| Today's Health Counsel is presented by Paula Clayburg, |
| who is the chief Counsellor at Liverpool's famous pain clinic: |
| The Wilton Clinic. |
| Paula... |
| Do you know what Prince Charles, Seve Ballesteros and Elizabeth Taylor have in common? |
| They all suffer from chronic back pain. |
| In fact, bad backs are one of the most common health problems today, |
| affecting people in all walks of life. |
| The most recent available figures show that about a quarter of a million people |
| are incapacitated with back pain every day. |
| And many sufferers don't know the cause or the solution to their problem. |
| The majority of our patients at the clinic tend to be women. |
| They are especially vulnerable because of pregnancy |
| but also because of osteoporosis, |
| which I personally believe to be the major cause of problems for women. |
| I have many women patients who say they have completely given up exercise |
| because the pain makes them so miserable. |
| But of course that starts up a vicious circle. |
| Bed rest, giving up exercise and pain killers are traditional responses to back pain |
| but, although there are many excellent drugs on the market, |
| at our clinic we are beginning to realise the unique benefits of relaxation therapy. |
| Other specialists in the field make a strong case for certain types of exercise, |
| but in our experience they are easily mishandled |
| and can lead to more harm than good. |
| Now, let's look at some of the reasons why back pain is developing into such a unique menace. |
| In general, the body is pretty good at self-repair. |
| A strain or a blow to a limb, though painful at the time, generally resolves itself. |
| But the body's response to back injury can be very counter-productive. |
| When pain strikes, |
| we attempt to keep the back as immobile as possible, |
| which makes the muscles tense up. |
| Research shows that they often go into spasm, |
| which causes further twisting of the spine. |
| A vicious circle is underway. |
| The second mistake we often make when stricken with extreme back pain |
| is to go to bed and stay there. |
| Although at the clinic, we recognise that a short rest in bed can be helpful... |
| up to two days... |
| any longer makes our back muscles become weaker and unable to hold up our spine. |
| The pain therefore becomes worse. |
| Another problem is being overweight. |
| Anyone a stone or more over-weight |
| who already has back pain is not doing himself any favours: |
| though it won't actually set it off in the first place, |
| the weight will increase the strain and make things worse. |
| The British diet could be partially to blame for the increase in back pain: |
| over the last ten years the average weight of men has risen by 11 lbs |
| and of women by 9 lbs. |
| So much for the causes and aggravations of pain. |
| But what can we do to help? |
| There are many ways in which simple day-to-day care can make all the difference. |
| The first point to watch of course is weight. |
| If you are overweight, a diet will make all the difference. |
| Also, studies have shown that just one hour sitting in a slouched position |
| can strain ligaments in the back which can take months to heal. |
| At the clinic, we have come to the conclusion |
| that the major cause of the problem is not with the design of chairs, as some have suggested, |
| but in the way we sit in them. |
| It can be useful to get special orthopaedic chairs, |
| but remember the most important improvement should be in our posture. |
| Another enemy of your back is, of course, your beds. |
| If your bed doesn't give enough support, |
| back muscles and ligaments work all night trying to correct spinal alignment, |
| so you wake up with a tired aching back. |
| Try out an orthopaedic mattress or a spring slatted bed. |
| Research shows that both can be beneficial for certain types of back pain. |
| Another hazard for your back are the shock waves which travel up your spine when you walk, |
| known as heel strike. |
| A real find for our patients has been the shock-absorbing shoe insert. |
| A cheap but very effective solution. |
| And you might be better off avoiding shoes with heels higher than one and a half inches. |
| Though absolutely flat shoes can be a solution for some, |
| others find their posture suffers. |
| Finally, a word about the state-of-the-art relief - the TENS machine - |
| a small battery-powered gadget |
| which delivers subliminal electrical pulses to the skin. |
| Our experience indicates that your money is better spent on the more old-fashioned remedies. |