Are knots in your back a myth?
553389
No, it's definitely not a myth. Your muscles get cramped they swell and tighten, this causes a painful lump under the skin. This is what people call knots. They can be relieved with some serious massage and maybe muscle rub with it. I hope this helps. :^)
418446
A slipped, or herniated, disc can be related to age and lack of exercise as well as any stresses placed on the back.  Gentle exercise, under the supervision of a doctor, is beneficial, as can be weight loss or in severe cases surgery.  The pain can be terrible, and pay attention to any signs of movement problems.  BTW, this may be beyond anything a chiropractor can do.
455857
This is something I've never heard of before...but, the human body is amazing in that everything is connected. Could be. If it is true, then I would recommend acupuncture to deal with it.
1186814
As a 28 year old young woman with scoliosis I have a lot of experience with back pain. The fact that the pain is radiating down to your thigh makes me think it is related to you sciatic nerve. What I have found the most helpful is yoga and pilates. The controlled movements of yoga not only strengthen your back and abdominal muscles but they also provide flexibility and stretching to the core muscles that have a huge influence on spine health. I am looking for a yoga class right now for this very reason. After physicians keep telling me to simply take ibuprofen/aleve/etc... It can get very frustrating. Especially when none of those drugs can touch the pain! I wish you the best!
142490
Yes it can. It could be the sign of an Ulcer. Also, I had a heart attack and I didn't have any chest pain at first it started in my back.
307167
the first answer is good.  they are not fun, you will know something is up.  i had one, it made part of my stomach bulge out, by the appendix was where mine was.  you can get them by too much stress in lifting, you blow out a lining inside and what the lining was holding protrudes out.  you would have to get a surgical procedure to fix it
934408
Its, quite  a common symptom. I've had it myself. There is probably some slight irritation to one of your lumber nerves ( the ones in your lower back) You might have twisted your back or slept in an awkward position. \nYou don't necessarily have to have any back pain with this complaint.\nIt will probably come and go for a week or two then go away by itself. \nDo you find the area feels very sensitive to touch? \nYou can also get the same sensation in other areas- forearm and backs of shoulders are common.\n\nIf in doubt  or if things get worse see your Dr. \nHope this helps
72598
Back pain, especially low back pain, is the most common complaint for which physician visits are sought annually in the United States.  The most common cause of back pain is not stress. In fact, stress alone rarely causes back pain; it may, as you mentioned, cause tension (which is just "discomfort" that can be relived with rest and warm showers.\nThe most common causes of low back pain are lumbar stains and sprains, which account for 70% of all low back pain. In lay terms, strain is muscular tear and injury and sprain is ligamentous injury.\n\n(The rest include: "10% of cases are due to age-related degenerative changes in discs and facets, 4% of cases are due to herniated discs, 4% are due to osteoporotic compression fractures, and 3% are due to spinal stenosis. All other causes account for less than 1% of cases.")\n\nRecent studies have shown that bed rest is NOT effective in relieving low back pain and it may even be detrimental as it causes loss of muscle strength in the low back area.  Treatments of choice are multiple and are chosen on a case by case basis.  Physical therapy, pharmacotherapy, range of motion excercises, and surgery in severe cases may be indicated.\nBottom line, you must see a physician and be evaluated as to whether you may benefit from physical therapy.\n\nF. R.\nYear III Doctoral Candidate,\nKeck School of Medicine\nUniversity of Southern California
731703
I have had lower back pain that just suddenly knocks me off my feet and hurts for days, but never a throbbing pain. After being checked out a few times, doctors have concluded that I am under stress,  or I pinched a nerve, or I was lifting something wrong, but they can't point to anything physically wrong. It has cost me a lot of money to hear the words, "I don't know..." I usually just take some Dones back pills, and as soon as I can hot showers and the pain goes away in 3 or 4 days.\n\nThe last time my back went out, I was tighing my shoelace. The weight of the shoelace must have caused me to stress out and I pinched a nerve.
380786
I don't believe so- the part that is herniating can recede some.  I have a bulging disc & the only thing that helped (besides surgery) was a chiropractor.  I tried physical therapy for 3 months with no help-after 3 visits to my chiropractor I'm doing GREAT!
663669
There are many reasons for back pain, so naturally, the treatments vary as well. Here are the more common:\n1. Strained muscle from lifting or twisting - ice to back (20 minutes on and 20 minutes off) for the first 24 hours, then heat. \n2. Emotional tension (stress) causes the muscles all over to tighten up, but the back is where it is most likely to be noticed - treatment is to deal with the stress\n3. Poor posture, bad bed, or working in a position that puts a strain on the back muscles - Narrow down the cause of the problem and fix it. \n4. Physical abnormality, like a degenerative disc or vertebra - Short of surgery...which I don't advise except for extreme cases...the treatment is to treat the symptoms and know your limitations.\n\nIn all cases, a good exercise program is helpful in that it strengthens the muscles of the back as well as the muscles in the abdomen. This is important because weak back and abdominal muscles can lead to reoccurrences of the back pain. If the back pain is stress-related, exercise also helps control stress.
716274
In terms of your disc herniation, it is doubtful that it will disqualify you. A large number of the human population has asymptomatic disc herniations confirmed by MRI studies on asymptomatic patients. Further MRI studies on cadavers, in which during life- had no complaints of back pain. It is estimated that some 30-40 % of the population have disc herniations. Furthermore there is absolutely no clinical correlation between size (mild/moderate/marked) of the herniation and severity of the patient's pain. \nRegarding your steroid. If at some point of time the pain becomes too great, whereupon all conservative treatment methods have failed. Sure, go with the steroid. A steroids main purpose is to inhibit inflammation- because inflammation results in pain. Inflammation is somewhat good in that its real purpose is to move "cells" to the area to help repair. If you INHIBIT this process, you in effect INHIBIT healing. (ice slows the process down some whilst decreasing pain). Steroids have also shown to result in periarticular osteoporosis ( slight bone loss at the point of injection). Spinal decompression makes sense as your first line of treatment. Think of your disc like a jelly doughnut. Some your jelly has leaked out. The jelly is irritating surrounding nervous tissue--> pain. Decompression causes a negative vaccuum in that disc to help it suck the jelly back in. If your chiro is good... he will then start you off with some stabilization exercises to help with the pain and future occurances of pain.
