Clearly this article was written by a guy – you can feel the lack of commitment straight away in the title – tai chi may help reduce knee pain. The reason I’m posting this article is because it combines information from a few other posts, and I love it when various we get various sources supporting each other.
Previously I posted a piece on the correlation of the findings on medical imaging to pain and dysfunction. What that article said was that having osteoarthritis does not necessarily mean you get pain/poor …

So sitting at work all day is no good for you. Duh. Now what can we do about it?
It is essential to break the cycle of repetitive strain, muscle fatigue, and pain. To do this we should recharge our muscles and take strain off our joints and discs every 20 minutes. Even if just for 10-30 seconds!
The first and most important thing to do is to stand up frequently. Micro breaks every 20 minutes are crucial to preventing the muscles from tightening.
Simply standing up and extending the lower back a …

The first thing I usually advise people to do when they are in acute pain is to get into the “Astronaut Position” http://familydoctor.org/online/etc/medialib/famdoc/images/100-200/117b.Par.0001.Image.250.gif
10 minutes in this position will let the back muscles relax and help correct the hyperextended position most people adopt when their back is killing them.
Try not to annoy your back by testing it out all the time eg “Does it hurt when I twist here, does it hurt if I bend there?” etc. But try not to sit around too much either; I would try to be …

If you want to give your self the best possible chance at preventing disc degeneration, follow these guidelines:
Low back flexibility – stretch low back muscles (eg rolling knees side to side), glutes (eg hugging your knee to your chest), hip flexors (eg lunge stretch), and hamstrings.
Core Strength – Deep abdominal strength/endurance as developed in Pilates; see figure (from http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/lbp involves drawing in your abdomen to contract the deep abdominals – get me to check you are doing it right next time you come in!)
Use correct Lifting Technique. Don’t combine movements …

I recently read a really interesting study on Disc Degeneration, and what causes it (I know, I need to get a life). As a lot of you either have a little degeneration or are concerned about it developing I thought I’d share the findings of this study.
The first interesting point worth noting is that degeneration is a Progressive Process – ie it is not a one off event. Over time, repeatedly doing everyday activities can cause the structure to fail and this will accelerate the aging/degeneration process.
The study says looking …

I wanted to do a short article on the recent findings with respect to common anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs). You may or may not have heard that a number of these drugs have had warnings issued regarding their use after research discovered they had the potential to have serious side effects.
Talking to patients, I felt that not enough people were aware of the current state of affairs.
These are medications you may have had prescribed or bought over the counter for arthritis, back pain, headaches, sports injuries and many other everyday complaints.
Voltaren …

A lot of times when people develop a new pain they are unsure about what to do and are worried they might make it worse. It’s common for people to either use ice or heat on an injury to try to obtain some pain relief, but aren’t necessarily sure which one suits their condition best. Here are the guidelines I usually follow:
If it’s a new (acute) injury (first 48-72 hours), you would be more likely to use ice. Ice will help decrease pain and inflammation whereas heat can increase it. …

I’m going to be commenting on a couple of articles related to a bit of a fight going on in the UK between the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) and, well, a lot of people who are keen to have a bit of a go at them. The BCA recently sued a journalist for libel after he described chiropractic treatment as “bogus” ( http://bit.ly/h1Ux3). Ever since there’s been a bit of to and fro between the BCA and various journalists and scientists.
Recently New Scientist ( http://bit.ly/unO7B) published an article which cited …

What I’m going to look at in this posting relates to how quickly one should start addressing a complaint of low back pain. Historically, people suffering from low back pain have been told to rest, sometimes for very long periods. It’s time to right this wrong.
I have treated plenty of people who 20 years ago were given a neck collar for a minor car crash and wore it for 3 months despite no evidence of any tissue damage, “just because that was what they did back then”. And plenty of …

In this study the authors measured the Vitamin D levels in people suffering chronic pain to see if it may be a contributing factor. Vitamin D does play a role in pain perception and neuromuscular functioning, and so dysfunctions related to Vitamin D levels may present as abnormal (in this case elevated) pain states.
The researchers measured the Vitamin D levels in 267 people and compared it with other parameters “such as the amount and duration of narcotic pain medication used, self-reported levels of pain, emotional distress, physical functioning, health perception”.
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