By Lubna Abdel-Aziz What a rollicking, frolicking, hollying, jollying time of the year this is! Like our pagan ancestors, we immerse ourselves into a jubilant spirit of reveling merriment, as the year winds down. The hustle and bustle of this festive season is filled with hope and promise, as we ring out the old and ring in the new. We rush dizzily from here to there, from balls to banquets, parties to reunions, lunches to dinners, and most of all, we shop, shop, shop. There are gifts to be wrapped, Christmas trees to be put up, cookies to bake, receptions to go to, parties to host, what more can a human sustain? All this is done, in the name of celebrating! When it is all over, most of us will be moaning and groaning, clutching our backs and crying out in every language on the planet: " O' my achin' back". A recent US study, finds that back pain is second to colds, in doctors' office visits. Sufferers know how maddeningly crippling and totally debilitating back pain can be. If only doctors can prescribe a magic pill to make it go away. Doctors try. Each doctor has a method for patient relief, ranging from bed- rest to invasive surgery. Many physicians however, end up treating the symptoms and ignoring the cause. The causes are many, from the obvious to the obscure, and treatment needs to address the entire person, his or her lifestyle, and not simply, the physical pain. Some of the obvious causes include lifting, carrying or performing a task, any task, for too long, with numerous repetitions. Why, just standing for too long, in one position, is a reprehensible culprit. In that case, sitting should be harmless, you think. Absolutely not! Sitting in one position for too long, turns out to be just as damaging, Typing away on your computer all day is equivalent to manual labour in a construction line. The incidence of suffering is the same in both groups. How can simply earning a living be harmful to your health! Sitting, standing, working, idling, whatever you do, or do not do, it all ends up hurting your back. Things would have been better for humans, if they had four legs. When comparing four-legged subjects to two-legged ones, scientists discovered that spinal arthritis occurs much later in four-legged creatures, if at all. Two thirds of our weight is supported by the low back and pelvis. In addition, in the two-legged subjects, vertical loading occurs, whereas the load is distributed horizontally in the four-legged creatures. What a comfort to animal lovers! Fortunately, 80% of back pain does resolve within six weeks. Rested and relieved, you hope and pray it never returns; but unless you know the cause, the pain is likely to recur. It is recommended that you have a thorough physical and psychological analysis, if you have back pain for longer than a week. Do not depend on your body to correct itself, or you will risk turning a temporary ailment into a chronic one. Prevention, they say, is better than cure, but how can you prevent what you do not understand? The causes mentioned above, are not always the reasons for your unbearable back pain. There are numerous causes and constant research keeps adding more. Did you know that flat feet give you backaches? Even your diet can be a factor. Apart from the physical characteristics like weak muscles or poor fitness, there are psychological reasons such as depression, anxiety, stress or bi-polar disorder. That explains why back pain is often hard to diagnose and harder to cure. It was only during the last 20 years that that the psychological aspects of back-pain treatment have been emphasized. Most of pain treatment centers have psychologists on staff. Dr. John E. Sarno, author of the best seller: "Healing Back Pain: The Mind Body Connection", believes all back pain is essentially psychological. "The pain is a reaction to the stresses in people's lives, and in their own personalities." Most physicians concur. Mental strain can affect physical health. The brain is smarter than we are. In a study by the American Physical Therapy Association, 25% of the population has experienced back pain, within a 3 month period, and have spent $30 billion in back pain treatment in 2007, double the amount of the previous decade. From pills to pads, injections, massages, yoga, exercise, chiropractice, acupuncture all the way to invasive surgery, we pray for relief. Surgery should be an absolute last resort. Less than 1 in 100 ever require surgery for back problems. Few are helped; most feel worse. Naturally, if the condition calls for surgery, such as a herniated disc, bone or spinal cancer, the decision is left to your physicians. Is there a silver lining in this murky, labyrinthine ailment? Posture may well be the key. Simple proper posture, like sitting up with all major joints at a 90 degree angle, is the answer. Just what your mother always instructed you to do. Avoid lifting an item that weighs more than you do. Bend your knees rather than your back to reach for an item on the floor. When reaching for a book or a phone, try to get as close as you can to the object. Do not stretch your back muscles unnecessarily, as most people are wont to do, thereby avoiding the stretch of the wrong muscles. Back muscles are easily neglected. Take into consideration certain unalterable conditions such as pregnancy, old age, or the usual wear and tear of the discs, which cause a temporary back pain. If traveling is in your plans, by car, train or plane, change your sitting position as often as you can. Stretch your legs to relieve the strain on your back. Remain aware of your tender back and do not overload it at any time. Relaxing for 30 minutes a day, a total relaxation of body and mind can be more beneficial than an hour massage, or two hours at the gym. Above all, when that unwelcome back pain catches up with you, do not ignore it. Even if it is only a minor problem, remember, minors have a sneaky, cheeky way of eventually becoming majors. Here's hoping you'll enjoy the frenzied frolic of this festive season, with a maximum of pleasure and a minimum of pain. The mind has great influence over the body, and maladies often have their origin there. -- Moliere (Jean Baptiste Poquelin) (1622-1673)
