Let's Talk Getting Healthy

"TEXTING THUMBS" Soon to be Known as TWITTERING THUMBS!

This is a SERIOUS PROBLEM, well, okay maybe not serious but if are suffering from it you know its painful. There is HOPE to save the digits that allow you do things that other species on the earth cannot.

Texting thumbs is a problem that is beginning to show up in adults more prevalently.  Since the onslaught of video games, kids have complained of the sore "thumb syndrome"  leaving parents to laugh and give them the proverbial "You play you pay" speech. 

Now that the tables are turning, adults are looking for a solution to this dilemma. They are getting hand, wrist and arm massages, stretching the fingers and wrists even soaking hands at night in hot water, Yeesh! All this to stay connected.

The American Physical Therapy Association recently recognized BlackBerry Thumb as an official work place malady -- a stress-related injury due to over-use of any PDA or smartphone. The link gives you some APTA guidelines, below I will add my corrections for this ailment.

Lets look at this phenomenon of communication side effects from a slightly different standpoint.

LOW BACK PAIN ~ I can hardly STAND it!

Low Back Pain is a common complaint in todays world. It is the second most common neurological complaint. It is estimated that 31 million people will experience back pain this year, so you are not alone.  In my practice, I see many forms of back pain and treat it very successfully because I look for the cause and not just treat the pain. 

The first step is to identify where the pain is? Then, what the pain feels like? Then I want to know how severe it is and when is it the worst? What can you do to relieve it? These are a partial list of questions we ask to get to the cause of the pain. As I said, there are many causes of low back pain, lets see if yours is in the list:

1. Trauma - An injury or overuse to the area
2. Visceral Pain - pain coming from an organ that is overworked(ie. the kidney)
3. Muscle Strain - maybe injury related, may not be. (bending over to brush teeth)
4. Disease Process - Kidney infection, fibromyalgia, prostate problems, you get the idea.
5. Nutritional Deficiency - Yes, low intake of certain nutrients can cause low back pain.
6. Neurological Process - Compression of the nerve or blood supply to the low back area. (Sciatica, peripheral nerve or artery disease)

This is a partial list just to let you know that it can be more than just "a pulled muscle". One of the largest reasons for low back pain that I see is related to a Visceral referral area or kidney referral.   So lets look at how we can relieve pain in this situation.