BACK PAIN AWARENESS

Greetings Distinguished readers and lovers of @edu-chemist, @afzalqamar has made us cross paths again via the contest Back Pain Awareness. One of the health issues that hits every mortal irrespective of his/her status is the health condition called back pains. It could be a mild condition or probably a more severe one that calls for urgent medical attention.

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This condition posits great impact on one's daily activities, movement, work productivity and even their total well-being. Due to it's nature, many people do not take it very seriously until it becomes chronic and debilitating.

Once again, my sincere thanks to @afzalqamar for bringing up this campaign so we could share awareness on back pains. There's no doubt that raising this awareness would help many individuals adopt preventive measures against back pains as well as seeking early treatment if should incase it happens so as to improve our total health condition as well as quality of life.

This work will be focused on answering following questions;

What I know about Back pains	My experiences on back pain
Causes and symptoms of back pain?	Preventing and treating back pain?

Back Pain?

As stated earlier, Back pain refers to a physical discomfort in any area of the back, particularly within the lower back since it bears most of the body's weights. This health condition could be a mild pains which last for a very short time (acute) or it could be a more serious one that last for longer period of time until medical attention is been given (chronic).

Permit me to acknowledge that back pains could go on their if certain activities and routines (sleep, rest or diet ) are maintained and at the same, some do not need this minimal approach but requires adequate medical intervention. The causes of this health condition include; poor posture, poor sleep, fatigue, muscle strain, injury, symptoms of other health conditions including osteoporosis. It is worthy to mention that research
as identified back pains as one of the causes of disability in the world.

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In addition to the aforementioned, modern lifestyles, prolonged sitting, lack of adequate exercise, irregular weight checks, and poor ergonomic attitudes have also been identified to originate body pains especially among the elderly ones. Though many people underestimate the importance of maintaining good spinal health, it is worthy to note that it has the tendency of disrupting our daily routines.

As such, I feel that in regard our less concern attitude towards effective back care, there's great need to understand the causes and symptoms of back pains so as to enable us take proactive measures to prevent and treat it if need be.

My Experiences and story on Back pains

Yes, I have experienced back pains on many occasions both the acute and the chronic. My very first experience with back pain was a very severe one in which I tagged "A wake up call." It is a wake up call because I have never had such a back pain again since then. This very one was the very first of it kind and it was this chronic because, I never really thought of my back and spinal health as being important. Well, it wasn't important until this day.

Years ago I worked as a typist in a very busy enterprise where I had 5 to 6 works waiting me at all times. Due to this, I missed lunch on many occasions because,I never wanted to disappoint my customers. I would go to work by 8:am and sit until 8pm when I close. I could recall people advising me to have an assistant so as to ease my stress my I refused.

At some point in time, I started feeling a little acne around my lower back yet, I paid no attention because, I thought it will go away on it own. However, instead of the pains going, it became more severe as the hours passed by making bending, sitting, walking and running difficult and uncomfortable. The worse was when sleeping became my nightmare.

At this point, I could no longer do the work I wanted dying for so someone recommended a physiotherapist for me. The physiotherapist interviewed me and carried out certain investigations and told me that my poor sitting position, lackadaisical attitudes towards my spinal health and sedentary lifestyles are what I needed to work on. He recommended series of exercises including running, stretching as well as improving my workstation ergonomics.

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Well, though it was difficult to practice these recommended activities, I gave in my very best plus the medication given to me and I got back my lower back. This experience made me know that back health should not be ignored as the back plays a significant role in the total actualization of our daily routines. Today, I jog, skip, box the shadow, crawl and walk so as to keep my self fit.

What Are the Causes and Symptoms of Back Pain?

The are more than a thousand possible causes of back pains especially when it serves as a symptom for other health conditions. Among the Common factors include;

Poor sitting or standing position: sitting and standing are two unavoidable posture of an individual. However, standing for hours or sitting for hours instill severe strains on the back muscles and spines thus, leading to pains. If this pains is not attended, it may grow into something unbearable.

Muscle strain: a situation where someone forces his or herself to carrying a weight that is more than him or her is another possible cause of the monster back pains. This pains could be as a result of muscle and ligament injuries.

Sedentary lifestyles: this is a situation where someone is static for a long period of time. Truth be told, this is what I passed through so I won't want anyone to experience this.

Bulging Discs: Science tells us that the spinal disc of human serves as some form of cushion separating two or more vertebrae. Slightest damage that befalls on it can lead to back pains.

Arthritis and osteoporosis: this is an abnormal health condition that weakens the spine and can lead to severe pains along the back region.

Anxiety and Stress: as we all know that stress simply refers to some kind of tiredness or feelings of fatigue. With this one needs to have deep rest so as save them from muscle pains

The symptoms of back pain vary but often include:

While the symptoms are mostly pains in the back region, the following are other possible causes of back;

This could be seen in the form of persistent stiffness or acne around the lower back or upper back of an individual.

Severe and piercing pains around the lower abdomen that worsen with movements.

Feeling stiffness in regards turning as well as limiting flexibility in bending down or walking straight.

Some form of pains moving down the legs region and some kind of nerve compression i.e sciatica.

How Can We Prevent and Treat Back Pain?

It is true that prevention is better than cure and in the aspect of back pains, I highly recommend this. However, preventing back pains requires many petty things including; maintaining good posture, adequate exercise, good habits among others. Specifically, some effective preventative measures may include;

Maintaining and abiding on the principle of good and adequate posture this principle holds that one should always sit and stand with a perfect straight spine, ensuring that the shoulders are relaxed so as s to enable our weights to be highly distributed.

Regular exercise: maintaining and engaging regular exercise such as yoga, stretching, squatting, press up, frog jump and work outs are recommended exercises that anyone could do money free so as to support the spine.

Clinging to ergonomic furnitures: these are chairs that are adjustable, supportive mattress, desk that permits standing etc. the aim is to change posture more often rather than remaining fix.

Being mindful of the weight we carry and how we carry them. This is because, even lighter weight could give serious issues if carried wrongly. To carry heavy objects, one is expected to bend to the knees so as to support the weight with the knee muscles.

Routine change of posture so as to stay active always: With this, all forms of stiffness that would have accumulate within the lower back would be resolved on time.

If back pain occurs, treatment options include:

Though I am not a physiotherapist, through researches and the book I have read coupled with life experiences, I will provide certain treatments options I feel is essential for back pains.

i. Physical therapy: on this regards, I recommend that such and individual should practice stretching, swinging, jumping as recommended by the physiotherapists so ac to alleviate the excessive pains.

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ii. Using pain relief: Another useful suggestions would be the use of over the counter medication so as to subsidized excessive pains. Alternatively, heat therapy and massage are good options that can help to minimize the discomfort.

iii. Seeing an Expert As a non expert, I would highly recommend that anyone who is experiencing any form of back pains, be it acute or chronic should endeavor to seek medical attention from medical experts because, in most cases it may likely be symptoms of more complicated health condition.

Let me draw the curtains by inviting @basil20, @alli001, @ruthjoe and @ngoenyi to share their wealth of experience

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING