Low Back Pain After Car Accident

So you just had something bad happen and you are home and searching on the internet on what to do next. Often times we just don’t know what to do next so we search and find information that can guide us in the right direction. This is a very intelligent thing to do.

Low back pain after a car accident is a very common thing. When either you or someone else causes the accident the car gets damaged and the back and muscles get injured. Usually right after the accident the pain is bad, but it can get worse over the next couple of days. It would seem that the pain would be worse right away, but it typically gets worse. This is when people search for the best back pain doctor in los angeles. A doctor should be contacted so you can get treatment.

The car is supposed to absorb most of the shock from the accident. The bumper and body of the car should help take the force of the accident rather than the body, but the body is still going to get moved around. The spine can’t handle such a rapid and fast movement and injuries happen to the ligaments, tendons, and discs.

The low back pain can most often happen on one side rather than in the center because the foot is typically on the brake and this causes a twist in the pelvis and lumbar spine. It is important to remember which foot you had on the break during the car accident because it will help the Doctor or specialist with the diagnosis.

Low back pain treatment has been shown to be very beneficial in the research studies after a car accident. It can help the damaged ligaments heal properly so there will be less pain later on. If there is a severe herniated disc at the L4 or L5 level then spinal decompression might be the best treatment to help return it back to normal and reduce pain levels.

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Sports and Spondylolisthesis

When someone has the condition called spondylolisthesis where a vertebra above another vertebra slips forward they will want to spend time thinking about what sports to play. The spine is a very critical thing because it is what holds the spinal cord in place and sends all the information from the body to the brain, and from the brain to the body. Making sure that it is working properly is a smart thing.

Some people are born with it. They inherited from their parents or had something not grow properly during the time in the womb. There are infections that can happen to the facet joints and discs that also contribute to people getting this. The main contributor is repetitive hyperextension. This usually happens when kids do sports such as lifting weights or gymnastics. If you are a parent you will want to make sure that your child is participating in sports where their spine is protected from hyperextension activities. This will lessen the chances for them to get spondylolisthesis. The injury can happen to the low back someone is young and then cause early degenerative changes to the spine. This can cause a case of chronic back pain and make life less enjoyable than it should be. Not all injuries can be avoided with sports. It is a healthy activity for kids to play sports, as well as adults. It is great exercise and keeps the mind sharp and relationships strong.

To avoid spondylolisthesis from sports, stay away from hyperextension activities. This is bending back beyond what is normal. Injuries happen, but do your best to lower the odds. If you are an adult with degenerative spondylolisthesis then you might have participated in a sport as a child that caused the damage and now one of your back bones is sitting more in front of another one, causing pinching of a nerve and irritation to the low back area. Talk to your doctor about the best treatment for this, something that will help strengthen the area, lower inflammation, and prevent further slippage of the bone. If the vertebra is not too far slipped forward you might be able to get a great deal of pain relief and improved mobility with the non-surgical spinal decompression followed by a muscle strengthening routine, focusing on the deep core muscles closest to the spine.

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Is it Good to Exercise with Spinal Stenosis?

It might not be the best idea to go out and start an exercise program if you suffer from spinal stenosis. Contact sports are out of the question. It makes no sense to go out on the football field and tackle someone or be tackled. You should however think that the spine and tissues around it will decay more and the condition can get worse if you do not do any activity at all. So it is good to exercise, just not the kind that will cause more damage.

Walking can cause much pain with spinal stenosis, but is a good exercise to do. Swimming is so good because it removes gravity from the picture and since the condition causes narrowing of the foramen and puts more pressure on the nerves, taking gravity out while exercising might just be the right thing. We are not talking about diving and competitive swimming, just the average doggy paddle or breast stroke. Just get out in the pool and move around. Float on your back and gently kick your legs, anything that gets movement to the muscles and body. If you don’t have a pool at your house, you can go to the municiple pool in the neighborhood or ask one of your neighbors if you can go take a swim a few times a week.

The underlying condition should be treated, and non-surgical methods should be used and tried before going to the surgeon. Spinal decompression in Los Angeles works for spinal stensosis. Whether it is in the cervical or lumbar spine, the pressure can be relieved from the compressed area. It takes a few weeks to work and there can be a great reduction in pain levels, and lessening of the numbness and tingling in the legs and feet. After getting the problem fixed more advanced exercises can be done for this condition. Follow the doctor’s instructions so you can get the best results.

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Lumbar Steroid Shots and Injections With Spondylolisthesis

Spondylolisthesis is a condition where the vertebrae above another vertebrae slips anterior or forward.  This happens the most in the lumbar spine, but can also happen in other areas of the spine.  Isthmic spondylolisthesis is the most common and this usually happens early in life between the ages of 5 and 15.  There is also degenerative, traumatic, pathologic, and dysplastic.  The grades vary from 1-4 with grade 4 being the most severe.  Because the bone is slipped forward it can put a lot of stress on the discs and facet joints and cause pain.  This is when people turn to their Doctor in search of treatment options.  One treatment option is steroid shots.

Are steroid shots the best treatment option for lumbar spondylolisthesis?  This might not be the best if you think about what the shots do.  They are cortisone shots, which is a very powerful anti-inflammatory treatment.  The are injected at the area of pain and the area has to be sterile and clean to reduce the risk of infection, which is a possibility.  Most Doctors recommend no more than 3 over the period of a year.  Why would this be?  Cortisone can weaken ligaments and tendons. This is something that you will want to ponder before getting this done if you have spondylolisthesis.  It does not make much sense to put something into your back with a needle that could soften the ligaments and tendons that hold the spine in place.  The vertebrae is already slipping forward, this could only cause it to possibly slip more forward? Please discuss this topic, do your research, and look at other alternative options available.  Non-Surgical spinal decompression therapy has been proven to be successful and reducing the pressure within the disc and facet joints.  If the slippage of the vertebrae is not too far, it might be an excellent option.

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Spinal Disc Anatomy

The spine is made up of bones called vertebrae. There are 3 regions, cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. There are 7 cervical bones, 12 thoracic, and 5 lumbar. Above C1 is the skull, and below L5 is the sacrum. There is not a disc between the skull bone and the first cervical bone C1. Between all of the other vertebrae there is a disc between each.

The disc works as a shock absorber and is a cushion between the vertebrae. It works to help with mobility and gives the spine a certain amount of movement in each linear plane. Every disc has a very tough protective outer band; which is called the annulus fibrosis. There are many layers to this and as it moves more towards the center there is the nucleus pulposus. The disc is connected to the vertebrae above and below by something called sharpey’s fibers, which make the connection very strong. They are like little anchors that hold the spine structures together. The disc can herniated up or down into the bone, but this is more rare than a central or lateral posterior herniation. When that happens it is called an endplate herniation, or schmorl’s node.

There is not a direct blood supply to the discs so the only way that they can get nutrients is through motion. The motion is what keeps a disc healthy. When a trauma happens and there is damage done, the area becomes stiff and rigid. The motion stops and the discs become unhealthy. This over time causes what is known as degenerative disc disease.

The spine works as one unit and there are ligaments that are closest to it, then tendons, and then muscles. The cervical discs can become herniated and diseased, but the lumbar region of the low back is where the majority of the problems are. The reason for this is that it is located at the bottom of the spine and has more weight pushing down on it.

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