Talk:Low back pain

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Removed alt medicine spam:

According to a recent survey, 16.8% of the adult American population ([1] p9) use complementary and alternative medicine to treat back pain.

If someone wants to a) discuss what those alternative medical treatments actually are; and b) discuss what the other 83.2% of adult Americans do, then maybe it belongs. --Calton 01:43, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The reason so many use CAM is that conventional medicine is not very successful in providing symptom relief. On this page we should focus on conventional medicine in a systematic way. We should link to alternative forms of treatment as they are described.--Mylesclough 05:57, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

I have been going through the list of orthopaedic conditions listed as stubs and suggesting this template for Orthopaedic Conditions (see Talk:Orthopedic surgery)
Name
Definition
Synonyms
Incidence
Pathogenesis
Pathology
Stages
Classification
Natural History/Untreated Prognosis
Clinical Features
Investigation
Non-Operative Treatment
Risks of Non-Operative Treatment
Prognosis following Non-Operative Treatment
Operative Treatment (Note that each operations should have its own wiki entry)
Risks of Operative Treatment
Prognosis Post Operation
Complications
Management
Prevention
History
--Mylesclough 05:57, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Treatment? Symptom relief?

As I sit here, I've got a cold-water bottle pressed up against my lower back. Wouldn't it be great if there were a section in this article on what do do, what not to do, if you've got lower back pain? Wadsworth 19:20, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

Ask Myles above. Typical advice is paracetamol and/or ibuprofen (if you're now known to have gastric or renal problems), and some benzodiazepines to relax. JFW | T@lk 01:13, 30 October 2005 (UTC)
Excellent! Thanks for the advice. So, let's say I send my wife to the corner store for some medicine (I can't go myself for reasons of crippling lower back pain). What should I ask her to pick up for me? I don't think I've ever seen a bottle of paracetamol, at least called by that name. I think I've heard of iboprofen, but I don't know what it is called by regular non-medical folk like myself. I think gastric refers to intestines, perhaps it means prone to diahreah (sp?), but I don't know what renal means. Also, if there another name for over-the-counter benzodiazepines, maybe you could supply it. The droid at the counter of the corner store would look at my wife like she's got a duck sticking out of her hairdo if she asked for these by proper name. ;) Wadsworth 16:27, 30 October 2005 (UTC)
Hmmm. Perhaps a chat with your GP/family doctor is better than obtaining advice untailored to your situation and background from an anonymous face at Wikipedia :-).
"Gastric" means referring to the stomach, as ibuprofen can cause ulcers. Renal means referring to the kidney, as ibuprofen and related drugs may worsen kidney failure. There are no OTC benzodiazepines (unless you live in Mexico etc etc); this includes valium etc. Again, your GP/FP is the man/woman to talk to. JFW | T@lk 22:41, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Back pain and low back pain

Seems the articles Back pain and low back pain need to be merged? Badgettrg 09:55, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Seems both titles should remain, but as most of the back pain article concerns low back pain, that content should be moved to low back pain.Badgettrg 13:54, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Personally, I think there is plenty to say on the topic of low back pain that it should stay as its own article, as opposed to upper back pain and mid back pain, etc. I will come back when I have more time and try to add more points to help people who have low back pain, such as a symptoms section. I think coccyx pain should be its own page and will see if there is an article already started on this topic. Am new to wikipedia, so please excuse (and advise) if I have missed one of the rules - I'm trying!

[edit] Back pain and low back pain and lumbar disc herniation

Two very important articles came out today in the New England Journal of Medicine about surgery for back pain. However, it is impossible to easily add this to WikiPedia - should the content go in low back pain, back pain, lumbago, or under lumbar disc herniation and spinal stenosis? Consequently, I aggregated the surgical content from low back pain and back pain and placed in the appropriate specific disease such as lumbar disc herniation and spinal stenosis. Now surgical information only needs to go in under the disease that is being treated.

Hope this is ok, feel free to revert if not, but better would be if you can find a better way to organize these sections.Badgettrg 15:52, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Leg length and hip rotation

I removed these two paragraphs as they seemed to go into a great deal of detail (out of balance with the rest of the page, which is an overview) in an area that has little to do with diagnosis of the cause of low back pain. Both hip and leg length differences are not among the common causes of lbp. Hope this helps make the article more useful.

[edit] In women

Are there honestly no medical articles to link to concerning the massive problems women have with back pain stemming from breast size and therefore bra heftiness? And you'd think there would be more to say about the curvature occuring in pregnant women, there's only a whisper of that on this page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.7.244.18 (talk) 20:32, 2 March 2008 (UTC)