North American Spine Magazine February 2013 issue by North American Spine

North American Spine The Leader in Minimally Invasive Spine Care

Snow Shoveling Safety Prevents Spine Surgery

Also in this issue:

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Reboot Your Healthy Spine Resolutions Sciatica Acting Up with Arrival of Cold Weather? Steroid Shots for Spinal Stenosis in Older Women? Study Says Epidural Steroids May Not Help Sciatica North American Spine Parent Named Top Company Moving with the Feldenkrais Method for Sciatica Valentine’s Gift Ideas for Sciatica and Other Sources of Back Pain

North American Spine Courtesy Magazine | January 2013

Snow Shoveling Safety Prevents Spine Surgery

Are you injury free, in fine health, with strong core muscles and excited to get out your puffy parka, mittens, snow-boots and snow shovel? Check out the snow shoveling tips from the macho pages of Men’s Health magazine: ›› Maintain Neutral and Tall Spine Avoid rounding your lower back and think about keeping your spine in the neutral position that curves inward at the bottom and slightly rounded at the upper back. The spine is at its ‘tallest’ or longest when in this position. Twisting positions also compromise correct form. ›› Push Hips Back Think of your hips as the hinge that ‘folds backward’ when you bend. Keep your spine neutral as you bend and straighten. ›› Legs Lift The effort should be concentrated in your legs and hips. To ensure your back stays straight, or neutral, tighten those abdominals to create a supportive scaffold for your spine.

If the buff tough guys of Men’s Health know that protecting your spine is important, then we should all take caution when attempting to clear away snow this season. As with starting any other strenuous exercise, you should get the thumb’s up from your physician before shoveling snow.

Reboot Your Healthy Spine Resolutions

Don’t worry…it’s not too late to REBOOT your New Year’s resolutions. Whether you suffer with a painful condition like degenerative disc disease or whether you already underwent spine surgery, now is the time to commit to improving your spine health.

›› Stop Smoking - Smoking contributes to pain, interferes with treatment and successful outcomes from spinal surgery. ›› Drink Water - adequate spinal disc hydration supports the vertebrae and spinal flexibility. ›› Get Plenty of Sleep - avoid the pain-insomnia cycle. ›› Shed Excess Pounds - lessen your spinal load and injury risk and promote healing. ›› Boost Nutrition - vitamins A, C and D and minerals like calcium promote bone and soft tissue health and growth that strengthen vertebral joints, muscle and connective tissues. Iron provides nutrient rich oxygenated blood to the spinal area. Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce pain-causing inflammation. ›› Move Better – poor posture and biomechanics often cause back and neck pain. Physical therapists, certified personal trainers and chiropractors are excellent resources. Anecdotal as well as medical literature is rife with evidence supporting the importance of developing and maintaining a positive attitude when facing personal challenges and chronic pain.

The key to sticking with your resolutions may be adopting some ‘Positive Thinking’.

Sciatica Acting Up with Arrival of Cold Weather?

Does your old spinal surgery site feel uncomfortable when it gets cold? Can you tell it’s going to rain before the first drop hits the pavement? Does your sciatica scream when frigid temps arrive? A recently published Swedish research study, in the International Archives of Occupational & Environmental Health, conducted in Sweden with 134,754 male construction workers may confirm what you already know! The researchers found that the subjects who worked in lower temperatures reported higher incidences of neck and low back pain compared with those working in higher temperatures. The study did not explain the cold weather-pain connection. Some scientists theorize that barometric pressure, or atmospheric weight, is causing the effect on pain pathways.

With advancing weather changes, such as snowstorms or drastic temperature drops, barometric pressure drops. When this occurs, tissues surrounding a person’s joints build up, causing stiffness and sometimes pain. This also takes place in surgical scar tissue. These changes within the body affect already hypersensitive nerves that have been injured as in the case of sciatica.

When you feel nasty weather coming, be sure to have your pain medicine and an electric blanket nearby. © Can Stock Photo Inc. / AndreyPopov

Steroid Shots for Spinal Stenosis in Older Women?

