REVIEW: In last week’s health column we talked about different kinds of arthritis, such as traumatic arthritis, and osteoarthritis effecting mostly weight-bearing joints commonly aggravated by caloric overload (excess weight). All too often back pain is believed to be caused by arthritis. The most common causes, however, are under-exercised or over-worked muscles. While an ice bag along with some muscle relaxant medication may be helpful, a more lasting answer may be found in this health column.
Exercise, Massage, Diet
In most cases, backaches can be relieved within 4 to 12 weeks by getting into a muscle strengthening program. With clearance from your physician, it’s time to get up on your feet and start walking. Walk through the pain. Back specialists say that prolonged bed rest will do more harm than good, because rest causes your back muscles to weaken rapidly. Instead of becoming reconditioned, you become deconditioned.
After a while even light activity may sprain or strain muscles barely able to carry their own weight. Fortunately, most back problems resolve themselves in four to 12 weeks.
Here are a few tips to prevent recurrence, or to prevent backaches entirely.
• Keep your weight down—the biggest favor you can do for your back.
• Avoid high heels (over one inch). They tilt the pelvis and throw the back out of alignment.
• Strengthen your back and abdominal muscles with special exercises. Walk, swim, or jog at least 20 minutes five times a week.
• Eat a diet very low in fat and high in fiber to improve your circulation, better allowing the blood to carry extra oxygen and nutrients to the compromised areas.
These measures are important for all kinds of arthritis as well as for back pain.
Gouty Arthritis
From antiquity gout has been associated with the lifestyle of the rich: too many rich foods and too little exercise. You can still see pictures in old history books of such kings, with a foot propped up on a footstool, protecting that painful big toe.
Sometimes the afflicted royal person was sent to live and work with the peasants. This was effective because the simpler diet and a more active life eventually reversed the disease.
We now know that some metabolic weakness may be involved in gout. But we also know that it can be controlled by simplifying the diet and by eliminating the offending purines (largely from the breakdown of animal protein) and normalizing weight.
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