Spondyloarthropathy is an ancient form of arthritis shared by multiple orders and classes of the animal kingdom. Camarasaurus, a genus of quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaur, holds the record for the earliest known case of spondyloarthropathy—147 million years ago.
Researchers examined the benefits of two acupressure approaches for treating low back pain, finding that patients who self-administered stimulating acupressure experienced a significant decrease in fatigue associated with their chronic pain…
Education with recommended first-line care may not improve pain outcomes in patients with acute low back pain. When comparing patients who received education with those who received professional consultation without information or advice, researchers found patient education was no more effective than placebo at reducing depression or incidence of chronic low back pain…
Patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy syndrome (LRS) may wonder if physicality of their jobs contributed to the development of their symptoms. A recent systematic review sought to identify LRS work-related risk factors. Researchers found that bending and lifting of the trunk, both alone and in combination, may contribute to LRS…
NEW YORK (New York)—Patients with anxiety and depression may be less satisfied than other patients with their chronic low back pain (CLBP) treatments, new research suggests. “Patients with anxiety/depression symptoms experienced more pain severity and more pain-related functional, social, and emotional disability, and they were less satisfied with care, compared with the other groups,” the…
(Reuters Health)—Patients with acute pain from osteoporosis damage to the spine don’t experience any more relief from surgery to inject cement into cracked or broken vertebrae than they would with a sham procedure, a recent trial in The Netherlands suggests. All of the patients in the experiment had compression fractures, which can happen when osteoporosis…
Mast cells may become a therapeutic target for low back pain, according to new research. Researchers found mast cells can infiltrate intervertebral disc cells and play a role in their degeneration. Specifically, mast cells and the cytokine, IL-6, were both more likely to be found in painful intervertebral discs surgically removed from patients than in control discs…
(Reuters Health)—About three in five older men with tiny spinal fractures related to osteoporosis reported new or worsening back pain in a new study. Only about one-quarter of new vertebral fractures are diagnosed by a doctor, the study team writes in their September 7 online report in Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, though the…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Advice is considered an effective treatment for acute low back pain (LBP), but neither clinical trials nor guidelines include adequate detail on what this advice should be, or how doctors should deliver it, according to a new review. And half of the advice topics included in guidelines were discordant with evidence from…
First Appearances I watched the old man, his back painfully bent, shuffle toward the scale. A blocky rigidity draped over him. His feet seemed stuck to the floor. His head hung heavily over his chest. Observing him from the end of the hallway, instead of a face, I saw only a mound of shaggy, matted…