back pain

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At-Home Yoga Can Soothe Your Aching Back
Try Some at-Home Yoga
for That Aching Back
NEW STUDY

Try Some at-Home Yoga for That Aching Back

Small study finds virtual practice can reduce pain levels, lessen reliance on medication

(Newser) - Up to 20% of adults have long-lasting or recurrent low back pain. If you're one of them, you might want to check out virtual yoga. In a new study, researchers found regular practice of yoga in a virtual setting reduced low back pain, lessened reliance on pain medication, and...

Musk Is Worried About Himself. So Is His Mom
Musk Is Worried
About Himself.
So Is His Mom
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Musk Is Worried About Himself. So Is His Mom

'Severe back pain,' lack of sleep appear to be taking a toll

(Newser) - Elon Musk scored a court victory last week over some business tweets, but the trial brought to light a different concern—that he's a 51-year-old guy working insane hours while running Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla. The Wall Street Journal digs in, noting that at one point during the San...

Pope Has 'Painful' Reason for Skipping New Year's Events

Francis' back pain due to sciatica will cause him to miss ceremonies

(Newser) - Pope Francis is skipping ceremonies on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day due to what the Vatican says is a painful back condition, a spokesman said Thursday. Matteo Bruni said Francis is suffering from "painful sciatica" and won't preside at a year-end prayer service Thursday...

Docs on Man's CT Scan: We'd 'Never Seen Anything Like This'
In Man With Back Pain,
'One of the Rarest' Conditions
in case you missed it

In Man With Back Pain, 'One of the Rarest' Conditions

Patient in Sao Paulo, Brazil, had a slipped disk—and 3 kidneys

(Newser) - Doctors examining a man with back pain discovered the cause of that particular malady—and also stumbled across an odd bonus find. IFLScience reports on a case study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine that details how a 38-year-old man in Sao Paulo, Brazil, showed up...

JFK Was Felled by a Bullet, but His Bad Back Didn't Help
JFK Had Intense Back Pain.
It May Have Helped Kill Him
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

JFK Had Intense Back Pain. It May Have Helped Kill Him

Experts point out his stiff back brace may have kept him from bending to avoid fatal bullet

(Newser) - Per the currently accepted narrative, the first bullet to hit John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, wasn't the one that fatally injured him. It was Lee Harvey Oswald's second shot to the head that ended the president's life, and some are now saying a medical problem...

Take a Yoga Class for Back Pain, Not a Pain Pill
For Back Pain,
Skip the Opioids 
and Try Yoga
NEW GUIDELINES

For Back Pain, Skip the Opioids and Try Yoga

Doctors' group recommends meditation, acupuncture or basically anything else first

(Newser) - If you're tempted to pop a painkiller every time you feel a twinge coursing down your back, there's a new set of guidelines you may want to peruse first. Per NBC News and CBS News , prescription meds for lower back pain should be your go-to only when you'...

Man Gets First-of-Its-Kind Implant to Stop Back Pain

It confuses brain with electric currents to produce pleasant tingling instead of pain

(Newser) - Sixty-year-old Joe Grewal has had chronic back pain for half his life. Back surgery didn't help. Neither did a morphine implant. But this week he underwent a first-ever procedure that's left him "feeling great," reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Doctors at Australia's Royal North Shore...

Back Pain Sufferers Have Less Evolved Spines
 Back Pain Sufferers Have 
 Less Evolved Spines 
STUDY SAYS

Back Pain Sufferers Have Less Evolved Spines

Their vertebrae are more like those of chimps than the unafflicted

(Newser) - People who suffer from back pain have been dealt a lousy hand by evolution and might be more comfortable walking on their knuckles like our closest relatives, chimpanzees, according to Canadian, Scottish, and Icelandic researchers. Their study found that lower back pain sufferers have a lesion called a "Schmorl'...

3-Inch Knife Removed From Man's Back—After 3 Years

Doctors missed blade in Billy McNeely's back after he was stabbed in 2010

(Newser) - Billy McNeely had been bothered by back pains and a persistent itch for three years, but when he scratched it Monday night, he felt something hard and sharp. His girlfriend poked around and discovered why—it was a knife blade, inside his back. McNeely hightailed it to the emergency room,...

Best Positions for a Good Night's Sleep

Aches and pains require that you sleep a certain way

(Newser) - Getting enough sleep is one thing, but it's vital to sleep in the right position if you suffer from certain pains and medical conditions. The Wall Street Journal sums up the experts' advice:
  • Obstructive sleep apnea/snoring: This condition can cause dangerous narrowing or blockage of the airway—and sleeping
...

Chronic Pain: An Emotional Reaction?

 Chronic Pain: An 
 Emotional Reaction? 
in case you missed it

Chronic Pain: An Emotional Reaction?

Brain regions may cause pain to linger on

(Newser) - About 30 million to 40 million American adults suffer from chronic pain—but it may be all in their heads, a new study says. Researchers looked at 40 volunteers, all back pain sufferers, and found that brain scans could predict with 85% accuracy whether their pain would become chronic. At...

One Theory on Why Rick Perry Is Flailing

Some back in Texas blame his recent back surgery

(Newser) - Vanity Fair is out with a lengthy profile of Rick Perry and his sputtering campaign, complete with one Austin Democrat warning not to count him out just yet. It also floats what it says is a theory quietly circulating in Texas about why Perry has flopped on the national...

Yoga's Mental Benefits? Maybe None
 Yoga's Mental Benefits? 
 Maybe None
study says

Yoga's Mental Benefits? Maybe None

But new study does show it can help you physically

(Newser) - Bad news for those of you who assumed yoga was curing all that ails you: A new study found no evidence that yoga's mental effects benefit the body. The good news is that yoga does help to relieve lower back pain, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, stretching was...

Man Bags Linked to Back Trouble

Average bag now weighs close to 14 pounds

(Newser) - "Man bags" aren't just for metrosexuals anymore, but the increase in satchel-wearing has been accompanied by an increase in back problems, experts warn. The bags have largely replaced briefcases, but people cram so many electronic gadgets and items into them that the average bag now weighs close to 14...

Scientists Try to Solve the Mystery of Acupuncture

Researchers use modern medicine to test ancient therapy

(Newser) - Western researchers are using high-tech tools to unlock the secrets of an ancient therapy: acupuncture. Neuroimaging studies show the practice can calm parts of the brain linked to pain and activate those linked to recuperation. Doppler ultrasounds, meanwhile, show that acupuncture increases blood flow. Carefully placed needles can even make...

Study: Even 'Fake' Acupuncture Eases Back Pain

Back pain sufferers reported less pain with or without needles being used

(Newser) - Acupuncture without the puncture helped relieve back pain in a new study, Reuters reports. Researchers divided patients with chronic back pain into several groups and discovered that the groups who received conventional acupuncture with needles and those who received simulated acupuncture with toothpicks reported greater—and almost identical—pain relief...

Back Pain's Insidious Cost Rises
Back Pain's Insidious Cost Rises

Back Pain's Insidious Cost Rises

US spends ever more on treatment—without much to show for it

(Newser) - Back pain is one of the US' most persistent health problems, but despite new treatment possibilities, Newsweek reports, cures remain elusive. Americans spent $85.9 billion in 2005 on medical costs relating to back pain, up from $52.1 billion in 1997. "We seem to be doing more and...

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