Lower Back Pain In Children

Healthy Manhattan: Healthier Backpacks for Children

Backpacks do much more than carry students' books when they return to school each year.

Elementary school children hang key chains from their zippers to express themselves. Teenagers press patches with band names onto the fabric. In the '90s, the Jansport logo on your pack made you cool, and no kid would have dreamed of using more than one strap.

But aside from providing yet another avenue for adolescent identity, backpacks, weighed down with piles of heavy textbooks, may also be causing poor posture and back pain in children.

"We know that back pain is on the rise," said Dr. Scott Bautch, a spokesperson for the American Chiropractic Association who has conducted various research studies on back pain in children. "By the age of 14, many children are having back pain that affects their daily lives."

This fact can be attributed to many of the modern behaviors of young people, explained Luke Bongiorno, a Manhattan-based physical therapist and managing director of NY SportsMed & Physical Therapy . These include hours spent sitting in front of computers and the rounded posture associated with texting.

"Everything else is compounding the problem," said Bongiorno, "so it's even more important to pay attention to backpacks now."

Researchers have known for years that too much weight in backpacks could cause issues in children, and the mechanics are fairly simple. When a lot of weight is placed in a backpack, especially if it hangs below the waist, the body is placed under a certain amount of stress.

Muscles tell the brain that they're stressed and the brain responds by telling other muscles in the spine and shoulders to work harder. "All the messages are saying, 'We've got to protect, cramp down, tighten,'" said Bongiorno, so the muscles tighten, causing compression of the spine.

Because of the strain on the lower back, the body pulls the shoulders forward to keep itself upright, causing bad posture, added Dr. Joseph Herrera, director of sports medicine in the Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center. And while bad posture is not deadly, it can cause serious pain and imbalances in the body and may even lead to longer-term issues, like chronic tendonitis, said Bongiorno.

Thankfully, most of the time the issues are reversible and the pain can be temporary if the problem is recognized and postural habits are corrected.

Health Tips – Key Exercises For Lower Back Pain | Child lose weight

The aim of these exercises is to help you overcome back discomfort and help in the prevention of back pain. Strong backs do not get injured nearly as often as weaker backs. Stretching alone will not help you if your back is not strong so it is important to do regular exercises for lower back pain.

If you purchase some weights all of these exercises can be done in the comfort of your own home. It is important that before you undertake any exercise programme however, that you get cleared by your doctor particularly if you suffer from chronic back pain or have recently undergone surgery. These exercises are aimed at making the spine stable and they will make it stronger if done regularly; generally it is recommended that you try to work out at least 3 times per week.

Start with 15 reps at a time for each exercise; you can build up the number of sets as you become stronger and more stable. When doing these exercises, in order to activate the transverse abdominal muscles you need to pull in your belly button to the spine. People have a tendency to distend or push out the belly button when they exert force, this has an adverse reaction to core stability, so remember pull in the belly button, suck in those abs and hold but don’t forget to breathe!

Ok for the first exercise lie on the ground, keeping the pelvis relaxed, but exaggerating the curve in the lower back by bringing the belly up towards the ceiling, making the contraction nice and hard by exaggerating the curve however the opposite movement is where the exercise comes in to play. Tilt your pelvis back towards your head as you suck your belly button down towards your spine, then tilt back towards your knees and then back towards your head. Repeat. This is the key exercise to start with if you have an acute episode of back pain but only work to your pain tolerance. This exercise aims to increase the range of motion and also by bringing the pelvis back it will help to relax the muscles by taking the pressure off the discs.

To take this exercise to the next level, as before make the contraction nice and hard by exaggerating the curve in the back, lift the pelvis off the ground towards the ceiling into the bridge position, supporting through your shoulders. When you are in this position it is important to keep your body nice and hard by contracting your abdominal muscles and your pelvic floor muscles as you move into the plank position by kicking the right leg straight out,the knee must be in the same plane as the knee of the balancing leg. Keep your stomach tight and avoid twisting or slouching. Maintain the plank for ten seconds keeping nice and strong then bring the extended leg back down, alternate and extend the other leg straight out. By taking the balance point away the small muscles of the lower back will have to contract hard in an effort to stabilise the spine.

Pediatric Manual Medicine, An Osteopathic Approach

Chronic Pain Epidemiology, From Aetiology to Public Health

Foods That Fight Pain, Revolutionary New Strategies for Maximum Pain Relief

Physical medicine and rehabilitation, principles and practice

Nonprescription product therapeutics