Scientists have discovered that a majority of back-pain patients they tested who were taking opioid painkillers produced anti-opioid antibodies. These antibodies may contribute to some of the negative side effects of long-term opioid use.

A new study published in BMJ Open, an online publication of the British Medical Journal, examined the association of initial provider treatment with early and long-term opioid use in a national sample of patients with new-onset low back pain (LBP). The study evaluated outpatient and inpatient claims from patient visits, pharmacy claims and inpatient and outpatient procedures with initial providers seen for new-onset LBP.

When you push someone in a wheelchair, you may be hurting your back without knowing it. Researchers measured the forces on the spine caused by pushing a wheelchair, and discovered that people aren’t good at judging when they’re exerting forces strong enough to hurt their back. The study appears in the journal Ergonomics.

One of the best things you can do to prevent and/or eliminate back pain is to exercise. Both an inactive lifestyle and being overweight contribute to back pain. Exercise benefits you in so many ways, such as lowering blood pressure, helping you maintain a healthy weight, lowering your risk for diabetes, and the list goes on!

Orthotics can help you maintain a healthy spine by stabilizing the lower extremities and pelvis. Devices that you wear in your shoes, orthotics align all three arches of your foot to provide a balanced foundation for your spine and body.

A new Gallup-Palmer survey that tested public assumptions about chiropractic care discovered that a lack of knowledge about health insurance coverage for chiropractic care and sensitivity toward costs may be preventing some adults in the United States from using chiropractic services. Nearly half of U.S. adults reported not knowing whether their insurance plans covered chiropractic care. In addition to uncertainty about insurance coverage, the survey found that perceptions about the cost of chiropractic care could also be a factor preventing some individuals from seeking it.

According to a new Gallup-Palmer report that tested public assumptions about chiropractic care, 57 percent of U.S. adults are likely to visit a doctor of chiropractic (DC) if they experience back or neck pain. This first-ever nationally representative survey, commissioned by Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, found that 33.6million Americans sought chiropractic care in 2014, compared to a previously reported estimate of 20.6 million in 2012.

Americans are spending billions out-of-pocket for chiropractic services and other complementary health approaches according to authors of a new report by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative health (NCCIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The use of chiropractic services in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system has seen a steep rise over more than a decade, according to recently published research.

Create a DIY sit/stand station. The popularity of standing desks has increased significantly over the past several years. You can create your own standing desk at home by simply working at a raised kitchen counter, for example, but be sure that the height of the counter does not cause you to bend your elbows too much. You should be able to comfortably reach your keyboard with elbows bent at about a 90-degree angle.

Chiropractors are accustomed to making recommendations for their patient’s traditional workspaces, but they also understand that in times of unexpected change you must find ways to adapt quickly. Many of the workers forced to go remote are still working on laptops, according to the experts. Here are their top three suggestions for making a home workstation work with your laptop:

Pick a spot. If you do not have a regular desk at home, working at a kitchen table is generally much better than sitting on a couch with your laptop on your lap.

More work-at-home suggestions to reduce stress on the body:

Use a keyboard tray and pull it out over your lap. If you use a laptop, use it as a screen only, placing it at eye level with a stand or a stack of books. Get a remote keyboard to use with your laptop computer. To avoid neck pain, keep your screen at eye level whether you use a laptop or monitor. Put books underneath your monitor to raise it or use a stand, if necessary.

With so many people still working from home these days to maintain social distancing from their colleagues, many are developing musculoskeletal pain. Improving posture and ergonomics is a proactive way to take care of your body while working remotely.

To reduce stress on the body, follow these work-at-home suggestions:

As we look forward to having our routines return to near-normal, a good attitude is still essential for tackling the ongoing challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and the changes it has created in our day-to-day lives. Taking care of your health by addressing pain and then finding time for physical activity, rest, time in nature, and safe socializing can help lessen stress and anxiety.

Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractic services are used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches.

One of the most common and well known therapeutic procedures performed by doctors of chiropractic is spinal manipulation (sometimes referred to as a “chiropractic adjustment”). The purpose of spinal manipulation is to restore joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile—or restricted in their movement—as a result of a tissue injury.

The purpose of chiropractic treatment is to help the body’s potential to heal itself. It is based on the scientific principle that restricted spinal movement leads to pain and reduced function and performance. Chiropractic care is non-invasive, non-surgical and drug-free. The type of chiropractic therapy provided depends on the cause of the patient’s sciatica. A sciatica treatment plan may include several different treatments such as ice/cold therapies, ultrasound, TENS, and spinal adjustments (sometimes called spinal manipulation).

A drug increasingly being prescribed for treating sciatica has been revealed to be no better than placebo, in research recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers also found that people taking the drug pregabalin reported nearly twice as many adverse effects as those receiving the placebo reported.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends that doctors avoid prescribing drugs, especially narcotics, for patients with acute or subacute low back pain. Patients should be treated first with non-pharmaceutical therapies, such as superficial heat, massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation.

Patients with improper back position have movement control impairment. They often have difficulties in controlling the position of their back when sitting down, standing or doing back bending. Impaired movement control is often caused by an earlier episode of back pain and may result in chronic lower back pain. The situation is problematic because patients don’t realize that their incorrect back position is provoking pain.

Many patients live with low back pain that radiates to the buttock, groin, thigh, and even knees. The challenge for patients, and often their doctors, is determining the origin of the pain—the hip, the spine, or both. A new article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons outlines the identical symptoms associated with hip and spine pain and discusses the diagnostic steps and tests required to treat them appropriately.