Muscle Pain Blog

Pains Due To Pregnancy

musclepain101 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:52:24 +0000

Back pain is very common in pregnancy. It is estimated that between 50% and 80% of women experience some form of back pain during their pregnancy, ranging from mild pain associated with specific activities to acute back pain that can become chronic.

Studies show that low back pain usually occurs between the fifth and seventh month of pregnancy, but can begin as early as eight to twelve weeks into your pregnancy. Women with pre-existing low back problems are at higher risk for back pain, and their back pain can occur earlier in the pregnancy.

There are two common types of back pain in pregnancy: (1) lumbar (lower back) pain, and (2) posterior pelvic pain.

Also, for obvious reasons it is useful to know the difference between the above two types of pain and labor pain, which is also felt in the back during pregnancy.

1) Lumbar (low back) pain during pregnancy
Lumbar pain during pregnancy is generally located at and above the waist in the center of the back. It may or may not be concurrent with pain that radiates into your leg or foot.

In general, lumbar pain during pregnancy is similar to low back pain experienced by non-pregnant women. This type of pain typically increases with prolonged postures (such as sitting, standing, or repetitive lifting). Tenderness may also be present in the muscles along the spine during pregnancy.

2) Posterior pelvic pain during pregnancy
Posterior pelvic pain (in back of the pelvis) is four times more prevalent than lumbar pain in pregnancy. It is a deep pain felt below and to the side at the waistline, and/or below the waistline on either side across the tailbone (sacrum). This type of pain may be experienced on one or both sides.

Posterior pelvic pain during pregnancy can extend down into the buttock and upper portion of the posterior (in back of) thighs, and does not usually radiate below the knees. It can be associated with pubic pain. The pain does not quickly resolve with rest, and morning stiffness may also be present.

Posterior pelvic pain during pregnancy can be brought on or exacerbated by the following activities:

1) Rolling in bed
2)Climbing stairs
3) Sitting and rising from a seated position (such as getting in and out of cars, bathtubs, bed)
4) Lifting, twisting, bending forward
5)Running and walking

A job that involves prolonged postures at extreme of ranges (such as sitting at a computer and leaning forward, standing and leaning over a desk or workstation) increases the risk of developing posterior pelvic pain during pregnancy.

Unlike many other forms of low back pain during pregnancy, a previous high level of fitness does not necessarily prevent this problem.

Labor Pain

It is important to note that labor pain is a different type of pain. It is similar to an intense menstrual cramp and has the following characteristics:

1) The pain is persistent
2)It increases in intensity and frequency over a short period of time
3)It is not affected by your level of activity (while back pain associated with pregnancy is often activity induced)

How To Reduce Back Pain During Pregnancy

musclepain101 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:31:38 +0000

Most women develop back pain at some point during pregnancy. As the size and weight of your growing abdomen place more strain on your back, you may notice your posture changing. To protect your back from poor posture, unnecessary strain, and painful injury, follow these guidelines:

1) Avoid standing with your abdomen forward and your shoulders back. Do the opposite.
2) When standing, rest one foot on a small box, brick, or stool. Try not to stand for long periods of time.
3) Sit with a back support or pillow against your lower back. If you must sit for prolonged periods, take a break every hour.
4) Avoid heavy lifting. Lift only by raising from a squat, keeping your waist and back straight.
5) Avoid stretching to reach something, such as on a high shelf or across a table.
6) Sleep on a firm mattress (plywood under a mattress helps). Lie on your side, with a pillow between your knees.
7) Stay active, and do simple back exercises.

You can help reduce back pain by wearing supportive, low-heeled shoes and avoiding flat or high-heeled shoes. A pregnancy support belt that rests under your abdomen can also help take the strain off of your back.

Soak in a warm tub, or apply heat or cold to your tired or achy back. Massage can help relieve muscle strain and tension.

Between Pregnancy and Back Muscle Pain

musclepain101 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:33:41 +0000

Back pain and pregnancy just seem to go together! When you see a pregnant woman you see her rubbing her belly and holding her back. Why is it that the majority of pregnant women will have back ache as a nearly daily complaint? And, more importantly, what can you do about it?

When you are pregnant your body produces a variety of hormones. One of these hormones is called Relaxin. Sounds like something really soothing and helpful, which it is, for birth. Relaxin causes the ligaments and the pelvis to soften to allow the baby out through the pelvis. This is also why pregnant women “waddle.”

