Boomerful.com Health & Fitness
|
Watch Your Back and Know Your Options
Preventative Care for Your Back and When to See a Physician
by Dr. Sam Bakshian
With people living longer, the overall incidence of back injuries increases, especially when they are involved in their favorite hobbies and activities. According to the Associated Press, there are 35 million people older than 65 years old. If you are one of these 35 million people, your life shouldn’t require giving up your favorite activities. Even though these leisurely pursuits are fun, the goal of physical activity can also be to maintain strength in your lower back and build muscle to prevent injuries.
Identifying which activities are best for each individual and your joints is the key to maintaining mobility for the aging population. Let’s also not lose sight of a recent University of Chicago survey that stated the sexual activity of people older than 65 is on the increase due to leading more active lifestyles, being in better health and the use of new medical treatments.
For the elderly population, as bone quality may be compromised, any type of high impact exercise may cause injury, not only to the spine, but also to the lower extremities. Some of the best low impact activities are swimming, walking, hiking, lifting weights, yoga, and Pilates. To protect yourself in any sport, begin with stretching your muscles. As with any new activity, don’t “overextend” yourself every time and start off slow. For example, begin walking before you decide to start hiking. Here are a few tips I recommend to my patients:
-
Run or walk in the pool. Or use an inner tube and ankle weights to do bicycling exercises. For those with neck injuries, use a snorkel and mask to prevent repeated rotation of the neck. Also, check with your local YMCA for the Hinges & Twinges aquatic therapy class. This is the best way to workout because gravity is lessened.
-
Weight training is great for maintaining muscle definition and tone, as long as lower weights are used in combination with a higher set of repetitions. It is a great way to keep bones from developing osteoporosis.
-
Walking on a cushioned track or grass is ideal. If you are thinking of hiking, start with level ground, then small hills and uneven terrain.
-
Alternate back and forth between warm baths/spas and cold water/ice compresses for back injuries and muscle spasms. Spas and warm baths are good for loosening up the muscles, but can cause inflammation. Use cold water/ice compresses to bring down the inflammation.
-
When stretching, focus on the neck, lower back and core abdominal muscle exercises while maintaining the spine in a neutral position. Additionally, incorporate quadriceps and gluteal exercises, which is critical in maintaining core strength. Proprioception exercises are also an integral part of a spinal rehab program.
As a precautionary measure, remember to contact your physician to ensure that these physical activities are right for you. If injuries last longer than three months and do not respond to activity modifications, physical therapy, or over-the-counter medications, consult your physician. Also, if you experience shooting pains in your arms or legs, loss of sensations, trouble with your balance and neurological signs of deterioration, consult your physician immediately.
Preventative care is my first goal and I always recommend less invasive procedures, especially for my elderly patients. With the many advancements in technology and their application to spinal surgery, most of the procedures I perform are minimally invasive. Some of these technological improvements include the use of lasers and video cameras for smaller incisions, which causes minimal soft tissue trauma, which in turn results in less down time and a faster return to activity.
In Sickness and In Health:
When A Loved One is Ill
Women are stereotyped as the caregivers in the family, the
nurturers and the healers that are expected to keep the core together
in the face of some impending danger or doom. Right?
The truth is, we are vulnerable, especially when it comes to caring
for someone who is chronically or terminally ill. Painful feelings often
emerge, such as guilt, sadness or anger at why this has happened, “Why
me,” or “I don’t
deserve this in my life.”
Nobody deserves the curves balls that life throws at us. What we can
do is recognize how we are being affected and what we can do to cope.
One of our Boomerful experts on sex and relationships, Dr. Dorree Lynn,
has written a fabulous book about caring for a sick loved one, When
the Man You Love is Ill: Doing the Best for Your Partner Without Losing
Yourself. It’s not just for a wife, it’s for anyone
who has a significant other or partner who is ill.
Guilt is a common feeling in the landscape of caregiving. Guilt
can propel you to be the best you can be…or it can immobilize
you. Dr. Lynn offers a mini-test on how to identify your coping style,
which in turn teaches you how to effectively give care not only for your
loved one, but also for yourself.
Dr. Lynn also addresses an interesting issue called “Transformational
Love,” the idea of how a spouse's disability or illness can forge
a deeper bond. Suffering through a
loved one’s serious disease or sickness isn’t a test of a
relationship, it’s a testament to how a relationship can grow with
new meaning that you would have never known otherwise, even in health.
Through illness, couples have a chance to become closer than ever before.