What Is Your Opinion On Acupuncture If Surgery Is Not An Option

Back pain often has low success rates when it comes to surgery compared to buttocks pain that has high success rates. So if surgery is not an option for you, I think the answer is yes try everything else.

Everything else can range from physical therapy to acupuncture to chiropractic care to stem cell therapy. I have had patients respond to every version of therapy, and I have had patients respond to none of these options.

I would absolutely recommend trying acupuncture to see how much relief that provides you.

You Have Tightness In Your Hamstrings

When you are getting ready to exercise and begin to stretch your hamstrings, do you notice if there is a tightness to it that wont go away despite frequent stretching? If so, this is one of the first signs in the lower extremities which suggest there is a nerve issue in your back causing knee pain.

The hamstrings are a group of muscles located in the back of your thighs. When these muscles are tight, the stability of your lower back is decreased. Stress builds up in the spinal joints and the normal curvature of your lower spine alters itself to adjust to the need. These changes cause lower back pain and stiffness to radiate down the knee and leg. As you move around with tight hamstrings, your knees are unable to function properly and may be damaged.

Hamstring tightness is also linked to a lumbar problem. The L5 nerve travels from the lumbar spine and connects through the outer hamstring muscle to power the biceps femoris. If this nerve is irritated or damaged, the hamstrings will become inflamed or even painful. Your knees will have to adjust when in motion to compensate for the strained hamstring.

After a few weeks of hamstring tightness, the meniscus cartilage in each knee joint will suffer. Your body will mobilize its stem cells to repair the damage but because the trauma is ongoing, the swelling will remain until the root problem is addressed.

The Varieties Of Lower Back And Hip Pain

When X-rays and MRIs come back negative, a physician without adequate training in the musculoskeletal system may not know what to prescribe other than physical therapy exercises.

The problem with this strategy is that PT can aggravate certain conditions. I’ll go into this in more detail with each of the conditions listed below.

The most frequent regions of pain I hear reports about include

Often lower back and hip pain can present as a kind of moving target. Sometimes the pain is centered squarely on the outside of the hip joint near the hip bone.

Other times the pain can wrap around to the gluteal muscles. At times an individual might experience pain in more than one area.

The reason for this medley of possibilities is that muscular compensation is often at the heart of lower back and hip pain.

Further, muscular compensation is a continual process in which muscles are constantly adjusting, trying to figure out how to make do with the circumstances they’re presented with such as postural distortion.

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Chronic Knee And Back Pain

As we have seen in research studies, an unacceptably high percentage of patients suffer from chronic pain, and it is important to understand that pain is not necessarily the problem but a symptom of a problem. Failure to identify the cause of pain could lead to unnecessary knee replacements that do not really address the causes of pain.

Given the importance of nailing down the actual source of the pain, you need to know if it stems from your back. If you have acute or chronic knee pain, look for other pain or discomfort that accompanies it. The affected areas may seem completely independent, but they can trigger mutually, causing pain that only leads to the muscles failing and destroying the otherwise necessary protection of the knees and joints.

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Fevers Chills And Weight

Patients with a spinal infection usually have localized pain, worse when they are bearing weight or engaged in activity. Pain can be intense, and may be relieved only by laying down. Fever, chills, headache and generalized illness are usually present, but even with advanced infection these symptoms may be subtle or overlooked for some time. If, however, youâve noticed that you are losing weight, experiencing fatigue and have had fevers, chills or night sweats in addition to your back pain, you should bring this to the attention of your doctor. Severe pain may be caused by simply sitting up or changing positions. If the vertebra is weakened by infection it may collapse, and a deformity may be detected.

Spinal infections usually start somewhere else, and the most frequent causes are urinary tract infections, dental abscesses, pneumonia or any chronic wound. Back pain that starts up while you are being treated for one of these problems deserves a careful look.

Neurological signs should be carefully sought. Patients who initially complain of focal spine pain, followed by progressive radicular pain, weakness and incipient paralysis may have infection within the canal, with development of an epidural abscess.

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Risk Of Burning Nerves In The Lower Back

Whenever a part of your body is impacted in any way, like being hit, pinched or punctured, it is your nerves that are sending signals to your brain that tell you that you are in pain. Nerves can get pinched or damaged anywhere in the body, which can be extremely painful and lead to permanent damages. When there is no medication for such a problem and it is beyond the point of physical therapy , the one remaining solution is a procedure that prevents these nerves from causing any further pain.

