You bend down to lift something heavy, perhaps your own child, and feel something ‘go’ in the small of your back. You feel an exruciating pain and cannot even get up. One day, you feel pain and stiffness in your neck and you think that it may be due to an odd position your neck was in while sleeping.
Coming down the stairs you slip and sprain your ankle joint, or you open your mouth to yawn and cannot close it.
Headaches occurring at intervals on the right or left side of the head, are associated with nausea And vomiting. There may be a feeling of seeing non-existent objects in front of the eyes before the onset of the headache. Such headaches usually start before the age of 30. Many such patients respond to manipulation. In some cases migraine may occur at the back of the head. In such cases manipulation will relieve the headache to a considerable degree.
Migraine of Cervical Origin. Spondylosis and osteo-arthritic changes in the cervical spine can cause an inflammatory reaction. This causes a spasm in the vertebral artery and its branches, resulting in a headache with the following characteristics:
Frequently, a chronic headache resistant to treatment is due to a disorder of the cervical spine, which may be cured by manipulation. Certain mechanical changes in the cervical spine may cause an intermittent or a continuous headache. These changes respond well to manipulation. The pain can spring from the neck. Some people do not believe in the possibility that pain can radiate from the neck to the head.
An experiment was carried out by Kellgreen. A concentrated saline solution was injected in the area where the cervical spine first joins with the head, producing tenderness and headache in the forehead region. This proved a connection between the neck and the forehead.
A headache is a common problem today. Who does not get a headache? An executive, a philosopher, a scientist, a business magnate, a clerk a housewife, a student – everybody, at sometime or other, is afflicted by a headache! It has no professional or age barriers.
Women suffer more than men. The reason may well be premenstrual migraines during puberty. These get worse as the years roll by, and are cured only by menopause. Contraceptives are known to cause headaches in some women and cure them in others. Headaches may become less frequent in pregnancy.
A large percentage of patients being treated by general practitioners and being referred to various specialists suffer from back pain. Such patients constitute one-third of the total attendance in the orthopaedic out-patient departments, excluding accident cases. X-rays, electrocardiograms and other investigations are carried out and these patients are then informed that they do not have any serious problem. They are only able to give a vague description of their pain. Unable to find any abnormality in these conditions, the physician treats the problem as a psychological one and often refers them to a psychiatrist.
Continue reading Osteopathy: Curing Postural or Upper Back Pain
Sometimes the arm becomes painful. The pain shoots down one of the arms, accompanied by numbness and a tingling sensation in one or more fingers. This is due to irritation in the nerve roots emerging between the fourth cervical and the second thoracic vertebrae.
Pain in the neck is a common complaint. It is the product of a fast, mechanical life full of tension, lack of exercise and bad posture, use of cushy pillows and a soft bed. It may also be due to an injury. No specific cause can be pin-pointed. Some patients develop a stiff neck due to the incorrect positioning of the head in bed, especially while lying on the tummy with the head turned to one side. Sometimes the pain in the neck lasts for a few days and wears off on its own. But when it persists for a long time, it presents greater problems.
It is most important to ascertain that the pain is of vertebral origin. Pain due to infection, inflammation, tuberculosis, tumour of the spine, osteomyelitis, cancer or other diseases should be excluded.
A sudden dramatic pain is most likely due to a derangement of the spine. Pain which increases relentlessly without any intermission suggests that it may be due to inflammation or malignancy. In such cases, an X-ray has to be done to check out the condition of the spine and the disc. However if there is an acute prolapse, the X-ray may not show any abnormality, but may show the extent of osteoarthritis as being extensive or mild. It may be remembered that there are many patients with the same radiological changes who do not experience pain, and they continue to show the same changes even after they obtain complete relief.
Continue reading Osteopathy: Treatment for Low Back Pain, Lumbago and Sciatica
Backache also called lumbago or sciatica, has existed since man learnt to stand erect. Descripations of the condition occur in ancient literature. Backache is a common complaint among the young and the old. How many people are there who do not suffer from backache during their lifetime? Many suffer from mild, infrequent ache for years before it becomes serious. Many complain of pain after pushing a heavy almirah or lifting something heavy even when they have no injury. Backache many start without any apparent cause. Some ladies complain of pain persisting after a pregnancy. Other complain of pain during their menstrual periods which is severe enough to keep them in bed for 2-3 days and force them to take analgesics.
Continue reading Osteopathy: Curing Low Back Pain, Lumbago and Sciatica
If a straight posture is maintained while working in the office or at home, the pain may not occur. For example, a clerk may raise the height of his table so that he may sit more erect than usual. This can even be done by cutting the legs of the chair to lower its height. A typist may put his or her papers just above the typewriter on an inclined board, or keep them vertically tagged on the wall on a drawing board. Housewives may raise the kitchen platform if it is too low. They may use a chapati maker which involves pushing down rather than rolling.
Continue reading Osteopathy: Treatment as Postural Correction