Back pain (also known "dorsalgia") is pain felt in the back that may originate from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or other structures in the spine.
The pain may have a sudden onset or it can be a chronic pain, it can be felt constantly or intermittently, stay in one place or refer or radiate to other areas. It may be a dull ache, or a sharp or piercing or burning sensation. The pain may be felt in the neck (and might radiate into the arm and hand), in the upper back, or in the low back, (and might radiate into the leg or foot), and may include symptoms other than pain, such as weakness, numbness or tingling.
Back pain is one of humanity's most frequent complaints. In the U.S., acute low back pain (also called lumbago) is the fifth most common reason for all physician visits. About nine out of ten adults experience back pain at some point in their life, and five out of ten working adults have back pain every year.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Chronic Neck and Back Pain

Apart whisking your wrinkles, it is possible that an injection of Botox can be away with the painful muscle spasms in the neck? Maybe Botox isn? T just for celebrities anymore! Can it help a person with chronic back or neck pain that is constantly in knots? The jury is still about Botox, since most experts agree that there is a shortage of completed tests. More research needs to be done, but the drug holds hope for some patients with chronic neck pain. Botox was originally approved by the FDA in 1989 for the treatment of severe muscle contractions, also known as cervical dystonia.

That was long before the new panacea for wrinkled brows furrowed face and wrinkles - Baby Boomers? S Delight. Botox is a purified form of botulinum toxin type A, which has been used for more than 20 years. The derivative of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum produces a protein that blocks the release of acetycholine and relaxes muscles. Type A is just one of seven different types of botulinum toxins, each with different properties. In the 1960s, the muscle relaxing properties of botulinum toxin have been developed for use in realignment? Crossed eyes?. These early studies paved the way for other uses of the toxin. Today

, which in very small doses, Botox has over 1 million patients worldwide with conditions caused by over-active muscles. Botox is now used for the treatment of cervical dystonia, to reduce the severity of abnormal head position and associated neck pain. It was also for the treatment of strabismus (the eyes) and Blepharospasm, the involuntary muscle spasms around the face and eyes. Now, a new study was published showing that Botox can be an appropriate treatment to alleviate the pain caused by chronically contracted neck muscles. This study was published in the January 2004 issue of American Journal of Pain Management. Scientific evaluation of the impact of a single injection of Botox into the neck, the muscles of 25 patients.

The injection was in combination with physical therapy. After 3 months of follow up, patients with a combined treatment showed a significant improvement. The study showed that pain relief from Botox lasted about 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. months. But researchers question the results of this study and indicate that it is not the efficacy of Botox with physical therapy with the results which are obtained by physical therapy alone. Experts speculate that the Botox injections relax the muscles and maximizes the potential for restoration and repair of damaged tissue. As a result of the strengthening weakened muscles, it relieves pain. Other researchers suggest that the treatment of muscle spasms with Botox injection has an advantage over oral pain relievers, because the injections into the muscle are local. You do not have any side effects of sedation, lethargy, fatigue, dizziness and pain associated with oral medications. Botox proponents suggest that more extensive tests needed to take advantage of the use for the relief of back and neck pain.

 

Paull G Miller is a Coral Springs spinal decompression therapist, who has worked with individuals with back pain problems for seven years.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_G_Miller

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