In addition the pelvis relaxing for the upcoming event of birth, your uterus is growing and this does three things:

1)Changes your center of gravity
2)Relaxing uterine ligaments cause additional strain to be placed on the spine and your surrounding muscles
3)Your overstretched abdominal muscles are also not equipped to handle the entire weight of the uterus so your spine and back muscles will bear this extra burden as well.

Posture is another culprit. As your mother would say, “Stand up straight, shoulders back…” you should add, “Uterus up and out, be proud!”

If this is not your first pregnancy you have two additional concerns regarding your back: your older children and the fact that second pregnancies tend to experience all symptoms of pregnancy a bit earlier on. Ensure that you lift you children using your legs and not your back, when bathing them kneel at the tub instead of bending at the waist (What waist?), or have someone else take on these chores. Children may need a bit of an explanation why you can’t carry them around as much, but in the long run you will be grateful for protecting your back.

Prevention is the best management for this discomfort. Preventative measures include:

1) Exercises (Particularly Pelvic Tilts)
2) Paying attention to your posture
3) Lifting and bending appropriately

Relieve Your Back Muscle Pain With Waist Band

musclepain101 — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:07:08 +0000

Back is one of the most stressed parts of the human body. With life getting mire busier and stressful, back pain is becoming more common with most individuals. At times a regular back pain also leads to severe consequences such as arthritis or even serious disc diseases. Taking right care of your back muscle pain in its initial stage will not only save you from the pain but will also stop it from getting severe. Medical science considering the severity of the problem has developed various remedies to get rid of the unbearable pain. Most remedies involve use of various equipments to cure the back muscle pain; waistband is one such effective back muscle pain reliever.

Infrared Waist Bands

Infrared red waistbands are a modern innovation in waistbands to cure back muscle pain. The infrared technology is highly effective on any kind of back injury. These waistbands cure back pain by helping the muscle fibers to relax and thus aid in healing the tissue damage.

What makes these bands so effective is that they can be used while you are taking other medication. And if you think in some days you might develop a habit of wearing these bands always, then don’t worry infrared waistbands are not addictive.

Waistbands can be used with ease and are also safe. They are adjustable and can be use by anyone. Most bands are woven in polypropylene and polyurethane fibers impregnated with micro-particles of lead-free ceramics. Waistbands are available in all sizes from medium, large and extra large.

Waistbands are highly recommended and have also proved effective on strained muscles, spinal degenerative disc pain, lower back pain, menstrual cramps, weight loss and to improve overall bowl function. Waistbands can also give you relief from hip joint pain. These bands can be also be used by those suffering from Osteoarthritis of the hip joint.

Waistbands are supposedly the most convenient remedy for curing; you can wear them while you are at work and thus not interrupting you schedules.

It has been rightly said prevention is better then cure, so try to cure your back pain before it gets serious, use waist bands as a remedy.

Tips to Manage Back Pain (Part 2)

musclepain101 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:48:21 +0000

Sometimes back pain goes away as fast as it came on. In some situations it stays longer than you want. Either way, I hope these tips can help you navigate through this problem.

1. Choose your physician or other health professional carefully, then listen to their advice. I can’t tell how many patients want their back pain to go away but when I recommend something the patient says that they do not want to do that. For example, I may recommend taking ibuprofen. I will then get the response, “I don’t take drugs.” Then I may recommend epidural steroids and I hear, “I don’t want any injection.” Then I send the patient to a chiropractor and I hear, “I don’t believe in that.” The list goes on. In the end, I am not exactly sure why the patient came to me when EVERY treatment I offered was rejected. This does not mean to accept any treatment blindly and without question. On the contrary, be open to any and all suggestions and try to stay away from biases that carry over from rumors and hearsay. Evaluate each piece of advice with an open mind and then make a decision.

2. Surgery is neither aggressive nor conservative. Surgery has a role in back pain, but not a large role. When properly indicated, surgery will always be a good choice. When not indicated, it is unnecessary and a problem for the patient. Get 2-3 opinions if surgery is recommended.

3. Don’t be afraid to take it easy for some time period. You may not be able to return to 10 mile runs for 6-8 weeks. This is not the end of the world. Respect the pain and the injury. If you do not, your back will tell you.

4. Try to return to reasonable activities and work as soon as you are cleared to do this. Too many people stay out of the mainstream of work and this causes a culture of not wanting to get better. If your doctor feels it’s safe to return to work in some capacity, then you should do so.

