Treat Your Back Without Surgery : The Best

(Hunter House) Consumer text includes information on equipment to strengthen the back, treating disc problems without open back surgery, IDET: a minimally invasive alternative to fusion surgery, artificial disks and bone-healing technology, and the best uses of injection therapy. Previous edition: c1998. Softcover.

Preface

ix

Acknowledgments

x

Part I: Understanding Back and Neck Pain

1

(24)

How You Can Benefit from this Book

2

(7)

The ``80 Percent'' Rule for Back and Neck Pain

3

(1)

Pain Relief, then Prevention

4

(1)

Can My Back Pain Go Away with Exercise?

4

(1)

Who Is at High Risk for a Back Attack?

5

(1)

What You Will Learn from this Book

5

(1)

Becoming Informed

6

(1)

The Authors' Perspectives

7

(2)

How Your Back Works and What Can Go Wrong with It

9

(16)

Understanding How Your Spine Works

11

(3)

Understanding How Your Back Muscles Work

14

(2)

What Causes Back and Neck Pain

16

(3)

Back Problems that May Require Surgery

19

(6)

Part II: Back Care and Treatment

25

(171)

Mainstream Ways to Treat Your Back on Your Own

26

(29)

First Aid Remedies for Back Pain

27

(2)

Exercise

29

(5)

Exercises to Relieve Back and Neck Pain

34

(13)

Neck Exercises

47

(4)

Exercises to Do at Work or at Play

51

(4)

Mainstream Professional Remedies

55

(13)

Physical Therapy

56

(2)

Specialized Rehabilitation Equipment

58

(2)

Group Back Schools and Other Back Education

60

(1)

Chiropractic

61

(3)

Injections

64

(2)

Orthotrac: A Potential Nonsurgical Alternative to Back Surgery

66

(1)

Lumbar Corsets, Traction, Braces, Etc.

67

(1)

Nonsurgical Cures

68

(23)

Healing with Touch

71

(1)

Biofeedback

72

(1)

Back Pain Caused by Tension

73

(1)

Prolotherapy

74

(1)

Metals and Magnets

74

(1)

Body Work

75

(3)

Chinese Medicine

78

(10)

Pain Relief from India

88

(2)

A Final Thought about Alternative Medicine

90

(1)

Preventing Back Pain

91

(18)

Are Certain Occupations High Risk for Back Pain?

93

(1)

Smoking and Back Pain

94

(1)

Stress and Job Satisfaction

95

(1)

Depression

95

(1)

Body Build, Breast Size, and Lifestyle Issues

96

(1)

Posture and Ergonomic Issues

97

(1)

Two Good Ways to Lift and One Way that Is Sure to Wreak Havoc

98

(5)

Corsets and Back Belts

103

(1)

Rotational Sports

104

(1)

High-Impact Sports

105

(1)

Sleeping Without Strain

106

(1)

The Pillow: A Head Start to Better Sleep

107

(1)

Four Ways to Lower Your Risk of Back or Neck Pain

107

(2)

When Should You See a Doctor?

109

(15)

Can You Diagnose Yourself?

110

(1)

When Should You Go to the Emergency Room?

111

(2)

Doctors' Biases

113

(1)

What Kind of Back Doctor Should You See for an Attack of Acute Pain?

114

(2)

What Kind of Back Doctor Should You See for Complex Symptoms?

116

(1)

How Important Is the Doctor's Personality?

117

(2)

Government Guidelines on Treatment

119

(1)

What Kinds of Things Are Done in the Doctor Exam?

119

(1)

Diagnostic Tests Doctors Do for Back and Neck Pain

120

(4)

IntraDiscal Electrothermal Therapy (IDET), a New, Minimally Invasive Alternative to Fusion Surgery

124

(8)

What is IDET?

125

(4)

Who Is a Candidate for IDET?

129

(1)

The Results: Pain Can Linger

130

(2)

The Pros and Cons of Back Surgery

132

(12)

What's So Bad about Surgery?

134

(2)

Excessive Surgeries

136

(1)

Back Surgery in Other Cultures

137

(4)

Do You Need Back Surgery?

141

(1)

Surgery May Be Appropriate When

142

(1)

Surgery May Not Be Appropriate When

142

(2)

What Actually Happens in Back Surgery?

144

(10)

Types of Back Surgery

144

(5)

The Latest Advances in Spine Surgery

149

(1)

New Technology and Instrumentation

150

(2)

Multiple Spine Surgeries

152

(1)

Recovery after Spine Surgery

152

(2)

New Technology Promises Relief for the Millions with Degenerative Disc Disease

154

(17)

Disc, Joint, or Soft Tissue Pain?

155

(1)

Who Has Bad Discs?

155

(1)

What Happens When a Disc Degenerates?

156

(1)

An Alternative to Fusion: The Artificial Disc

157

(7)

Other Innovations for Back Pain Coming this Decade

164

(1)

Other Medical Innovations on the Horizon

165

(1)

Innovations that Enhance Bone Healing and Fusion

166

(1)

Osteoplasty and Kyphoplasty: New Treatments for Spine Fractures

167

(2)

A New Option for Compression Fractures

169

(1)

Pilates

169

(2)

Finding the Best Surgeon

171

(8)

Choosing a Hospital

172

(1)

Checking Out a Doctor's Record

173

(1)

Neurosurgeons Versus Orthopedic Surgeons

174

(2)

Discussing Your Case

176

(1)

Getting a Second Opinion

176

(1)

Some Quick Tips for Evaluating Physicians

176

(1)

A Few Questions to Ask the Doctor

177

(2)

What to Do with Pain that Won't Go Away

179

(12)

The Difficulty of Treating Something You Can't See

181

(1)

Treating Chronic Pain

182

(1)

Pain Clinics

183

(8)

Making Yourself an Informed Consumer

191

(5)

Need Back Surgery? Get a Second Opinion

192

(1)

Volume Credentialing

193

(1)

The Age of the Enlightened Consumer

193

(1)

Some Final Thoughts

194

(2)

Resources

196

(7)

Health-Care Information on the Internet

196

(1)

Informative Spine Websites

196

(1)

General Health-Care Information Sites

197

(1)

Other Sites

198

(2)

Resources for Someone Suffering from Chronic Pain

200

(1)

Checking Out a Physician's Record

201

(1)

Other Resources

201

(2)

Notes

203

(3)

Index

206

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Treat Your Back Without Surgery : The Best Nonsurgical Alternatives for Eliminating Back and Neck Pain

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials