Sciatica exercises focus on strengthening the abdominal and back muscles. These exercises include stretching, which helps in improving the flexibility of the back muscles, resulting in reduced pain. Doctors recommend different exercises for sciatica patients, depending on the cause of sciatica, which can also occur due to serious medical conditions such as an infection or tumor. One has to do these exercises regularly and in a proper manner in order to derive maximum benefit.

Exercising regularly not only helps in the treatment of sciatica-related pain, but also helps in the prevention of any such problems in the future. The most common sciatica exercises that are recommended for the treatment of sciatica-related pain are the Hamstring stretching exercises. The hamstrings are the muscles located in the back of the thigh and help in bending the knee. You must also perform exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles in order to get relief from the sciatica pain.

In your day-to-day activities, are you putting unnecessary strain on your back? Here are some ways to protect your back and relieve back pain:

• Stand up straight. Good posture will relieve pressure from your lower back.
• Stay fit. Exercise is important for keeping your muscles strong and maintaining a healthy weight. Being overweight puts more of a strain on the back. People who exercise infrequently also are more prone to back injury because their muscles are not accustomed to the exertion.
• Have an ergonomic work area. Your chair should support your lower back and help you maintain good posture. If you work on a computer, the screen should be positioned so that you do not have to tilt your head up or bend your neck down to see it. Sitting in the same position for a long period of time also strains your back. Get up from your desk and walk around several times a day.
• Evaluate your mattress. A mattress that is too soft or too firm can be a major culprit in back pain. Flip your mattress several times a year to keep it from wearing out in the spot where you sleep.
• Lift properly. Keep your back in its natural position and bend your knees. Do not twist your body or bend at the waist while lifting. If something is too heavy, do not lift it by yourself; ask for help.
• Try yoga. Yoga involves special stretching exercises that will loosen the muscles in your back.
• Use a pain relieving patch. The Absorbine Jr. Back Patch, for instance, was developed to target back pain with deep, penetrating heat. The blend of menthol, camphor and eucalyptus oil goes straight to the point of pain to relieve back spasms and muscle aches. According to the manufacturer, it relieves chronic back pain for up to eight hours.

Those words, or more appropriately, moans and groans, could have come from just about every regular office worker or employee. Physical, emotional and psychological distress actually affects millions of people everyday because of the day-in, day-out stresses at work. But when stress produces more than the usual aches, maybe it is time to sit back and relax. Getting to know these pains may be more important than you think.

What Contributes To Your Pain

Pain from a serious injury demands immediate care. Pain is an unpleasant sensation that could be a signal of possible or actual injuries. Pain could be felt as a sharp, constant, steady, or even throbbing uncomfortable sensation. It makes good sense to know your body and how pain affects your work and personal life. But first things first. The initial step is to know the possible source or origin of your pain. Here as some of those possible “origins” of pain:

Past Injury

When you are injured, sometimes the body doesn’t heal perfectly. Scar tissue may have reduced your ease of movement and caused a decline in the strength of your joints and muscles, or other parts that may have been injured in the past.

Sleep

You can get a neck cramp when you sleep in the wrong position. Not getting enough sleep can also produce pain in some parts of your body. If you are not fully rested, your muscles are also prone to more injury or you do not have enough time to have cellular repair and growth.

Advancing Years

Getting older plays an active part too. The tendons and ligaments lose flexibility with age. The spinal disk and the joints become less lubricated. It is usually around 35 to 40 when you started to feel more aches and pains. It will become worse if you are not physically active.

Weight Gain

Those extra pounds can put some stress on your joints and worsen your arthritic pain. Excess weight often occurs due to low physical activity or with having a sedentary lifestyle. When you don’t get enough exercise, tissues becomes stiff and less flexible. Weak bones and muscles are more vulnerable to injury.

Improper Posture

Hunching over the counter, not standing straight, lifting your chin as you read the computer screen — these are only some of the improper posture that contributes to body pain. When your body is out of alignment, the muscles are placed in uncomfortable positions that can produce pain.

Overextending Yourself

Trying out different exercises in a short span of time is an indication that you may be pushing your body too hard. Pilates this week, Tae Bo next week, Cardio workout the following week —- these cycles of activities can wreak havoc on a body with too little time to recuperate. Even simple housecleaning —-can put a strain in your muscles and if you keep on doing the same body movements or motion you can irritate the tendons, and nerves too.

Do-It-Yourself Pain Reliefs

Strictly for minor aches, the following tips can help actually help ease your pain:

1. GET ACTIVE -According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, “…exercise, sleep, and relaxation can all help reduce stress, thereby helping to alleviate pain.” Staying active through exercise or fitness workouts have been proven to help many people with lower back pain. But consult your doctor before embarking on an exercise program.

2. ADAPT ERGONOMIC FURNITURES/OFFICE FIXTURES – It doesn’t matter whether it’s for the home or for the office — get ergonomic furniture. The first priority would be getting a chair that keeps your head and spine aligned.

3. GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP – To sleep more soundly, you must cut your coffee intake and also limit alcohol intake. You should also get a comfortable mattress and comfy pillows.

4. TAKE IT EASY – Go slow, be reasonable, and set realistic targets or expectations.

5. ALTERNATIVE PAIN RELIEF – Get a session of reflexology, massage, water therapy, or acupressure which are time-tested means of controlling pain.

6. THE MIND AND BODY CONNECTION – Studies show that relaxation, meditation, and even aromatherapy is beneficial and may help ease body pains.