5. Make sure you do all you can to get a real diagnosis. If the doctor was with you for 3 minutes and never laid a hand on you, the diagnosis of back pain is probably wrong. A good history and physical examination is often correct 85-90% of the time. Tests like MRI’s should be used to either confirm a diagnosis already known or to distinguish between one or two different diagnoses. Since many people over age 50 have significant findings on their MRI even if these patients do not have back pain, be careful with MRI’s not connected to a comprehensive office visit. The finding in the office needs to correlate with any test.

Tips to Manage Back Pain

musclepain101 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:59:48 +0000

Back muscle pain has many sources. In general, there are so many experts out there concerning back muscle pain that I am now wholly convinced that no one knows what the heck they are talking about in this entire specialty. One day surgery is good, the next it’s bad. The alternative medicine people will extol the virtues of acupuncture to nutrition. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. There are more pillows and beds and commercial crap you can buy than there is room in the entire state of Rhode Island.

How can a reasonable person try to help themselves with back pain when the medical specialties are in such disagreement?

1. Be your own best doctor. We often are more discriminating when buying a car than when seeking medical advice. After some period of time, you will know which mix of interventions help more than others. I am often amazed when a patient comes to me and says that they have back pain and have been in physical therapy for 3 years and it does not help. What exactly were they thinking after the first year?

2. Understand the source of your back pain. Some people have back muscle pain from a degenerative condition, like arthritis. The joints in the back of the spine can wear and cause pain. Other sources of back pain can be from a sudden injury or muscle strain. Sometimes the muscle pain is due to a nerve being irritated by some disc material in the spine. There are even many valid theories that stress causes back pain. If you try to get a handle on the origin of the muscle pain then this is a good place to start.

3. See the right doctor. There are many physicians out there – family medicine, internal medicine, rheumatologist, orthopaedic surgeon, neurosurgeon, chiropractor, and others – that have a keen interest in back muscle pain. There are may more from each of these specialties that donâ€™t care as much about back pain. Choose a physician who has back pain high on their list of diseases they want to treat.

4. Do not listen to lawyers. Many patient hurt their back on the job, in a motor vehicle accident, or in a slip and fall. The lawyer you choose may send you to a group of doctors who do every test under the sun and a series of bogus treatments not designed to make you better but to build your legal case. The only time a lawyer refers a case to me is when the first doctor, who was probably in their pocket, messed up the case so much, they actually need a real doctor to bail them out. While it is possible that the doctor your lawyer sends you to is good, ask around; you will probably find otherwise.

5. Understand that there will probably not be one single treatment method that will work on its own. I have generally seen that combinations of drugs, rest, exercise, physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, and more are needed in many situations. While it is important to try a number of these modalities, set a time limit on each of them. If there is no improvement within the first two months from a specific modality, the chances of it helping in the long run are low.

Risk Factors Of Lower Back Pain

musclepain101 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:50:31 +0000

Lower back muscle pain is often triggered by some combination of overuse, muscle strain, or injury to the muscles and ligaments that support the spine. Less commonly, lower back muscle pain is caused by illness or spinal deformity.

A risk factor is something that increases your chances of having back pain. More risk factors means you have a higher chance of having back pain.

Risk factors that you cannot change include:

1) Being middle-aged (risk drops after age 65).
2) Being male.
3) Having a family history of back pain.
4) Having had a previous back injury.
5) Being pregnant. A woman’s back is significantly stressed by carrying a baby.
6) Having had compression fractures of the spine.
7) Having had previous back surgery.
Having spine problems since birth (congenital spine problems).

Risk factors that you can change with lifestyle changes or medical treatment include:

1) Not getting regular exercise.
2) Doing a job or other activity that requires long periods of sitting, lifting heavy objects, bending or twisting, repetitive motions, or constant vibration, such as using a jackhammer or driving certain types of heavy equipment.
3) Smoking. Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to have low back pain.
4) Being overweight. Excess body weight, especially around the waist, may put strain on your back, although this has not been proven. But being overweight often also means being in poor physical condition, with weaker muscles and less flexibility. These can lead to low back pain.
4) Having poor posture. Slumping or slouching alone may not cause low back pain, but once the back has been strained or injured, bad posture can make pain worse.
5) Being under stress. Stress and other emotional factors are believed to play a major role in low back pain, particularly chronic low back pain. Many people unconsciously tighten their back muscles when they are under stress.
6) Having long periods of depression.
7) Using medicines long-term that weaken bones, such as corticosteroids.

How To Relieve Calf Muscle Pain

musclepain101 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:18:21 +0000

If you have recurring or ongoing calf pain, it’s important for you to see your doctor. But here are a few remedies you can try.

