Posts Tagged ‘hydration’

B.T.T.o.D: Remaining adequately hydrated will help to reduce your back pain.

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Again, this may sound like an obvious one- but remarkably, most people do not drink enough fluids throughout their day. Keep in mind, DIET SODAS DO NOT COUNT. The adage about 8 glasses of water a day is a good one, and may have the added benefit of controlling your appetite if that has been an issue for you. Also, be sure to take in fluids which will replace your electrolytes- juices are a great place to start, provided you don’t overdo it as they are typically high in sugars.

Hydration will help to flush out toxins from your tissues, and deliver needed electrolytes to your muscle tissue, preventing fatigue and injury.

Best,

Andy

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Posted in General Health Information, Low Back Pain, Nutrition, Tip o' the Day/ B.T.T.o.D., Tips | No Comments »

Back Pain and Airline Travel: A few tips.

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

I am getting ready for my trip to the UK for lecturing and a little promotion of Back Together. Over the past several days, a few patients have made comments: “Ugh, that plane ride is horrible.”,”Your back is gonna need help after that plane ride.”, “Those seats are so uncomfortable.”

Yes- traveling on an airplane can be a miserable experience, particularly if you have back issues. There are a few things you can do that will likely help you avoid real exacerbation of your back pain:

1) If you have carryon luggage, resist the habit of carrying them in the same hand all the time. Switch sides- even if you are carrying two bags. It is pretty likely that they don’t weigh the same, and by favoring one side or another you will be creating an imbalance.

2) Better yet, use a rolling bag, and stack additional carryons on top of that. Switch the side you are pulling with.

3) Carry an extra t-shirt in one of your carryons- When you get to your seat, make a small roll from it, place it against the seat in the small of your back as a portable lumbar support.

4) When you are not asleep (and the fasten seatbelt sign is NOT lit), get out of your seat and stretch out your legs every 30 minutes or so. When possible stretch your arms out over your head. This will prevent the onset of stiffness & soreness.

5) When seated, with your feet flat on the floor in front of you, do ten repetitions of heel lifts (leaving your toes on the floor, going up & down) every hour. This helps to move your hips,prevent soreness, and may even help prevent blood clots from excessive sitting.

6) If you do sleep, use a travel pillow which provides support for both sides of your neck. They make inflatable ones which get very small when deflated, and only cost a few bucks if you don’t try to buy one at the airport.

7) Drink plenty of fluids. The air in planes is very, very dry. Staying hydrated will help prevent a whole host of problems, and will ultimately ensure that you get out of your seat pretty regularly.

Hopefully, these tips will help you to avoid too much discomfort the next time you travel.

Gotta go pack. Catch up with you from London!!

-Andy

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Posted in Ergonomics, General Health Information, Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, Tips | No Comments »

Viewer Question: Back Pain and the Weather

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Barbara submitted this question: I’m curious about connections that may exist between the weather and back pain (and pain in general caused by fibromyalgia and arthritis, which my partner has). It always seems like changes in the weather, or severely cold weather, or precipitation of any kind increases my partner’s pain. What’s this all about? And is there anything we can do to mitigate the pain ahead of time, like after checking the weather forecast but before the weather event has happened?

Well you definitely do not need me to confirm that weather does indeed have an effect on how your partner feels. Both joint pain and fibromyalgia/myofascial pain can be exacerbated by changes in the weather.

As it pertains to arthritis, the pain seems to be specifically related to drastic changes in barometric pressure. The question of how these changes influence fibromyalgia is a little more complicated.

Fibromyalgia pain can be worsened by changes in temperature (up or down) changes in barometric pressure, and humidity. And to make matters worse, there seems to be a correlation to length of day (similar to that experienced by persons with seasonal affective disorder or SAD.) In fact, these and other factors make up parts of the calculations resulting in the daily ‘pain index’ which can help persons with fibromyalgia estimate how their symptoms will play out over the following several days.

SInce controlling the weather is not really an option (unless you do what many ‘fibromites’ do and move to someplace where the climate is more consistent than Philadelphia) there are a few other things you can do:

1) Regardless of the weather conditions, make efforts to remain active- stretching, walks- anything which helps to maintain mobility.

2) HYDRATE!!!! Good hydration can help to clear many of the cellular waste products which can aggregate in myofascial layers, resulting in trigger points. DRINK!

3) Make efforts to protect your sleep. Regular, uninterrupted sleep is one of the few things which fibromites consistently site as a source of relief.

4) Dress in order to maintain a reasonably consistent comfortable temperature, and adjust quickly when transitioning from inside to outside. This does not just hold true for going from a warm inside to a cold outside- going from a temperate outside to an overly air conditioned inside can be as bad or worse.

I hope this is helpful.

Fibromyalgia is such a complicated issue, and each individual has different means & methods of coping with the symptoms. Please share your experiences, successes and failures, with our viewers.

Thanks for your question Barabara!

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Posted in Fibromyalgia, Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, Tips | No Comments »

Viewer Question: Hydration and Back Pain- is there a relationship?

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

Ena G. submitted a question: I am always curious about links between wellness and diet. Is it true that dehydration can exacerbate back pain or discomfort?

Dehydration can definitely exacerbate back pain and stiffness. Your body is requires hydration for a couple of things: If you think of your body is a machine, adequate hydration can help ensure that your soft tissue and joints are sufficiently lubricated. More importantly, all of your activity requires the electrolytes and other nutrients which are replenished through hydration. Dehydration can cause muscle spasm and cramping in extreme cases, and a feeling of soreness and fatigue in less extreme situations.

Now, something to keep in mind is that hydration should not come exclusively in the form of water- particularly if you are participating in strenuous activity likely to result in dehydration. Something not many people realize is that you can actually become dehydrated by consuming too much water. The easiest way to understand this is with a grasp of what is known as the OSMOTIC GRADIENT- that is the idea that minerals and electrolytes dissolved in water tend to go towards places where there are less of them. So, if you consume excessive water without replacing some of the nutrients lost through sweat and activity, the water can actually draw these substances out of your tissue, worsening dehydration.

As always, consume water throughout your day, but be certain that your diet contains sufficient nutrients to replace the ones you use- in short a nicely balanced diet.

If you are running a marathon, or participating in other strenuous activity/exercise- fluid supplements fortified with electrolytes and other minerals can be a useful aid.

One last thing, hydration falls under the larger topic of nutrition. Look back at the blog in late March or early April for a segment with a nutritionist who will discuss other nutritional considerations for back pain.

Thank you for your question!

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Posted in Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, Nutrition, Tips | No Comments »