Fibromyalgia (FM) affects millions of Americans each year. The back and neck pain, sleep problems, headaches and so on add up to a syndrome that has a lot of disease over-lap. Patients with headaches are more likely to suffer from fibromyalgia. Irritable bowel syndrome is also more common among those with FM. It’s important not […]
Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Most patients with carpal tunnel syndrome will put up with their symptoms for days and weeks until they’re troubling enough to bring to a doctor’s attention. Their doctor should rule out certain causes for the hand pain (such as diabetes) and focus the examination on the wrist and other anatomic sites where nerve compression may […]
Different Doctors and Different Approaches to Care
Whiplash injuries are a major public health problem. Not only do they cause significant pain and time off from work and leisure activities, there is also a general effect on quality of life. A study in the European Spine Journal compared female patients with whiplash of the neck to patients with low back pain and […]
Walking for a Healthy Back?
Scientists who have studied the architecture of the spine have concluded that it is meant for walking. This may come as a surprise since we humans do very little walking these days. Over the millennia, our lives have moved from days filled with walking and searching for food to a largely sedentary existence. A good […]
The Headache Epidemic
Over the past few decades, chronic migraine headaches have increased dramatically (up ~60%) among the population in the United States. Most of this increase has occurred among adults younger than 45 years of age, and women are slightly more affected than men. One study showed that 80% of women and 70% of men reporting chronic […]
Get Moving?
Fibromyalgia affects 1-3% of the United States population and approximately the same percentage of the population is affected by chronic fatigue syndrome, which is a closely related disease. Up to 18 million adults in any given year report these symptoms, making them a substantial public health problem. Women seem to be more affected than men. […]
Treatment Options for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) have hand and wrist symptoms that range from tingling and numbness to pain and weakness. Some occupations see more of this disease than others. For example, workers who use vibratory hand tools and those who engage in repetitive flexion motions of the wrist seem to be at greatest risk. […]
“My Accident Was 2 Years Ago… Could that Cause My Neck Pain Today?”
The short answer is yes. But let’s look at how the neck is injured in whiplash and why a trauma from years earlier can produce symptoms today. Even in more moderate motor vehicle collisions with substantial car damage, symptoms rarely come on the day of the injury. When symptoms do occur immediately, this is a […]
“Why Don’t My Usual Stretches Help My Back Pain?”
Like many health conditions, low back pain is a chronic problem. Patients with low back pain typically suffer on and off for years. Back pain seems to come on when we overexert or do something out of the ordinary, such as moving boxes or when returning to a sport we have not tried since our […]
Headaches and Forward Head Posture
The head is a large and heavy part of a person. In a child, the head can account for a quarter of their total weight. In the adult, the head weighs 10-14 pounds (about 4.5-6.3 kg), and this load has to be balanced by the strength of the neck muscles. In normal upright posture, there […]