A new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of California, Irvine, to be published in the September issue of the journal Pain, reveals that, for people with chronic back pain, having a little adversity in your life can be protective and beneficial…

For people with chronic back pain, having a little adversity in your life can be protective and beneficial, according to a new study.

Slavishly following long-held guidelines for diagnosing the cause of arthritis-related back pain is resulting in excessive tests, delays in pain relief and wasteful spending of as much as $10,000 per patient, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests. Arthritis is a common cause of back pain, though difficult to precisely diagnose, experts say, because of the poor correlation between a finding of arthritis on an X-ray or MRI and the degree of a patient’s back pain…

Approximately 10% of low back pain (LBP) sufferers experience persistent pain and significant disability. As per a research findings reported in the recent issue of Pain, a group of Australian scientists investigating the relevance of health literacy in patients with chronic lower back pain (CLBP) observed that LBP-related beliefs and behaviors affect a person’s disability more than pain intensity or a standard measure of functional health literacy. However, when delving deeper into aspects of health literacy, important factors were identified which might help to explain disability linked to CLBP, highlighting important factors to consider in the delivery of information for CLBP……..

A controlled trial in Norway found that the popular dietary supplement glucosamine was no better than placebo at reducing pain-related disability in people with lower back pain with degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis (OA). You can read about the trial in a report by lead investigator Dr Philip Wilkens of the Department of Orthopaedics at Oslo University Hospital in the 7 July online issue of JAMA…

Among patients with low back pain, negative beliefs and behaviors (MedPage Today) — such as believing their problem will not get better — are important correlates of increased disability, according to an Australian study.

Although it is widely used, glucosamine has no effect on chronic low back pain and degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis, researchers said.

Back pain and leg pain may be caused by lumbar disk herniation. It may be necessary to treat the condition by surgery, if it persists. Patients who have a short period of sick leave before the surgery are more satisfied with the result of the procedure than those who are off work sick longer. This is the conclusion of a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden…

Whether moving to a new home or packing up for the semester, the physical intensity of moving can be extreme. Packing boxes, moving heavy furniture, emptying overhead cabinets — all come with some risk for injury, especially to your back. Back pain is one of the most common reasons for Americans visit their doctors. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 21.9 million people visited their physician for back pain in 2007 and 4.8 million went to the emergency room for such back ailments…

Back and neck problems can be caused by a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, injury, strain or osteoarthritis. “Although more than 75 percent of Americans will experience some back pain during their lifetime, about 90 percent of cases are resolved without surgery,” stated John K. Ratliff, MD, FACS, a Philadelphia spine surgeon and American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) spokesperson. The good news is that there are some ways to help prevent low back pain and protect your spine. Prevention tips from the AANS: - Maintain a healthy body weight and if you smoke, quit…