Backache Relief
The Ultimate Second Opinion from Back-Pain Sufferers Nationwide Who Share Their Successful Healing Experiences
1st Edition
Published on 21. November 2012
320 pages
978-0-307-82473-8 (ISBN)
Description
Backache Relief was written to provide answers that can save you literally months and years of needless pain and incapacitation. No matter how long you've suffered back pain, no matter how many practitioners, treatments, and self-help approaches you've tried, you'll find answers here that will help you.Backache Relief documents the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of more than 100 different practitioners, treatments, and self-help therapies. Its findings are based on an extensive survey that took two years to completecorrespondence and interviews with nearly 500 back sufferers from every state in the nation.
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KLEIN | Arthur C. Klein
Backache Relief
Book
02/1985
Crown Publishing Group (NY)
€34.68
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Person
Arthur C. Klein is a survey designer and market research specialist. He is the bestselling coauthor of Backache Relief, Arthritis: What Works, and Arthritis: What Exercises Work. He lives in East Hampton, New York.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword
- A Note About the Research
- Contents
- Part One - An Introduction
- Chapter 1: Relief Is in Sight
- Chapter 2: These People Can Help You
- Part Two - Back Practitioners
- Chapter 3: Medical Doctors: The Best Are the Least Known
- Orthopedist
- General and Family Practitioner
- Osteopath
- Neurosurgeon
- Neurologist
- Physiatrist
- Acupuncturist
- Rheumatologist
- Emergency Room Medical Doctor
- Obstetrician
- Sports Medicine Specialist
- Chapter 4: Non-MD Practitioners: Which Ones Can Help Your Problem?
- Chiropractor
- Physical Therapist
- Yoga Instructor
- Massage Therapist
- Shiatsu or Acupressure Massage Therapist
- Physical Fitness Instructor
- Dance Instructor
- Nurse
- Kinesiologist
- Rolfer
- Alexander Instructor
- Psychotherapist
- Feldenkrais Therapist
- Podiatrist
- Naturopath
- Tai Chi Instructor
- Biofeedback Instructor
- Part Three - Back Treatments
- Chapter 5: The Most Widely Used Treatments for Back Pain
- Drugs (analgesics, muscle relaxants, prescription anti-inflammatories, tranquilizers, aspirin)
- Manipulation
- Back exercises (erroneous beliefs about their value, importance of personal instruction)
- Heat(wet, dry, diathermy, ultrasound)
- Massage (Shiatsu or acupressure, Swedish)
- Traction (back and neck)
- Braces and Supports
- Chapter 6: Less Common (and More Controversial) Treatments for Back Pain
- Surgery
- Yoga
- Electrical Stimulation Therapy
- Acupuncture
- Injections (cortisone, triggerpoint, muscle-relaxant)
- Foot Orthotics
- Self-Help Stress Reduction
- Cold Therapy (ice alone, combining cold and heat)
- Chapter 7: New, Unusual, and Seldom-Used Treatments for Back Pain
- Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
- Gravity Inversion (also called hanging or anti-gravity)
- Nutrition and Vitamins
- Biofeedback
- Modern Dance
- Marijuana
- Kinesiology
- Rolfing
- DMSO
- Sclerotherapy
- Alexander Therapy
- Feldenkrais Therapy
- Foot Reflexology (also called Zone Therapy)
- Chymopapain
- Nerve Block
- Tai Chi
- Part Four - Categories of Back Pain
- Chapter 8: Diagnosing Your Diagnosis
- Lack of diagnostic consistency among practitioners
- Relationship of diagnosis to treatment
- Ruling out serious medical conditions
- How specialists' biases shape their diagnoses
- How to interpret a tentative diagnosis
- Obvious spinal anomalies may not explain your problem
- Diagnostic procedures (examination, X rays, CAT scans, myelograms, electromyograms, or EMG, nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR)
- Chapter 9: How to Be Your Own Low Back Doctor for Acute, Severe Pain
- Nine myths about low back pain-debunked
- Questions most frequently asked by low back sufferers-answered (bed rest, the best mattress, how to get in and out of bed, the right position for lying in bed, how to ease pain, techniques for stress reduction, diet, preparation for exercise, posture, avoiding reinjury)
- Summary and evaluation of treatments and practitioners for acute, severe low back pain
- Chapter 10: How to Be Your Own Low Back Doctor for Chronic Pain