The medical news source HealthDay reported that long-term non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use has been linked with bone loss, but it isn’t known whether single steroid injections would have this effect. A group of 28 post-menopausal women who were given steroid injections for low back pain were tracked over a six-month period. A control group was also tracked. The results indicated that the steroid injection group experienced a six-fold hipbone loss compared with the bone loss in the control group. The lead researcher of the study, which was published in the journal Spine, suggested if you are a woman receiving epidural injections for a condition like spinal stenosis, you should discuss taking Calcium and Vitamin D supplements with your physician. He also indicated that the study’s results shouldn’t cause anyone distress but rather that steroid epidural injections have a role in the overall treatment of low back pain. However, the study may suggest that, in certain circumstances, women may benefit from researching other treatments such as minimally invasive spine surgery.

Study Says Epidural Steroids may not Help Sciatica

As if the recent meningitis scare, related to tainted epidural methylprednisolone injections from one particular processing center, wasn’t enough to frighten people who find relief from this therapy, there’s more! Australian researchers at the George Institute for Public Health concluded that these injections were not effective for back pain in both the short and long term. They found an insignificant, yet small positive effect on leg pain in the short term. This study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Other physicians may have a different opinion about the role for spinal epidural corticosteroid injections for sciatica. The Chief of the Orthopedic Spine Service at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital

told Reuters News that epidural injections should be used in certain circumstances, including a case where the patient suffers from sciatica symptoms arising from a newly herniated disc.

If medication and waiting hasn’t yielded improvement, epidural injections may help ease the inflammation. When inflammation eases, people can often derive greater benefit from other conservative treatment like physical therapy.

North American Spine Parent Named Top Company

Athas Health LLC, the parent company of North American Spine (NAS) was recently recognized in the Dallas area as a “Top 100 Place to Work.”

news

The parent company of the minimally invasive spine surgery leader took the impressive #6 spot among top small companies to work for in the region. The Dallas Morning News held the competition together with its research partner. Honored by the recognition, CEO Chris Lloyd said “This is a testament to the wonderful employees who show up for work every day with the singular focus of helping others. This attitude permeates our environment and creates a sense of purpose which leads to job satisfaction.” “Our credo begins with ‘People matter’ and we show that in everything we do – even down to volunteering as a team at local nonprofits,” says Paige Schnabel, a director at North American Spine.

“I was the third employee at North American Spine, and have seen it grow into a nationwide company,” says Chance McElhaney. “We know that the company is filling a big need, to help people in pain find their way to the best treatment, and we will continue to grow to meet that need. It’s a great place to be.”

Moving with the

Feldenkrais Method for Sciatica The Feldenkrais Method is named for its founder, a physicist, mechanical engineer and judo pro who developed the technique to cure himself after a debilitating knee injury.

The concept is that people develop certain movement habits. When a person sustains an injury with painful symptoms, he will start adopting new patterns to compensate for the pain. Over time these new patterns hinder recovery so that he must develop a new perspective on functional awareness and develop new ways to move that enhance coordination, flexibility and ultimately reduce pain. The student develops new neuromuscular patterns to retrain his mind and body. It’s about searching for new options in how to move naturally. Practitioners of the technique aren’t referred to as patients but rather as students.

In a session, the instructor guides the student at first with verbal direction and then with a hands-on approach, through a series of gentle movements. The student may be lying on the floor, seated or standing as they learn how to develop an awareness of new movement patterns.

Valentine’s Gift Ideas for Sciatica and other Sources of Back Pain

The following back soothing gift ideas may help you put a smile on your honey’s face… And why not put a smile on your own face!

›› Yoga or Pilates DVDs – gentle exercise for core strengthening is often prescribed for conditions like sciatica, or as a preventative measure against future back pain. ›› Ergonomic desk chair and computer accessories to help correct postural imbalances while working. ›› Gift certificates for massage treatments; massage chair or portable chair massager. ›› Microwaveable or freezeable hot/cold packs in various shapes with attractive covers from furry and feminine to flannel and masculine. ›› Balance ball for core exercises as well as for sitting, to develop core strength, flexibility and stability, all of which provide protection to the spinal column. ›› Wrap-around travel neck pillows. ›› Lumbar seat cushion for toting along to arenas, restaurants or the office. ›› Sleeping cushions, contoured to rest between knees when side sleeping; cervical pillow for neck support; or wedge body pillows. ›› Foam rollers are inexpensive ways to self-massage tight areas.

And remember, do your shopping online to avoid triggering your own back pain.

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