AN A-Z OF LUMBAR OR PAIN AND LEG PAIN: BACKACHE IN THE ELDERLY:
‘My back goes out more than I do . . .’
Ageing is a normal and natural process, as is having grandchildren. But injuries will occur when you bend over to lift them up. I call it grandma syndrome.
A fifteen-month-old bundle who runs to you to be picked up is often the beginning of elderly backache. It is the most common cause of pain that I see in older women who have rarely had a back pain before. She is shown how to sit on a high hard chair and to entice the heavy little darling to crawl onto her knees where she can help them up from her now supported position.
Pain in the lower spine and pelvis can be combined with pain in the knees and hips. When lower back sprains occur, the pain radiates down to the legs and feet. The problem is caused by repetition of the leaning over and twisting upright movement.
Therapists loosen your spine with massage and electrical therapy or acupuncture. They teach you the correct way to lift while bracing the buttocks.
In the ageing process, spinal discs narrow and ligaments lose much of their ability to stretch and move. This is due to diminished elasticity and everyone over forty is advised to take a vitamin E capsule daily.
Spinal joints can have arthritis or degeneration, therefore you are more at risk of hurting your back with poor postural lifting. If you have kept up your swimming or long walks around the block, you’ll be in better shape to handle toddlers.
Mechanics and home car enthusiasts often suffer lower back injury. Prevention is better than worker’s compensation. So if there is a problem, do not continue to aggravate the area. Have, it treated and give it time to heal. The fact is that 85% of the population will experience back pain at least once during their lives.
Yoga is good, preferably started young, and so is an exercise bike. Aerobics for the over fifties should be performed fluidly without jerking. Aquarobics is fun in warm water and can be recommended. When gardening, kneel instead of bending over, and bend your knees rather than your back. For this reason, bowling is good, because you have to keep your back straight, and bend your knees and your hips.
Full and complete recovery from a lower back injury can be a long, time-consuming process. The patient is usually free of all symptoms long before the healing process is complete. You consider yourself fully recovered, you put aside precautionary measures, and too often interrupt the healing process with a new injury! It may be only slight, and the symptoms only minor, but the vulnerable
joint has been re-sprained. The supporting ligaments are again stretched and torn.
Even the minor lower back injury requires a minimum period of six weeks to repair fully. This is because the nature of a sprain involves ligaments which lose their elasticity when hurt. They have to support the joint. Ligaments contain no blood vessels and depend on an indirect nutritional supply. So it takes time for full healing.
Indeed, in the elderly, back cases complicated by congenital or degenerative damage may never be normal. They may demand special postural care and deliberate precautions on your part forever.
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