Does Diet Have A Role In Back Pain?

If you have back pain and/or sciatica symptoms and are suffering from inflammation there are several things you can consider doing to help yourself.

In addition to not doing too much exercise, just moderate, balance your body so there is no undue strain on bones, joints and ligaments

Consider taking and anti inflammatory like proteolytic systemic enzymes . Heal and Soothe.

You should also consider your diet.

Sugar along with junk food, many processed foods and high fat meats increase inflammation. Some of this is the chemical like nitrates that may be used some is the fats like Trans fats and saturated fats.It is better to go for low fat milk, cheese and if you eat meat it should be lean.

Diets high in sugar are also associated with obesity, diabetes and inflammation so it’s best to cut down a lot or eliminate any sugars you can from your food.

I know from personal experince this is easier said than done, as you will need to read all labels and most processed food is out(my husband is diabetic so I know what this is like). There is an incredible amount of sugar in food where you would not expect it to be there.

I have also heard that foods which contain a chemical called solanine can be a trigger cause of pain in some people and make inflammation worse. This is in potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant. You might want to research that further, I cant find much about it. If anyone knows of any useful information on that I would be grateful. Maybe if you want to just try not eating them for a while to see if it makes any difference to you.

You should also drink plenty of good quality water and reduce or stop drinking the sugar loaded drinks. If you liked this post do consider joining our Facebook Page Sciatica Solutions.



For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-

7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful. Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.

Being Grateful.

With back pain and sciatica and lack of sleep, constant pain and worry about what was going to happen to me came fear, anxiety and hopelessness. I went into a spiral of fear and worry and negative imaginings that mentally paralysed me. I dont know if any of you have experienced the same...

It took me a long time to find to do this, but one of the things I found helped me to break this spiral was to think(and write down) all that I was grateful for on a daily basis. Who I was grateful for, what I was grateful for and it helped a lot. I did this list every day. I set myself a goal of writing 5 things each day.

Who are you grateful for?
What are you grateful for?

Thank you to all of you who took the time to complete the recent poll we ran about how long people had back pain. The results are;

16% of you have had back pain for over 5 years
12% over 2 years
29% 1-2 years
37% 6 months to a year
4% 3-6 months.

I was thinking and wondering, How do you cope? What helps you through the days?

If anyone would like to share to help each other that would be great. Thank you

Wishing you health, peace and happiness If you liked this post do consider joining our Facebook Page Sciatica Solutions.



For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-

7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful. Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.

Living With Back Pain : Making A Bed

Hi there,

Bed making-such a simple task but one that seemed daunting to me when I suffered severe back pain and sciatica. With prolapsed discs I was worried about all the bending and lifting making a bed can entail. I dont get pain anymore but I still feel I want to be careful with tasks like these.

So this is my solution for bed making, it may or may not be yours. You should always check with your healthcare provider over anything you should not be doing.

It may sound a little strange but warm up a bit before you do anything physical like bed making, if your body is warm there is less likelihood of strain. If you have the Lose the Back Pain system you may like to warm up then do some of the stretches before and afterwards. If you do not have the Lose the back pain system you may want to consider it to help you help yourself(with support) to get rid of the back pain. Click here if you would like to learn more about  Lose the Back Pain.

Wherever possible try to get someone to help you or delegate this bedmaking task to someone else.

Stripping the bed is the first task. Just take it slow and one layer at a time. I walk around the bed rather than stretching across it. Then I carry the sheets in light loads down to the washing machine.

Instead of the flat sheets I use the fitted sheets with elastic corners as they are so much easier to put on. I actually kneel by the bed and work my way around it flipping the fitted sheet into place, no problem. I keep my back straight and do not strain over the bed. It saves having to lift the mattress at all to slide sheets underneath.

Then with the quilt I just put the quilt into the top of the cover and shake it down, slowly one bit at a time, pulling it gently where necessary. I use a lightweight quilt so I am not doing too much lifting.

