Do MRIs tell the whole pain picture?
When folks experience back pain, it’s human nature to want to know what’s wrong there. It’s not uncommon for clients to ask for an MRI image or a CT scan. The common thinking is if we can find out what’s exactly wrong in the lower back by...
How and why do we believe we have back pain?
Last time I wrote about our beliefs on back pain and how psychological variables can contribute to the development of lower back pain. Lots of studies look into the situations, activities, and anatomic structures to be responsible for people’s lower back pain...
Beliefs about back pain
As health professionals, we have a duty to provide helpful and accurate information to our patients, especially since a majority of patients come seek our services for more information on such an uncertain event as an acute back pain episode. Beliefs around lower back...
Does sitting-while-at-work make you prone to lower back pain?
It’s popular belief that sitting for work will make people more prone to lower back pain. And it’s a topic that comes up often from my ‘office warrior’ clients. A review article published by Danish researchers decided to see what the literature...
Exercise is a natural anti-inflammatory
Chronic disease is the leading cause of death globally led by cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, and diabetes mellitus. Regular exercise often protects us against our mortality and especially helps with diseases associated with chronic low grade...
Attitude and mood matter when it comes to surgery!
Surgery is very prevalent in the USA. More than 42 million surgical procedures are done annually, including 1 million of those are orthopedic. As surgical procedures become less invasive and more refined, patients are expecting quicker , less painful, and complete...
Poor sleep lowers pain tolerance
It’s clear that sleep issues and chronic pain are major public health concerns. The relationship between sleep issues and pain are complex to say the least. Do sleep issues bring on pain sensitivity? Does pain lend itself to more sleep issues? There’s a...
Hostile marriage slows down wound repair
An interesting study tested to see how stressful interactions can alter our physical and mental health. A study looked into the healing rate of blister wounds on couples in a hostile marriage compared to couples in a happy one. The folks in a troubled marriage healed...
