Challenges | Disabilities and Aging

Exercise To Relieve Chronic Back Pain

When your back is hurting, the last thing you feel like doing is exercising, but there is a school of thought that says many back problems are related to emotional pain and pushing through the discomfort is beneficial. If you’ve seen a doctor and there is no apparent reason for your back pain, using exercises to relieve chronic back pain can help quite a bit.

When using exercises to relieve chronic back pain you stand to experience benefits far beyond that of just helping your back. You will be positively affecting your overall well-being. You should look to take on a couple different types of exercise, one being aerobic. The goal of aerobic is, of course to help strengthen your heart but it will also have an added benefit of helping you strengthen your back and lose weight. For many people who have chronic back problems, much of it can be remedied by losing weight. The extra weight one carries puts unnecessary stain on your back.

Another to consider when wanting to use exercises to help relieve chronic back pain is yoga. Yoga involves a lot of really positive stretching moves that has the benefits of stretching out your spine and strengthening your back. It promotes the overall health of your back. Really any kind of back stretching can be beneficial but yoga provides you with quite a few postures and movements that typical stretching does not. It requires a lot of concentration and can also help you on other levels. Yoga can help you with breathing and increase your balance.

An added benefit to using exercises to relieve chronic back pain is that it helps with your out look. Having chronic back pain for a long period of time can bring depression. This comes from having to endure pain for so long, having to miss out on life and being limited to what you can do. Many people who battle depression are told to get active, to find ways to move around and to exercise. If you have problems staying positive and can see it affecting other parts of your life, then exercise will help you on many levels.

While it’s important to rest and not over exert your back muscles, too much rest causes your muscles to weaken. Weak muscles are more prone to injury. Exercising on a regular basis will not only make your body stronger as well as all the other added benefits discuss earlier, it will help you remain mobile and may help to make you even more flexible. It will also help to shorten the amount of time it takes to recover in those moments that you hurt your back again and makes those moments further and farther between. Exercise is a good option to keep back pain at bay.

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Filed Under: Pain Relief

Younger onset dementia

By Disabilities and Aging

Dementia is not inevitable as you age, but it becomes increasingly common the older you get. However, in some rare cases dementia can occur in people at the age of 40, 50 or 60. In this program Lynne Malcolm speaks with a 74-year-old woman who is caring for her 56-year-old daughter who has a memory span of just two minutes; and with a neuroscientist who explains younger onset dementia, why it occurs, what the early signs are and how to treat and cope with the disease.

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Filed Under: Alzheimer's Disease

Prostate Ultrasound

By Disabilities and Aging

Each year hundreds of thousands of men are told they have prostate cancer. While there will be decisions to make regarding treatment, a prostate ultrasound will no doubt be in your future. This information is meant to educate you about prostate ultrasound.

Ultrasound machines use the very same principles that dolphins and submarines use. Once sound vibrations hit objects, echoes return, which are then measured to determine the distance, size, shape and consistency of objects. The test will also show if the object is fluid-filled, solid or both. During prostate ultrasound, a transducer is inserted in the male patient to detect possible conditions and other abnormalities that can threaten health.

General Prostate Ultrasound

During the examination, the transducer will send sound vibrations then record the returning echoes. Once it is pressed against the skin, small pulses of high-frequency sound waves, inaudible to human ears are sent into the body. Once the waves bounce off the fluids, tissues and internal organs, the microphone inside the transducer records the slightest changes in the direction and pitch of the sound. The signature waves are immediately measured and displayed by a computer, providing real-time images on the screen. One or more frames can be captured as still images.

The Procedure

The prostate gland of males is found directly in front of the rectum. The ultrasound test is then performed transrectally. A disposable protective cover will be put over the transducer. The probe will then be lubricated and inserted into the rectum. If there is a suspicious lesion present, a biopsy may be performed, using ultrasound to guide the needle to correctly target the organ and acquire the necessary cells or tissues. The entire exam is usually done in 20 minutes or less.

Expect the ultrasound machine to be quick and painless. You may feel slight discomfort upon insertion of the probe into your body. Needle insertion during biopsy renders minimal pain. A radiologist is assigned to supervise and translate the results. The images will be saved followed by a report sent to the referring physician or primary care center. The results will most likely be available in a few minutes or after 1 or 2 days.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The only disadvantage of diagnostic ultrasound is that there is some heat produced and bubbles possibly formed. These effects have very minimal effects, however, rendering the procedure safe as a whole. Ultrasound machines are widely available, portable and easy-to-use. It is also less costly to go through it compared to other popular methods. There are no health problems incurred due to radiation and other traditional measures.

Men who used to have surgical removal of the tail end of their rectum or bowel are not the best candidates for prostate gland ultrasound, since it is required to put a probe inside the rectum. The size of the probe is similar to a finger. You need to have an enema too 2 to 4 hours prior to the procedure. You are also not allowed to urinate, so that your full bladder can better present images. Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic, taken in 4 doses from the night before the test until the day after the test.

Stay relaxed and wear comfortable clothing for the diagnostic procedure. Ultrasound machines are generally painless. You may have some mucus or bleeding in your rectum after the procedure. Some experience some blood in their urine up to 2 days after the ultrasound. Blood may also show in the semen.

Minimal blood should be no concern, but report anything unusual immediately to your physician.

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Filed Under: Challenges

Treatment for Bone Spurs on the Feet

By Disabilities and Aging

The bony growth of bone spurs that form on the feet are normally located just beneath the calcaneus bone, which is otherwise known as the bone in the heel. Bone spurs that form in this area are well known for causing an extreme amount of pain and discomfort. This is because this part of the body continuously plays an active role in absorbing pressure and shock from daily activities like jumping, walking, and even standing.

The Formation of Bone Spurs on the Heel

There is a fibrous band that stretches from the ball of a person’s foot all the way back to their heel and is called the plantar fascia. The job of the plantar fascia is to work as a platform of support. When the alignment of a person’s foot is not adequate, microscopic tears can occur at the area it’s attached to the heel due to the pulling it causes. At this point bony growths form out of the deposits of calcium, causing pain as they poke into the foot-s flesh.

When a person has flat feet or they have arches that are higher than normal, the feet will generally take on a biomechanical form that is quite poor. This in turn causes over supination or over pronation, and can cause the risk of developing bone spurs to be much higher. This is a problem that more women suffer from than their male counterparts, and this is simply because of the type of shoes that they choose to wear.

Treatment Options that are Often Recommended for Bone Spurs on the Feet

There is a number of different treatment options that are available to men and women that suffer from the pain caused by bone spurs of the feet. While some of the treatment options are only temporary remedies, there are others that provide long-term relief.

Treatment Options that Provide Temporary Relief from Pain and Inflammation

The application of ice to the affected area
Placing the foot in an elevated position
Providing the feet with an adequate amount of rest
The use of heel cups or cradles

Another short-term treatment option that many physicians prescribe to patients that have high arches or flat feet is arch supports. These are often commonly referred to as foot orthotics. These work by helping to promote an even distribution of weight as they work as shock absorbers during impact. They also work very well for minimizing the pain caused by bone spurs on the feet, as they help to work as a cushion for the hell. To eliminate pressure the heel is under, they are often also added to orthotic insoles.

Treatment Options that Provide Long-Term Bone Spur Relief

There are many cases where patients do not receive a sufficient amount of pain relief from temporary methods of treatment. In cases like this cortisone injections or surgical procedures may be recommended. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is a new treatment option that is also becoming popular for the effective long-term relief it can provide.