That procedure is not a rebuilding or transplant of these nerves, but a complete burning, or deactivation of them to eliminate chronic pain. Lower back pain in particular is among the most common types of pain that people experience when they get older, ranging from mild to feeling like you are unable to sit.

Instances like this is when it is most appropriate to have the procedure done, but are the potential side effects worth the risk? As a minimally invasive but very effective relief to chronic pain, the risks will outweigh the outcome.

Your Knee Pain Is Accompanied By Back Pain

Knee pain accompanied by back pain is the easiest symptom to identify which suggests the deeper problem is with the spine. Even if the back pain is mild or simply feels like some tension and tightness, it should not be disregarded because these signs are both related.

Think back if youve experienced mild back and knee discomfort at the same time, especially if you tend to spend your day sitting down. Sitting shortens the height of the discs along your spine and increases the disc bulge by pushing water out. The pressure on these discs is lowered when youre sitting compared to when youre standing. If youre sitting a lot during the day but have knee and back pains, your spine may be the problem.

Your knees and back are connected by the spinal cord through a nerve branch that controls the lower extremities. If your spine has a pinched nerve or a bulging lumbar disc, the lower back where the nerve branch is located can redirect the pain to the knees. For some people, this is the reason why they only notice the discomfort in the knee but not in the back.

If youre experiencing acute or chronic knee pain, make a mental scan of your body for discomfort in other areas even if it seems completely unrelated. Let your physician know about these other aches so they can make a fully informed diagnosis.

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Tests And Diagnosis For Burning Back Pain

Your physician will likely start by taking a complete medical history and physical exam. Your doctor will ask several questions about the burning sensation before conducting any tests, including:

• When did you first experience the pain?

• Have you recently injured or strained your back?

• Does the burning sensation worsen when performing specific activities?

• Is the burning sensation in a particular spot, or do you feel it throughout your back?

• Do you experience any other symptoms?

• Are you taking any medications?

Your doctor will use your answers to select the most suitable testing method. Methods include:

What Are The Symptoms Of Arachnoiditis

Arachnoiditis has no consistent pattern of symptoms, though the most common symptom is pain. The symptoms can vary based on which part of your spine is affected and can range from mild to severe.

Arachnoiditis most commonly affects the nerves connecting to your lower back and legs .

Arachnoiditis can cause many symptoms, including:

Symptoms may become more severe or even permanent if the condition progresses. Many people with arachnoiditis are unable to work and have a significant disability because of constant pain.

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Hip Pain At Night : Causes And Symptoms

Chronic hip pain at night affects around one in five people aged over 65 and is more common in women, particularly those aged 4060 years. It can disturb your sleep and/or make it difficult to fall asleep. When hip pain affects the outer side of your hip, it is called lateral hip pain.

There are many different causes of hip pain, including overuse during the day when exercising, the position that you sleep in, moving in bed and your joints swelling at night.

How Do I Know If My Knee Injury Is Serious

You can treat knee pain with various home remedies, like over-the-counter medications , numbing cremes, heat packs, ice therapy or compressions. If youre experiencing persistent pain and swelling that isnt going away, it may be time to see an orthopaedic doctor with experience in pain management.

Your knee pain may be mild or severe depending on its cause. However, symptoms like significant swelling, deformity of your knee, severe pain or fever should never be ignored and more than likely require prompt medical intervention.

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NOTE: This blog post provides general information to help the reader better understand regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal health, and related subjects. All content provided in this blog, website, or any linked materials, including text, graphics, images, patient profiles, outcomes, and information, are not intended and should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please always consult with a professional and certified healthcare provider to discuss if a treatment is right for you.

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What Tests Will Be Done To Diagnose Arachnoiditis

If you have symptoms of arachnoiditis, your healthcare provider may order the following tests to help diagnose it:

• Magnetic resonance imaging : MRI is a painless test that produces very clear images of the organs and structures within your body. It uses a large magnet, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed images. Your provider will look for certain signs of arachnoiditis, such as nerve root thickening and clumping, in an MRI of your spine.
• Computed tomography myelogram: A myelogram is an imaging procedure that examines the relationship between your vertebrae and discs, through your spinal cord, nerves and nerve roots. Your provider will look for certain signs of arachnoiditis.
• Lumbar puncture: Sometimes a lumbar puncture, in which spinal fluid is withdrawn with a needle for testing, is important if arachnoiditis may be due to infections in the spinal fluid.
• Electromyogram : An EMG can help your provider assess the severity of the damage to the affected nerve roots by using electrical impulses to check nerve function.

