Something that Just Might Do the Trick for Lower Back Pain
Back to Basics
Last week, a new patient, Loretta, came to see me about lower back pain. She'd tried a bunch of different pain relievers and muscle relaxers, but all they did was make her feel better for a little while...and some of them didn't even do that. What Loretta really wanted was something to get rid of her chronic pain, not just cover it up for a few hours. So I did some checking around, and came across something that just might do the trick.
For chronic lower back pain, as opposed to the injury-related kind, exercise may provide a good long-term solution. Some researchers put together an analysis of over 60 clinical trials looking into this very issue learned that exercise therapy can make a difference. Exercise programs tailored to each individual patient reduced pain and improved everyday moving around. Every patient worked with an experienced physical therapist, who designed a program of stretching and strengthening exercises and closely supervised the sessions.
It's not a surefire cure, but since exercise is good for you in general, and pain medications can come with adverse side effects, giving this therapy a try makes a lot of sense. How well it works depends on you and your therapist -- he has to bring the expertise, and you have to bring the motivation.
But back pain isn't the only kind I see. A lot of my patients struggle with arthritis in their knees, especially in the cold winter months. (And, let me just tell you -- February in New England is no picnic even if your knees aren't throbbing!) But with the shrinking number of safe drug options, a lot of my patients are looking for something that works without causing other problems. I usually tell them to try a safe herbal remedy. I'll tell you more about it below...
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Cat's Claw Relieves Osteoarthritis Pain
Cat's claw is a traditional herb from the Amazon rain forest, and it seems to work wonders for arthritis pain. A small study put the herb to the test in 45 men with osteoarthritis of the knees. Some of the men got 100 mg of freeze-dried cat's claw every day for four weeks, and the rest took placebos. By the end of the first week, most of the men taking cat's claw already felt a noticeable improvement.
Plus, the herb didn't cause any significant side effects...quite the contrary. Cat's claw even seemed to help with stomach ulcers, in contrast with the standard painkillers know as NSAIDs (like ibuprofen and naproxen), which can actually cause them.
If you're tired of arthritis pain and of the usual painkillers, give cat's claw a try. Your knees could be feeling a lot better after just one week. But don't assume more is better -- stick with the 100mg daily dose that was proven safe in the study.
Another way to alleviate that pain in your knees is to lighten the load they're carrying. As I mentioned in my America's Country Doctor newsletter a couple of months ago, a recent study showed that losing just a few pounds can take a big weight off your knees - literally.
But before you turn to the latest big-name diet to help you trim down, you might wan to read on for the latest findings about them...
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Popular Diets Don't Live Up to the Hype
Diet books hit the best seller list all the time, and every one claims that their plan is the one that will help you lose weight. If you follow them to the letter, you probably will lose some weight -- just not a whole lot. And in case you're wondering which one is can help you lost the most, the answer is that there's not much difference at all.
A group of researchers decided to put four of the most popular diets -- Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and Weight Watchers -- to the test and see for themselves how well the programs really worked. They enrolled 160 overweight or obese people, and put each on one of the four diet plans. During the study, half of the Ornish (very low fat) dieters dropped out, and about 35 percent of each of the rest of the groups did the same. At the one-year mark, the average weight loss across all the diet programs was between 4 and 7 pounds -- nothing to write home about.
If you want to try a diet that might really work, talk with your doctor about tailoring a diet plan to your personal food preferences, and follow his prescription for exercise. That combination should give you a program you can live with -- and lose weight with.
Until next time,
Dr. Alan Inglis
House Calls