907981
its a myth, but it did happen ONE time in history.... \n\nhttp://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/13198.html
961098
I'm glad you are looking for facts about DECOMPRESSION THERAPY...not accupuncture or any other therapy.   I read the answer before mine and I guess they just can't read.  You were pretty clear about not wanting opinions...JUST FACTS ABOUT DECOMPRESSION.  \n\nI have found the following information for you conerning decompression therapy. The majority of studies were based upon an earlier form of decompression therapy called VAX-D.  The modern decompression brings with is significant changes in patient outcomes.   In our clinic patients realize a 60-100% reduction in pain and symptoms. Studies indicate and my own presonal experience has proven that when decompression is applied correctly it can be a tremendous benefit to the patient who suffers with low back pain.       \n\nHere are links to what various scientific and medical communities report about spinal decompression…\n\nhttp://www.painreliefclinics.com/RESEARCH.htm\n\nJournal of Neurological Research, October 2001. For any given patient with low back and referred leg pain, we (the researchers) cannot predict with certainty which cause has assumed primacy. Therefore surgery, by being directed at root decompression at the site of the herniation alone, may not be effective if secondary causes of pain have become predominant. Decompression therapy, however, addresses both primary and secondary causes of low back and referred leg pain. We thus submit that Decompression therapy should be considered first, before the patient undergoes a surgical procedure which permanently alters the anatomy and function of the affected lumbar spine segment. \n\nJournal of Neurological Research, October 2001. Same edition, different study. Dermatosomal Somatosensory Evoked Potential Demonstration of Nerve Root Decompression After VAX-D Therapy. Reductions in low back pain and referred leg pain associated with a diagnosis of herniated disc, degenerative disc disease or facet syndrome have previously been reported after treatment with a VAX-D table…The object of this study was to use dermatomal somatosensory evoked potentials (DSSEPs) to demonstrate lumbar root decompression following VAX-D therapy. Seven consecutive patients with a diagnosis of low back pain and unilateral or bilateral L5 or S1 radiculopathy were studied. All patients had at least 50% improvement in radicular symptoms and low back pain and three of them experienced complete resolution of all symptoms. The average pain reduction was 77%. \n\nJournal of Neurological Research, April 1998. Data was collected from twenty-two medical centers for patients who received VAX-D therapy for low back pain, which was sometimes accompanied by referred leg pain. Only patients who received at least ten sessions and had a diagnosis of herniated disc, degenerative disc or facet syndrome which were confirmed by diagnostic imaging, were included in this study; a total of 778 cases. The treatment was successful in 71% of the 778 cases, when success was defined as a reduction in pain to 0 or 1, on a 0 to 5 scale. Improvements in mobility and activities of daily living correlated strongly with pain reduction. \n\nFrom Anaethesiology News, March 2003.. Small, non-randomized follow-up study on the outcomes of decompression therapy on reducing chronic low back pain. Among 23 patients studied, 71% showed more than a 50% reduction in pain immediately after treatment, and 86% showed a 50% or better pain reduction at four years. After four years, 52% of respondents reported a pain level of zero. \n \nTreatment of Discogenic Low Back Pain presentation, The VAX-D Therapeutic Table reduces intradiscal pressure to a minus 150mm Hg., effectively decompressing the disc. With conventional traction intradiscal pressures either increase, remain the same or slightly decrease. Conventional traction devices elicit reflex muscle contraction thus interfering with decompression. The VAX-D table has a time energy distraction curve that is logarithmic, and we believ
330327
When i first hurt my lower back, the idiot military doctors thought it was just a strain, but when i actually had a MRI done, it was reveal that i had one herniate disc and another disc that was protuded.  So i would seek medical attention, even if nothing ever comes up it.
1088723
There are few things in all of medicine that is more nebulous than back pain and spine imaging.  It's not uncommon for a very significant finding on an MRI to have little or no symptoms.  Conversely, an MRI showing very little or no detectable abnormality can still mean significant pain or symptoms.  The human spine is more than just a bunch of vertebrae stacked on top of each other.  It's a very complex biomechanical structure with multiple small joints of different types at all levels, stabilized by large numbers of ligaments and muscles.  Medical imaging will not display pathology of all these structures all the times.  Unfortunately, many people with back pain get treated with medicine, physical therapy and surgery with varying results.  Sometimes they get better, other times they don't, and other times they get worse.  My advice is to see a good orthopedic or neurosurgeon who isn't hell bent on operating on every spine patient they see.  Surgery should be a last resort, and you have to be absolutely certain that whatever is being operated correlates with the clinical symptoms.
304069
Yes, if one vertebrea is out it can pinch nerves, cut off blood supply to certain areas and all other types of symptoms.  They may seem unrelated but are probably directly related to subluxation (your back being out).  You should always seek chiropratic immediately and massage, if possible.  My mother was in an accident 20 years ago, did not get treatment and now has serious health problems because of it.  I was in an accident 2 months ago, got chiropratic immediatly, and massage and have completely recovered.  My second set of x-rays shows my spine has almost completly realigned.  My advice: get chiropractic ASAP.  3 times a week for several months, then 2.. your chiropractor should advise you.  Hopefully you have insurance to cover it!