Tag: Sufferer

Links Between Chronic Back Pain and Clinical Depression

Chronic back pain is defined as pain that lasts for up to 12 weeks or more and is often associated with traumatic or degenerative conditions of the spinal bones. Like with ordinary back pain, the causes that arise in chronic back pain are often undetermined since the anatomical causes are quite hard to distinguish, even with the use of x-rays.

Chronic back pain is difficult to deal with in itself. Unfortunately, majority of chronic attacks give room for the development of clinical depression. It is by far the most widespread emotional resultant. Clinical depression goes beyond the normal sadness felt by everyone and it persists for longer than a few weeks.

To help us acknowledge the truth behind clinical depression, here are some symptoms that generally occurs on clinically depressed individuals:

A prevalent mood that is sad, depressed, blue, low, hopeless, and irritable, trhat often include periods of crying spells.

Significant weight loss and poor appetite or the reverse

Sleep problems such as hyosomnia and hypersomnia

Restlessness and unnecessary fatigue

Loss of interest on previously pleasurable activities.

Feeling of guilt or worthlessness

Problems with memory and concentration

Thoughts of death and suicide

Decreased interest on generally everything

Clinical depression is often observed on suffers of chronic back pain rather than those experiencing only acute pain for which the condition is felt only for shorter periods. The issue on how clinical depression is developed through chronic back pain may be traced via the following conditions that arise during chronic pain attacks. These include:

The sufferer usually experience irritability and fatigue due to lack of sufficient sleep that is often hampered by the pain felt at night.

Lack of productive activities and isolation during the day since the pain impedes the person from doing things the normal ways. He always has to move slower and more carefully to avoid more severe pain attacks.

Financial difficulties may arise due to inability to work profitably.

Beyond the pain, gastrointestinal distresses may arise as side effects to anti-inflammatory drugs. Mental dullness may also be felt since some pain medications and relievers may induce the brain to function inefficiently.

The person may be distracted with the frequent concentration difficulties and memory lapses.

As it may be understood, these symptoms logically lead to frustration and despair that are normally the starting point for most major depression.

Complications Concerning Middle Back Pain

Many symptoms of thoracic pain or middle back pain are rare and hardly distinguishable when compared with the more common types of back pain. Usually, middle back pain may be closely related to neck pain (or cervical neck pain) and chest pain. This is why signs of this condition may be misinterpreted as symptoms of other related ailments.

The reason why people have differing opinions on middle back pain is because most are only considered as referred pains. The pain that the sufferer feels is much different in location than that of the actual location. You and your doctor may never find the real cause of middle back pain if you look for them in the middle back. The same is true with lower back pain and upper back pain.

Contrary to what is popularly believed, middle back pain is simpler than what we were made to believe. It may be stimulated by the trigger points in the muscles at the back. These trigger points include erector spinae, infraspinatus, latissimus dorsi and multifidi, rhomboids, serratus posterior inferior, serratus posterior superior, subscapularis, and trapezius.

That long list of Latin terms may have complicated things for you but it will get even more complicated when the actual location of pain is displaced in the upper back and especially in the middle back. The following are few of the complications that we are to talk about:

The trigger points located at the scalene muscles that cover the front and the back of the neck may stimulate a continuing pain between the blades of your shoulders in the upper back. This fact is rarely known among people experiencing the actual pain. As it is, the pain may be a referred pain causing people to frequently misinterpret the pain in the shoulder blades as pain that occurs in other locations.

Often, there is a trigger point in the serratus anterior located under your arm that may cause frequent middle back pain. This pain may be felt at the tip of the shoulder blades. This condition is so subtle that even an expert on trigger points may overlook the symptoms.

There are also trigger points at the rectus abdominus or the stomach that may cause the excruciating middle back pain. This is often undiagnosable and even the best therapists may not be able to determine this condition. In this form of middle back pain, no therapy may be applied.

You see, the actual pain may be complex enough to make things hard both for the sufferer and the physician. If the condition is triggered on some other place undefined, it may even be harder to diagnose and treat.

