Archive for August, 2011

Get The Info On Why Back Pain Relief Excercises Work

August 22nd, 2011

An interesting article found on the internet today

http://articlesmagnetic.com/health-fitness/back-pain/get-the-info-on-why-back-pain-relief-exercises-work

Have you been trying some back pain relief exercises lately hoping to get some relief from your back pain? Is the relief that you are getting from your back pain only temporary or not there at all? Do you wonder what kind of exercises you need to do or if you are missing something in your search for some relief from your back pain by using back pain relief exercises?

You will find that in addition to tight muscles you have muscles that are not as strong as their counterparts. This is a function of blood supply and nerve connection not necessarily physical strength. This lower quality of energy and nutrition means these muscles will not function as expected.

Muscle Imbalances – Often when there is a problem with one muscle in your back, other muscles or one particular muscle will compensate for the weakened muscle. This can lead to back pain and can cause further issues with your back. This is often why your back might become even more painful even if you are doing back pain relief exercises. One muscle may be compromised due to blood flow issues or a nerve issue and thus, another muscle or set of muscles tries to pick up the slack while making your back pain worse.

The other two factors related to muscle back pain are trigger points and joint imbalances. A joint imbalance is the situation where a joint for whatever reason is not moving as freely as it should. This can sometimes be caused by muscle imbalances as well. On the other hand a joint that is starting operate less efficiently can also lead to muscle imbalances.

Trigger Points – Trigger points or muscle spasms can be one of the most painful types of pain that you can have in your back. Trigger points can be caused by either prolonged stress to a muscle or injury to that particular muscle. Trigger points can also cause muscle imbalances and cause joint imbalances as we consciously or even unknowingly try to compensate for the pain in our back. While you may not actually feel your muscle spasming, the pain can be quite acute and debilitating.

As you can see, many of these factors that can cause back pain can be linked. It is not uncommon for one factor that led to your back pain to cause multiple problems or areas of back pain. This is why it is important to take all three areas into consideration when you are looking at relieving your back pain through back pain relief exercises. By focusing on only one or two areas you very well may be missing the crucial element that is causing your back pain and back pain relief will become elusive to the point of needing professional attention.

This is why any back exercises you decide to use for pain relief will need to take all of these factors in mind. If you don’t then you will end up with temporary pain relief at best. This is why you shouldn’t waste time looking for one exercise to resolve your back pain issues. You now understand that to resolve the pain you will need to deal with more then one factor at a time. It is this combination that will lead to lasting relief.

Hamstring injuries…pain can linger on

August 1st, 2011

An interesting article written by

Drs. Tim Flynn and Dr. Terry Gebhardt

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20110801/COLUMNISTS141/108010305/Hamstring-injuries-pain-can-linger-on?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

In last month’s article, we discussed some of the most effective treatments for chronic hamstring injuries.

Despite being pain-free with typical daily activities, many athletes continue to have pain with their sport for several months and even years after a hamstring injury. Unfortunately, there is a high recurrence rate of hamstring strains because of incomplete rehabilitation or returning to sport too soon. Residual scar tissue and persistent muscle weakness are two common reasons for the persistent pain and high recurrence rate following a hamstring strain.

Fortunately, regardless of how long the injury has persisted, trigger point dry needling and instrumented massage treatments such as ASTYM (www.ASTYM.com) can help break up scar tissue and knots in the muscle called trigger points. These hands-on treatments combined with the appropriate exercise routine can help resolve even the most chronic hamstring strains.

Considering there is such a high recurrence rate of hamstring strains, many people ask what can be done to prevent these injuries from recurring, or better yet prevent them from happening in the first place. Although hamstring stretching is commonly advocated for injury prevention, a hamstring flexibility program has not been shown to reduce the incidence of hamstring injuries. It might even lead to what is called stretch weakness where the muscle is highly flexible but weak and prone to injury.

In contrast, several studies have found the incorporation of specific strengthening called eccentric exercises into a training program can significantly reduce the incidence of hamstring strain injuries. Eccentric exercise involves slowly straightening your knee against resistance to work your hamstring muscles so that the muscle is engaged while it is lengthening.

If you are recovering from an acute or chronic hamstring strain, your physical therapist can help you determine when it is appropriate to begin eccentric training. It is important to start slowly when beginning an eccentric strengthening program, as there tends to be greater muscle soreness associated with this type of strengthening.

In addition to eccentric training, exercises that focus on neuromuscular control of your core muscles and lower extremities have been shown to accelerate injury recovery and prevent re-injury. Think of neuromuscular control as the system that creates coordinated movement. This control system frequently shuts down following injury. Simply strengthening the muscles is usually not enough to restore neuromuscular control.

Exercises to re-establish the motor control are critical in preventing injury recurrence. Examples of such exercises following a hamstring strain include high knee marching, skipping and explosive running starts with a focus on leg power development.

Finally, a program emphasising varying trunk movements during running (e.g. upright posture, forward flexed and forward flexed and rotated) has been shown to reduce hamstring injury recurrence by 70 percent.

So, if you participate in sports where hamstring injuries are more common such as running, soccer, softball and tennis, remember to include exercises similar to those listed above to reduce your risk of injury.

Your physical therapist or personal trainer can help you develop the optimal training program.