Strengthen Your Back And Core

Your back and your core are important for providing stability for your body. If your back and core are weak, then you arent going to have stability, and when you arent stable it is difficult to maintain good posture. When you exercise, it is important that you dont perform rapid motions or use large amounts of weight that cause you to strain. Instead, slow, methodical movements that can be done for several repetitions will help you increase your strength. For instance, swimming and yoga are great forms of exercise that help you strengthen your back. Even if you have not had an actual injury, physical therapy can be a great way to improve your strength and stability.

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Treatment Of Meralgia Paraesthetica

It depends on what is causing the compression. For example, losing weight will be effective if weight gain or pregnancy is a factor. Also, loosening tight-fitting belts or clothes will help. Other simple treatments include ice packs on the outer pelvis.

If simple treatments dont help, medications or a cortisone injection might help.

Amitriptyline tablets have been shown to reduce numb pain in the thigh from nerve compression. In addition, a cortisone injection targeting the site of compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve is often effective. This injection can be diagnostic and therapeutic. Generally, it is essential to inject under ultrasound guidance to improve accuracy and effectiveness. Overall, injection is effective in severe numbness and burning in thigh that does not respond to time and medication.

Surgery to reduce the pressure of the nerve may be required in cases that fail simple treatments and injections. However, surgery is unpredictable and is not always effective at reducing pain.

Is The Pain Coming From Your Hip Or Back

Often people go to the doctor seeking help for hip pain. Sometimes, people try to treat it themselves. They are convinced there is something wrong with their hip and the treatments begin. However, one thing is for sure, hip pain is not always as it appears. Hip pain can be a result of a problem in the hip joint itself. However, it can also be a result of a back problem or a soft tissue problem around the hip region.

Obtaining an accurate diagnosis is the first step to resuming activities and living an active lifestyle. Let’s discuss the reasons for confusion and see if we can realize the causes and treatments for both hip and back pain. Some of a patient’s misunderstanding about the origin of the pain is due to not understanding hip and back anatomy. Sounds odd but it’s true. The hip joint lies just behind the groin area on each side of the body. At the same time, the spine runs from the base of the skull to the tip of the tailbone. The lumbar spine contains specific nerves that can influence the feelings in the region around the hip area.

Pain Originating in the Hip

When the pain originates in the hip from arthritis, motion of the hip is often limited. This limitation is often realized when attempting to get out of a chair or bed and standing up. Contrary to hip pain, pain coming from the back may worsen when sitting or lying down, depending on the origin of the back pain itself.

Pain Originating in the Back

Getting an Accurate Diagnosis

Treatment

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How To Fix Lower Back Pain In Women

The treatment of low back pain depends on the underlying cause, which is yet another reason why you should schedule an appointment and see the doctor for symptoms you experience. The doctor evaluates each patient, assesses your health status and physical activity level and recommends different tests to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms in order to make an accurate diagnosis.

In cases when lower back pain is associated with other health conditions, then treatment for that problem can also help alleviate pain and discomfort. Depending on the diagnosis, patients have different treatments to try, but a combination of different approaches seems to be the most effective.

When it comes to lower back pain, youre not helpless. There are many things you can do to alleviate pain and discomfort and improve quality of life. Here are some treatment options even your doctor will recommend:

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The Causes Of Burning Hip Pain

Burning hip pain is caused by a multitude of conditions like bursitis, tendinitis, a pulled muscle or a pinched nerve. Burning hip pain can feel like a sharp, searing or achy pain in the upper outer thigh. This often results from inflammation. And, if it lingers, it can be debilitating. When left untreated, the pain can become so severe that you may end up unable to walk.

The hip joint is a ball and socket joint. There is cartilage that covers the ball of the thigh bone and lines the socket of the pelvic bone. Your tendons attach muscles in the upper leg and thigh. Burning hip pain develops when any of these componentscartilage, muscles, tendons, nerves or the joint spaceare defective, injured or not working properly.

The hip joint is the largest weight-bearing joint in the human body. It helps the hip remain stable during twisting and extreme ranges of motion. A healthy hip joint allows you to walk, squat and turn smoothly without pain.

Here are some common causes of hip pain.

Hip impingement, also known as Femoroacetabular impingement , occurs when the labrum, a thick cartilage that acts like a bumper cushion around the ball and socket hip joint, tears away from the socket. The bones of the hip jointthe acetabulum and the proximal femurrub against one another during movement, which causes pain.

People with FAI often find that it interferes with important parts of life such as sleep, sex, work and exercise.

Seek immediate medical attention if you experience:

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