Dr Oz: Back Pain Remedies
Dr Oz says there is an 80% chance you’ll suffer back pain in your lifetime. Half a million people suffering from back pain opt to have surgery, but this procedure that some call overly invasive has a 50% failure rate. Doctor Oz asked the question; are surgeons too quick to cut? What do you think?
Julia, an audience member, told Dr Oz that she has suffered from back pain for 5-6 years. (Dr Oz admitted to having pain as a surgeon because he spends hours at a time stooped over performing surgery on his patients.)
Dr Oz Back Pain Remedies
Julia told Dr Oz that she has taken pain medication (OTC and prescription) and has even tried some holistic remedies but nothing has worked for long term and the her back pain kept returning. She wasn’t thrilled about going under the knife so she wanted to find out alternatives to surgery. In most cases, Dr Oz stated he was against surgery for back pain, feeling the best anecdote for pain was time. Ninety percent of the time, the pain will eventually get better.
Dr Oz: Back Surgery Mistakes
Doctor Oz showed an image of the spinal column with a bulged disc. Often times, doctors see this and decide that surgery is needed. He showed a second image where the disc bulged within the spinal column also. That image was of a healthy 33-year-old with no back pain. This demonstrated that not all bulging discs have pain associated with it, so even with surgery, you may still have the pain. One in five people who have back surgery will need another operation within a decade. That’s a big deal if you’re in your forties. Dr Oz says the average person with lower back pain does NOT need surgery. You should consider other options for your chronic back pain that include:
Dr Oz: Physical Therapy
-do exercises 3x per week
Dr Oz: Pelvic Tilt
lie down on your back
come up onto the elbows
lift hips up
drop your butt
repeat several times
-stretching
lie on back
straighten left leg out
bend right knee over straight left leg
press down slightly onto the bended knee for a slight stretch
Dr Oz: Chiropractor
-often dismissed as alternative medicine
-60% of people get relief from chiropractic treatment
Bea, and audience member, told Dr Oz that she’s had lower back pain for over a year and a half. She went to a chiropractor for her neck years ago and had recently started seeing a chiropractor for her back pain.
Chiropractor, Dr. Steven Shoshany, told Dr Oz that painkillers don’t address the cause, they only cover it up. Chiropractors deal with spinal imbalance and look to get rid of the cause of your back pain. (They did a session on Bea, real time, and I have to say, I’m sure you could hear her spine pop from the back row of the audience. Yuck!) The bizarre thing was, she said it felt really good.
How to Avoid Future Back Pain
-strengthen your core
-stay hydrated (drink plenty of water throughout the day)
-don’t sit for long periods of time
-stretching
jan griswold says
too late smart,,I hope and Im sure this episode will make some others exhaust all options before invasive remedies are chosen,,Ive had 3 back surgeries, one must have left me worse than the other because now Im left with a medtronic morphine pain pump and on disability for the past 6 yrs. Im nearly 59. keep doing what you’re doing and catch some people before its too late. the pain never goes away