- Two exemplary case histories
- Attitude: taking charge of the problem and changing your life accordingly
- How to lift and carry (from groceries to children)
- Sitting (how to select a good chair for relaxation or desk work, how to make a car seat more comfortable)
- Exercise (how to structure an individualized exercise regimen
- complete instructions for a safe, eleven-step exercise program based on survey participants' experiences)
- Summary and evaluation of treatments and practitioners for chronic low back pain
- Chapter 11: How to Recover from a Ruptured Disc
- Acute pain: bed rest
- Home vs. hospital
- Risks of traction
- Advisability of surgery-laminectomy
- Outcomes of surgery
- Outcomes of nonsurgical treatments
- Danger of chiropractic treatment for acute disc pain
- Summary and evaluation of treatments and practitioners for acute disc pain
- Chronic disc pain: special exercise advice
- Summary and evaluation of treatments and practitioners for chronic disc pain
- Chapter 12: How to Get Rid of a Pain in the Neck
- Diagnosis
- Acute, severe neck pain: staying active
- Best sleep positions
- Risks of traction
- Ice
- Self-massage techniques
- Prescription drug pitfalls
- Manipulation
- Cervical collars
- Practitioners to see for neck pain
- Summary and evaluation of treatments and practitioners for acute, severe neck pain
- Chronic neck pain: physical, emotional, and attitudinal changes
- Stress management
- Neck posture
- Neck exercises
- Integrating neck and shoulder exercises into basic back regimen
- Summary and evaluation of treatments and practitioners for chronic neck pain
- Chapter 13: How to Relieve Osteoarthritis-Based Back Pain
- Arthritis Foundation vs. the medical profession
- Medical specialists who can help
- Medical practitioners with less to offer
- Guidelines for getting the most out of medical care
- Nonmedical practitioners
- Prescribed and recommended treatments
- Self-care
- Tips from survey participants
- Summary and evaluation of treatments and practitioners for osteoarthritis-based back pain
- Chapter 14: Advice from Survey Participants About Sciatica, Scoliosis, and Spondylolisthesis
- Sciatica: case histories of five participants with nonspecific sciatica
- Conclusions drawn from case histories
- Value and risk of exercise
- Other treatments (prescription drugs, heat, traction, ice, ultrasound, acupuncture, gravity inversion exercise, DMSO)
- Summary of treatments and practitioners for sciatica
- Scoliosis: chiropractic's role
- Orthopedists
- Back exercises
- Tips from survey participants
- Summary of treatments and practitioners for scoliosis
- Spondylolisthesis: diagnosis
- Case history details of ten survey participants (age at diagnosis current age, occupation, practitioners seen, treatments tried, treatment results, comments, helpful hints, emotional factors, outcome)
- Summary of findings for spondylolisthesis
- Part Five - Self-Healing
- Chapter 15: The Twenty-Five Most Often-Mentioned, Proven-Effective Ways to Free Yourself of Back Pain
- Attitude
- Lifting
- Mattresses and bed boards
- Sitting
- Posture
- Hydrotherapy
- Moist heat
- Cold therapy
- Self-massage
- Exercise
- Breaks in routine
- Walking
- Carrying
- Avoiding surgery
- Learning about prescribed drugs
- Shoes and shoe inserts
- Health clubs
- Swimming
- Mind-body activities
- Proper eating
- Weight control
- Back supports
- Reverse-gravity relaxing and exercising
- Hanging from chinning bar
- Miscellaneous (warm-ups in the tub, aspirin before activity, self-help tape, smart dressing, avoiding constipation, liniment, meditation, back aids
- Chapter 16: Helping Your Back: Tips for Performing Twenty-Five Common Activities
- Making love
- Making the bed
- Staying warm
- Getting enough rest
- Reading at bedtime
- Organizing closets for easy dressing
- Using the toilet
- Bathing
- Cleaning the bathroom
- Washing dishes
- Dining
- Washing floors
- Sweeping
- Reaching high shelves
- Sitting
- Vacuuming
- Dusting and window washing
- Moving furniture
- Painting
- Raking leaves
- Shoveling snow
- Splitting and carrying firewood
- Lifting and hauling debris
- Gardening
- Sitting at stadium, beach, or picnic
- Appendix - Back-Care Products
- Listing of products recommended by survey participants
- Mail-order information