Toothache Home Remedies That Work

A toothache hits! The first thing is a dentist is called and an appointment made. Unless there is something more serious such as an abscess, appointments are not usually instantly available. So while the sufferer waits and endures what some people have called ‘one of the most painful pains known to man’, the sufferer immediately begins to hunt down a variety of toothache home remedies that will work and ease their pain!

Which of the toothache home remedies that will work for each individual is dependent on what exactly is the problem with the tooth. Problems can result from infections, blows to the mouth, decay or even food lodged between teeth or within cavities of teeth.

If the problem is that there is food or debris stuck within the teeth and it is causing pain, then a gentle swilling out of the mouth is usually effective. What can also help is the gentle brushing of the teeth to dislodge the food.

Toothache home remedies for a blow to the mouth, which usually result in a swelling or even a tooth falling out, are best treated by icing the area. In effect you treat the damaged area as you would do any other bruised area of the body. Applying ice will help reduce the swelling and will even numb the nerves around the area and bring pain relief.

Another proven toothache home remedy is rinsing the mouth with salty water. This works by cleansing the mouth and keeping any open cavities within the tooth clean, so helping to prevent painful infections. Warm water, as opposed to cold water, should always be used so there is no painful shock to any exposed nerves.

One of the least known toothache home remedies involves keeping the head upright. If you think back and analyze, a lot of toothaches will begin during the night when the sufferer is laying down asleep. This is because in this position, pressure builds in the head and causes pain in the tooth. So often times, simply propping yourself up in bed will bring some relief.

Further more, something as apparently unrelated as massaging the hand with an ice cube can bring a degree of pain relief for a toothache. Between the thumb and the forefinger, in the groove of the bone just below the V shape, an ice cube rubbed gently over this area can be immensely beneficial to anyone who is enduring a toothache.

Pretty much then, making use of these home remedies for toothaches will depend on what has caused the pain. The good thing is that all of these remedies are fairly straight forward to implement and are proven to bring relief.

Simple Eczema Remedies

Eczema remedies are often investigated by those with this skin condition because the traditional medical creams, ointments and pills can be harsh and abrasive. The need to take control and manage this skin condition naturally, with as few side effects as possible, is for many, the ultimate goal.

Eczema then, is a skin condition that ranges from mild to pretty extreme. Mild being slight itching and extreme being broken, cracked and dry skin that itches and bleeds. Add to that mix the fact that it can be socially debilitating, leaving some sufferers struggling to lead what is considered a normal and active life, and it is clear to see that it is a very serious condition.

One of the eczema remedies that has been shown to work well is the use of natural oils. Tea tree oil in particular has properties that help to heal and remedy the condition of eczema. It is effective as a remedy because it not only clears up the red patches on the skin, but it also stops the itching and the swelling that can often be seen on a sufferer’s skin.

An important addition to the eczema remedies list is how to replace the necessary bath and bathroom products that are usually perfumed and scented and so cause major problems for people with eczema. One useful tip is to on occasion bathe with oatmeal or oats. Bathing with oatmeal and oats has been shown to relieve the irritable symptoms and conditions of eczema and leave the skin feeling supple and moist.

Children number some of the sufferers of eczema and for them this can be a particularly nasty condition to live with. Not only are they in pain from the inflammation and the open sores that can result, children will often find it extremely difficult to stop scratching. What can be done for children, particularly young children, to whom it can be difficult to explain what is going on, is to put mittens on their hands. This will obviously lessen the impact of their scratching. In the same guise, keeping the finger nails trimmed low and clean are an effective way to ease some of the symptoms of eczema.

As eczema remedies go one that has been around for many generations is the use of cotton clothing and bedlinen to help manage the conditions. Cotton is a natural fiber and putting this material against the skin, as opposed to man made fibers and materials, will help to lessen the problems for many an eczema sufferer.

Above all, finding the most useful remedy for eczema depends on the severity and the individual and how they choose to manage this skin condition. What should be remembered though, is that eczema and its symptoms can be effectively minimized, but it is difficult to completely cure.