Health blog Category: Back and Neck Pain
What does the body’s core include?
By Alyssa Burke, LPTA
Many people will experience some form of lower back pain in the course of their life. There are many factors that can contribute to lower back pain. Some of the most common sources include:
- Muscle Strains
- Overuse Injuries
- Disc and Skeletal Issues
- Poor Posture
When treating lower back pain, it is important to address body mechanics and more importantly, strengthen your core.
Read full blogSpend several hours at a computer each day?
Neck problems are becoming more common due our sedentary lifestyles. How often do we use computers and phones throughout the day? Now think about your posture whenever you use these devices. Chances are, there’s probably room for improvement there.
Posture plays a large role in maintaining neck health and limits your chance of developing problems that can negatively affect your daily activities. Issues with your neck are commonly associated with pain, headaches, and general stiffness.
Stress or lack of sleep causing knots in the upper body muscles
By Jason Makoutz, DPT
Neck pain and neck injuries are some of the most common reasons we see patients at Loudoun Sports Therapy Center. Whether the cause be from a specific injury or incident or due to poor posture. Some common ailments related to the neck that we see include tight/overworked muscles, headaches, osteoarthritis, joint stiffness, and whiplash. All of these can cause pain, weakness, and decrease ability to perform everyday activities.
Common Causes of Neck Injury:
- Motor vehicle accident
- Poor posture/ergonomics
- Weak musculature
- Poor sleep positioning
- Stress
Neck pain can present itself in many different ways.
Read full blogWhy even younger populations might be having this kind of discomfort
By: Kieran Loving, ATC
What in the world is an SI joint? Why is it even important? When I worked in a high school, many young athletes would complain about lower back pain or symptoms that radiate down there legs. They’re young, they can’t have low back problems can they? They’re in peak physical condition able to practice and do activities for hours a day! So why were they coming into the athletic training room with lower back issues.
Progression of a Disc Issue in the Spine
There are many things that can go wrong with a disc in your spine. You may have heard the terms degenerated, bulging, herniated, ruptured, slipped and many more. These are basically all describing the same thing just a slightly different progression in each case.
A disc that is irritated or has some abnormal pressure on it may be termed a “slipped disc”. What this means is that the surrounding muscles have not done a good job supporting the spine and maintaining proper alignment of your spine and as a result, the increased pressure on the disc or discs from the surrounding muscles has allowed the disc to start to lose its shape and/or potentially move slightly to one side.
How disc problems cause upper body discomfort
Neck pain is a common complaint in the orthopedic rehab world, and we’ve certainly treated our share of patients who suffer from various conditions related to neck pain at LSTC. With the high prevalence of desk jobs, the influx of cell phone use, computer use and video gaming, as well as time spent relaxing in front of the TV, our posture certainly suffers more often than we realize. Although poor posture and sedentary lifestyles are big contributions to neck pain, there are several other conditions that can cause that big pain in the neck.
Read full blogEver not know how an ache started?
Believe it or not, your hips play a large role in the health of your back and limited hip mobility can cause back pain. Do you have an aching back at the end of the day and wonder where the source of your pain is coming from? You are not alone! More than 80 percent of the population will suffer from back pain at least once in their life, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.
Read full blogSpine Anatomy and Spine Problems
By: Mike Bills, MS PT
In order to understand why spine problems get started, let’s first talk about spine anatomy. Your spine is comprised of many vertebrae. These are the bones that make up your spine and they’re like rocks that sit on top of each other in a very specific fashion. In order for the spine to do its job, these vertebra must sit on top of each other, from your neck all the way to your tailbone, in a curve that looks like the letter S.
Carrying a Heavy Purse or Tote Bag?
Back pain is one of the most common complaints that patients have when they are coming to physical therapy. It is not only affecting middle-aged adults, but becoming more prevalent in the younger adult population. Most patients that come in report dealing with the pain for at least a month or more because they believe “it will go away on its own”, however more and more people have sedentary desk jobs or are performing activities without addressing core muscle strength.
Read full blogSpending A Lot of Time Texting, Typing or Driving?
If you spend hours driving, texting, typing or even just sleeping in the wrong position the odds are you have either poor posture or neck pain. Spending extended periods of time in incorrect can lead to incorrect movement patterns and increase your injury risk over time. One of the easiest ways to see if you are at increased risk for a neck injury is to look at the motion that you have. We will highlight a few quick screens that you can complete to assess your own injury risk.
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