Rest in Bed for Chronic Back Pain

Posted on January 1, 2009
Filed Under Back Pain, Back Pain Treatment, back pain relief | Leave a Comment

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Chronic back pain is a serious problem in America today with a large percent of the population suffering from it at one time or another. Many thousands of individuals can function on a day to day basis due to the pain. Many hours of work time is lost from chronic back pain as well as many workmen compensation claims being filed from the chronic back pain.

Many individuals don’t go to the doctor at the beginning of the back problem. They often feel with rest in bed, chronic back pain will go away. Usually by the time the pain has developed to the stage of being considered “chronic”, it’s turned into something serious-something needing more than just laying in bed. Chronic back pain shouldn’t get to the stage where it’s chronic and for it to be chronic; it’s been present for at least three months. Although the beginning of a back injury may be helped by resting in a bed, chronic back pain usually needs much more treatment such as medications, physical therapy or possibly surgery for a serious problem.

At the beginning of a back injury (provided it’s not a serious injury) the doctor may prescribe over the counter medications, heat or ice and bed rest. If this doesn’t help after a few days, the doctor will recommend more serious measures such as exercise and physical therapy by a qualified physical therapist. Surgery is usually not recommended until all other options have failed, with the exception of a serious apparent injury to the spine or other parts such as you would see in an automobile accident.

As important as it is to get proper rest in bed, chronic back pain has, on occasion, been caused by poor sleeping arrangements such as poor mattresses, etc. It’s very important for our back to be in a stable straight position for the hours that we are in bed. Chronic back pain can develop when the back is repeatedly twisted or bent in a position that is not healthy. Often, we don’t realize what we are doing to our back until it’s too late. Many times we wake up with a backache and just assume “slept poorly” and shrug it off. In some cases, it’s an isolated incident and doesn’t happen again. But, in other cases, it’s the beginning of a pattern of poor sleeping and back pains. If not corrected, it becomes chronic back pain, requiring a doctor’s care to get the back in the proper healthy condition.

If your mattress or bed does not allow you to get a good nightly rest while in bed, chronic back pain can very easy develop considering you sleep at least 6 hours each night. Don’t ever ignore any back problem that goes on longer than a few days.

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Neck Pain and Lymphoma Symptoms

Posted on December 30, 2008
Filed Under Neck pain | 1 Comment

The most common lymphatic system cancer is non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which has escalated considerable over the last twenty-five years.  Non-Hodgkin lymphoma affects the lymphatic system and is actually a group of many closely connected cancers affecting the immune system and not a single disease.  Broadly divided into two main groups, the most common is B-cell lymphoma and T-cell lymphomas.

When some people think of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, they believe that neck pain and lymphoma are always related but that is not true.  The signs and physical symptoms patients with NHL experience are various.  The most common sign experienced by people with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is swollen lymph nodes.  Some patients experience neck pain and lymphoma symptoms while others experience no pain at all.  Swollen or enlarged lymph nodes often occur under a persons arm or arms, in their neck or various other parts of their body.  In the abdomen, enlarged lymph nodes may cause back pain, swelling, a bloated feeling, or discomfort while in the groin, enlarged lymph nodes may cause the persons ankles or legs to swell.

When a patient tells his or her doctor about specific symptoms they are experiencing such as unexplained weight loss, itching, chills, neck pain, lack of energy, night sweats, and fever, the physician may feel they indicate the presence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  Most people that experience no particular complaints such as neck pain and lymphoma specific symptoms often find that doctors may rule out NHL.  The reason for this is that most serious illnesses persist and do not disappear and return, so non-specific complaints are not normally a non-Hodgkin lymphoma sign.  Your physician should definitely check you for NHL if you have persistent symptoms.

If you have neck pain and lymphoma symptoms that suggest there may be a chance you have non-Hodgkin lymphoma, your doctor will perform a complete physical examination looking for signs such as swollen lymph nodes in the tonsil and neck area, on the elbows, in the groin and armpits, above the shoulders, and under the chin.  Your doctor will also check other parts of your body looking for signs such as, fluid or swelling in your abdomen or chest that could be the result of swollen lymph nodes or enlarged internal organs in your abdomen.  They will also look for any paralysis or weakness because this could indicate the presence of an enlarged lymph node pressing on the spinal cord or nerves.  Your doctor will order other tests including a biopsy, x-rays, and blood tests if he or she suspects that your neck pain and lymphoma symptoms suggest you could have non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

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With Brain Tumor Symptoms, Neck Pain Can Occur

Posted on December 29, 2008
Filed Under Neck pain | Leave a Comment

Two MRI images of my brain (rear view on left,...
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Brain tumors often mimic many other neurological disorders, producing brain tumor symptoms.  Neck pain, headaches, or even strokes can result from a tumor of the brain.  With brain tumor symptoms, neck pain, headaches, seizures, gastrointestinal symptoms and other significant symptoms occur when the tumor damages the central nervous system, nerves in the brain or the tumor places pressure upon the brain.  Early diagnosis is difficult with some slow growing brain tumors because the symptoms are often very subtle and appear gradually.

With brain tumor symptoms neck pain can appear at times but headaches are usually the most frequent sign of a brain tumor.  Most people have headaches at one time or another but that does not mean they have a brain tumor.  Headaches resulting from brain tumors produce various symptoms depending upon the brain tumors location. Although usually associated with other symptoms such as confusion or vomiting, some brain tumor headaches occur while sleeping.  With brain tumor symptoms, neck pain, numbness, weakness, or double vision some times occur.  Other types of headache symptoms sometimes caused by brain tumors include a headache that worsens with exercise or coughing and a headache that is more severe upon awakening but usually disappears after two or three hours.

There are several other brain tumor symptoms.  Neck pain and headaches are common but so are gastrointestinal symptoms.  Individuals with brain stem cell tumors and other types of tumors often experience vomiting and nausea.  Some patients with brain tumors suffer from reasoning and speech problems, impaired concentration, memory loss, or increased sleeping time.  Depending upon the brain tumors location, between fifteen and ninety-five percent of all patients suffer from seizures.  A brain tumor that affects a certain brain area often causes a partial seizure.  They may experience tingling, confusion, odd emotional or mental events or jerking movements but remain conscious during the partial seizure.  Generalized seizures, which sometimes cause a person to lose consciousness, are not very common.  Other significant brain tumor symptoms, neck pain being one, also include unsteadiness, difficulty with speech, gradual sensation or movement loss affecting a leg or arm, hearing loss sometimes accompanied by dizziness, or peripheral vision loss or double vision in both or one eye.

There are specific brain tumors that have specific symptom syndromes that often help doctors identify a specific tumor.  An example of this is Brain Stem Gliomas.  Symptoms that appear suddenly include problems swallowing, a clumsy walk, impaired vision or hearing, vomiting upon waking, slurred or nasal speech, and muscle weakness that affects only one side of the patients face.

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