How Muscle Relaxers Work for Back and Neck Pain
A weekend spent gardening. A raucous game of pickleball. Bending over to pick up a dropped pen. Suddenly your neck or back seizes up and it’s hard to catch your breath. Muscle spasms, where the muscle involuntarily contracts—and stays that way—for a few seconds, minutes, or longer, are painful and impossible to predict.
What to know about transforaminal epidural steroid injections
People with conditions including sciatica, herniated discs, and spinal stenosis may benefit from transforaminal epidural steroid injections. Doctors may also use this injection to examine how a person’s body reacts to it to help diagnose any underlying condition that could be causing them pain.
Want a stronger core? Skip the sit-ups
Sit-ups once ruled as the way to tighter abs and a slimmer waistline. While "planks" were merely flooring. Now plank exercises, in which you assume a position and hold it, are the gold standard for working your core. While classic sit-ups and crunches have fallen out of favor.
Hormone therapy increases lumbar spine bone mineral density, protects against bone loss
As the population continues to age, there is greater focus on bone health and minimizing fractures to maintain mobility. A new study suggests that various types of hormone therapies not only increase lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women but also protect against bone loss, even after hormones have been discontinued. Study results are published online in Menopause.
Best Sleeping Positions for Pain
Awkward sleeping positions can put stress and strain on your body as you’re catching ZZZs, leading to pain when you should be rising and shining. But you can rest easier with a few modifications.