1) Feed your calf some RICE. The best recipe for an injured calf muscle is RICE: rest, ice applied intermittently throughout the day, compression with an elastic bandage and elevation of the feet with pillows. Bedrest and elevation will also alleviate the swelling and heaviness associated with thrombophlebitis.

2) Try an OTC pain reliever. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatories like aspirin and ibuprofen will lessen the pain and swelling associated with a muscle injury or with thrombophlebitis.

3) Hoof it till it hurts. Though walking brings on intermittent claudication, a walking program is the first step in treating it.You should walk until you reach your level of pain tolerance. When you reach the point where you can’t stand the pain anymore, stop. Push yourself a little more each day, keep increasing the distance, and gradually the condition will become less prevalent.

4) Stop smoking. People who have intermittent claudication should kick the habit. Smoking is a leading contributor to the atherosclerosis that decreases blood flow.

5) Apply heat. A warm, not hot, heating pad or blanket can alleviate superficial pain from thrombophlebitis. (Don’t use heat on a recent injury, however. It will make the swelling worse and interfere with healing.)

6) Step into support hose. Department store hosiery can constrict your circulation, but compression support stockings prescribed by a physician can greatly improve blood flow and relieve pain from venous insufficiency.

7) Consider surgery. Stripping and removing damaged veins can relieve severe venous insufficiency. Anticoagulants can also be helpful. Rest pain and severe arterial insufficiencies may require such procedures as a balloon angioplasty or bypass surgery.
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Radicular Pain

musclepain101 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:57:16 +0000

Radicular Pain, or Radiculitis, is pain “radiated” along the dermatome (sensory distribution) of a nerve due to inflammation or other irritation of the nerve root (Radiculopathy) at its connection to the spinal column. A common form of radiculitis is sciatica, or radicular pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve from the lower spine to the lower back, gluteal muscles, back of the upper thigh, calf, and foot as often secondary to nerve root irritation from a spinal disc herniation or from osteophytes in the lumbar region of the spine.

Radicular pain can be described as sciatica which is usually deep and steady and gets reproduced by various activities and positions like walking and sitting. This type of pain is accompanied with tingling, numbness, muscle weakness and loss of specific reflexes.

This type of pain is found in the legs due to sciatic nerve. Radicular muscle pain also gets radiated in to the extreme low covering thighs, calf and foot. Radicular muscle pain is caused due to the compression of certain higher lumbar nerve roots. Sciatica is one of the most common symptom of radicular muscle pain and is caused due to the compression of a spinal nerve in the low back. Radicular muscle pain is often referred as radiculopathy.

Treatment of Radicular Pain

Usually conservative treatment is applied for curing this type of muscle pain including physical therapy, medications, spinal injections and others. This treatment is conducted for six to eight months. If this treatment gets unsuccessful than decompression surgery like laminectomy and disectomy are mainly recommended. This surgery has a successful percentage of around 85 % to 90 %. Back surgery is also useful for getting relief from radicular muscle pain. However, if nerve compression is not shown in MRI or CT scan than back surgery is not advised as it would be an unsuccessful one.

Referred Pain Treatments

musclepain101 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:43:30 +0000

This type of lower back muscle pain can also vary widely with regards to severity and quality. It tends to be achy, dull and migratory (moves around). It tends to come and go and often varies in intensity. It can result from the identical injury or problem that causes simple axial back muscle pain and is often no more serious.

Area of pain distribution

Referred muscle pain is usually felt in the low back area and tends to radiate into the groin, buttock and upper thigh. The pain often moves around, and rarely radiates below the knee. This type of lower back muscle pain is not as common as axial lower back muscle pain or radicular muscle pain (sciatica).

Referred muscle pain is analogous to the pain that radiates down the left arm during a heart attack. It is the result of the extensive network of interconnecting sensory nerves that supply many of the tissues of the low back, pelvis and thigh. An injury to any of these structures can cause pain to radiate – or be “referred” – to any of the other structures. It is important to understand that this type of pain is not due to “pinched nerves”.

Treatment of Referred Lower Back Muscle Pain

In general, referred muscle pain is treated with the same types of conservative care as axial back pain and will frequently diminish as the low back problem resolves. Once the possibility of a serious underlying medical condition as the cause of a patient’s low back pain is ruled out, treatment of referred low back pain is conservative (non-surgical) and may include one or a combination of the following:

1) A short period of rest (e.g. one or two days)

2) Physical therapy, active exercise and stretching

3) Ice packs and/or hot pads

4) Appropriate medications for pain relief