When you're living with chronic back or neck pain, your daily routine can get complex—appointments, insurance paperwork, time off work, treatment regimens to follow, etc. While these are important aspects of managing your pain and recovery process, there are simple things you can do (or stop doing) on a daily basis to help your condition.
Good posture and body mechanics (the way you perform your activities all day, everyday) can substantially improve the way you feel at the end of your day.
If you want to get more calcium in your diet, there are many foods besides milk and dairy that will help keep your bones strong.
X-rays provide detail of the bone structures in the spine, and are used to rule out back pain resulting from:
- Instability (such as spondylolisthesis)
- Tumors
- Fractures
When a cervical herniated disc is treated, the first methods are often to use physical therapy, chiropractic manipulation, activity modification, and possibly anti-inflammatory medications.
Some patients may experience high levels of pain with any movement of their spine, so that manipulations are not tolerable unless done under anesthesia.