I always walk around the bed to do adjustments. If you can get someone to help you that is so much better. Make sure as much as possible your bed is accessible from all sides so you can walk around it, as this will make it easier for you to manage.

While doing this I find it best to take it slow and in stages. If it is too much for you and you live with other people, discuss who could take on this task instead of you. If you can share this task that is so much better for you and your back .

Also if you are in the market for a new bed, choose one which does not need turning. Ours has to be turned and I am concerned about doing it or even helping anyone doing it so it is a real pain for my husband to do it by himself. The next bed we get will not need turning!

Also consider a memory foam mattress or mattress topper. My mum has just recently got a new bed with a memory foam inbuilt and she loves it. We have a mattress topper which is very comfortable and good for me.



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Lose The Back Pain System
Lose the Back Pain, is a system of self assessments to determine what physical imbalances you may have that may be causing your pain, then specific and targeted exercises to follow to address the imbalances, along with pain reduction strategies. 

For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-

7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful. Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.

Life with Back pain-to iron or not to iron!

I am going to do a few posts here and there about how to tackle the simple household tasks we all need to do , but if you have backpain or sciatica can be very difficult.

Please bear in mind that these are generalisations and are things that I found useful, you may need something different. If you are very restricted by back pain you may need to seek professional support or adaptations.

Any ideas you have or things that work for you that make your life easier with back pain please feel free to post :)

To start with Ironing- Thought I'd get my least fav job over with first!

OK people who have known me recently will be surprised to hear that I used to do a lot of ironing! However with the onset of my back problems even simple standing and walking was difficult so all the standing, bending etc involved with ironing was out of the question. I was simply in too much pain with my back. Good job hubby could iron!

However we eventually just about abandoned it. Apologies to people who feel ironing is essential but we did what worked for us. It didnt seem fair to me that hubby was having to do all the ironing, as well as most of the housework. So we realised ironing could be let go...

So some simple tips if you have back pain and find ironing difficult and dont want to do it.

1.After washing clothes get them out the machine quickly and either put in a tumble dryer until damp or hang up immediately on hangers or pegged on the line neatly.

2.Keep clothes in your wardrobe on hangers separated neatly not tight up against each other. That way they wont crease so easily.

3.Dont tumble dry until bone dry as this tends in my experiences to leave creases. Take them out when slightly damp still. Hang up neatly until dry.

4. When buying new clothes look for "do not iron"!!or "easy iron" type labels. I LOVE do not iron labels :) They are the back pain sufferers friend :) ( Hmmm maybe thats an overstatement but you know what I mean)

If you want to /must iron1. Break up the ironing in to small chunks, do not try to do a huge load at once.

2.Prioritise your ironing. Do what is essential first so if you do not feel up to the less essential things it really wont matter.

3.If you are standing you may find it useful to have a small stool or footrest to alternately put one foot up on. See if that works for you. On the occasions I ironed I found it helped relieve some pressure in my lower back.

4.If you can sit and iron again watch your posture and do not sit for too long.

5. Could another member of the family do the ironing for you?

6.If you want to pay someone to do your ironing there are often good people who can be located to do it for you each week or even several times a week.

7. If you do it yourself then try to get the best quality lightweight iron you can to ease strain on you.

8. Take regular breaks and stretch and move.

...and if you are looking for a way to try to help you with back pain and sciatica symptoms you may want to take a look at my Personal Review Of Lose The Back Pain System

If you liked this post do consider joining our Facebook Page Sciatica Solutions.



Lose The Back Pain System
Lose the Back Pain, is a system of self assessments to determine what physical imbalances you may have that may be causing your pain, then specific and targeted exercises to follow to address the imbalances, along with pain reduction strategies. 

For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-

7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful. Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.

What Are Systemic Proteolytic Enzymes and How Can You Benefit from them?

I read this new article recently and thought you may be interested.

What Are Systemic Proteolytic Enzymes and How Can You Benefit from Them? By Steven Hefferon, CMT, PTA, CPRS

Proteolytic enzymes, also referred to as "proteases," are enzymes that break down proteins into their smallest elements.

If this breakdown of proteins happens in your gut, we call the enzymes "digestive," because they help us digest our food.

Systemic proteolytic enzymes, however, have a completely different purpose, so please don't confuse the two.

When taken on an empty stomach, proteolytic enzymes will pass through the stomach or intestine lining and enter the circulatory system. This is why they are called "systemic" - once they enter the circulatory system, they circulate throughout the body.

Why are systemic proteolytic enzymes important?

The most important thing that systemic proteolytic enzymes do is to break down excess fibrin in your circulatory system and in other connective tissue, such as your muscles. These enzymes
bring nutrients and oxygen-rich blood that remove the metabolic waste produced by inflammation and excess fibrin.

For example, If you have an injury or are recovering from a painful condition of any kind and your blood flow is restricted, you will have a longer recovery process.

In addition, the exchange of nutrients and oxygen in your body will be limited, and there will be not only a longer recovery but an increase in pain and inflammation.

One more important thing to understand: Whenever you're recovering from a muscle irritation, injury, or surgery, the body uses fibrin to help heal itself. This is normal and healthy. The only problem is that with poor blood flow and a lack of enzyme activity, that fibrin will start to accumulate. If the area in question is slow to heal, an excess of fibrin will appear as clumps of scar tissue in the muscle or at the surgical site. Once this happens, your acute condition becomes chronic.

Now that you know that excess fibrin throughout your circulatory system will severely limit the amount of blood flow to areas that need it the most, you may be wondering how the body tries to compensate for this restriction. The answer is simple: by forcing the heart to work harder and increasing your blood pressure....

Please click here to take you to learn more information about Systemic Proteolytic Enzymes


If you liked this post do consider joining our Facebook Page Sciatica Solutions.



Lose The Back Pain System
Lose the Back Pain, is a system of self assessments to determine what physical imbalances you may have that may be causing your pain, then specific and targeted exercises to follow to address the imbalances, along with pain reduction strategies. 

For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-

7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful. Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.

BMJ Spinal Surgery Versus Physical Rehab Study, Back Pain.

I came across this interesting writing in the BMJ about studies discussing spinal fusion versus intensive rehab for chronic low back pain. If you are interested please click on the link.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7502/1220

If you have chronic back pain and are considering which methods to choose , you may want to read this. Let me know if you have any views....

If you are considering or have been advised to have back surgery, you may like to consider asking some of these questions as well.

What is the exact diagnosis?

What assessments will you do and what will the assessments tell you about my condition?

Is it essential/urgent I have back surgery now? If yes why?

If it is not urgent/essential I have surgery now can I try other treatments first then come back?

What is the specific surgery you are proposing? How will this help me?

What is the prognosis if i do not have surgery?

Do I need any other tests? If so which ones? What will they tell you?

Is there a waiting list for surgery? If so how long?

What happens if the surgery doesn't work?

Could I be worse off/more pain after the surgery?

What are the risks?

Do these risks carry short term or long term consequences?

How long will I be in recovery after the back surgery?

Will I need to do any maintenance? If so what?

How many appointments will I need? How frequently?

What exactly will this treatment do for me?

What would you consider a successful outcome from this surgery for me?

Will it cost me anything?

How often do you /this hospital perform this back surgery?

....and the most important thing to know is if you have exhausted all other less invasive treatments first and are needing to have surgery. My neurosurgeon told me they used to do a lot more surgery than they do now and he likes to try people on other therapies first to see what progress is made there before going in for surgery.

Wishing you health and happiness If you liked this post do consider joining our Facebook Page Sciatica Solutions.



Lose The Back Pain System
Lose the Back Pain, is a system of self assessments to determine what physical imbalances you may have that may be causing your pain, then specific and targeted exercises to follow to address the imbalances, along with pain reduction strategies. 

For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-

7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful. Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.