If I had a dollar for every back pain sufferer who said to me \"There\'s nothing I can do about my back pain. My mother had it. My brother had it. It just runs in the family,\" I\'d be one wealthy lady. While I personally disagree that there\'s nothing they could do about their backaches, research does suggest a relationship between genetics and back pain.

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Back Pain Heredity originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Thursday, September 9th, 2010 at 09:16:05.

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Chances are, if you herniate a disc, you\'ll know something\'s wrong immediately. Though you may think you know what your symptoms mean, you still need to get a diagnosis, if you want treatment that works. Here\'s what happens when your doctor goes to diagnose a herniated disc.

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How is a Herniated Disc Diagnosed? originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at 09:52:37.

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Stress related back pain landed Hulk Hogan in a Clearwater, Florida hospital on Labor Day. Today they are doing some tests, including an MRI, according to Hogan. The incident occurred at 3am. Later in the day, Hogan announced his injury to his fans with this entry on his Facebook page:

Emergency at morton plant hospital ,hung on as long as I could. back is totally spazzing out.time to heal.

Hulk\'s been keeping the public informed by video. You can get the run down by watching this. We wish him a speedy and safe recovery. In the words of the Hulk himself, \"I\'m mortal, don\'t forget\".

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Hulk Hogan Proves He\'s Mortal With Back Pain Episode originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 22:23:39.

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Photo: (c) kingvald

Well, school is about to begin, if it hasn\'t already in your area. Doesn\'t it seem that every year the books get heavier and more numerous? I\'m sure you already know that most students use back packs to help them lug their load around.

Backpacks are supposed to alleviate pain, not create it. But when worn incorrectly, they can cause you or your child to adopt postures that may give rise to spine problems. As 90% of students wear backpacks, a little knowledge on the relationship between backpacks and back pain may be in order. Check out my 10 tips on how to avoid back pain for kids (and adults) who wear backpacks.

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Wear Your Backpack Without Back Pain originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 10:35:20.

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No one really knows for sure if whiplash causes pain and disability over the long haul. But researchers are looking at this topic to try to find out more. One study followed whiplash patients for 10 years and compared their MRIs with people who had not had a whiplash event. The study participants also answered questions about their pain levels.

Now, let me point out that it\'s very common for people to have neck or back pain while their MRIs look completely normal. And the opposite is true, too. Someone can have an MRI that looks really messed up, yet they feel no pain. True to form, this study found no real correlation between the whiplash patients\' MRIs and their pain levels.

The study looked at the signal activity in the discs, (bright spots on the film that indicate something\'s amiss), disc protrusion (budging disc), disc space narrowing and narrowing in the intervertebral foramen (called spinal stenosis).

Over time the signal intensity decreased for most whiplash patients, and only in about half of the controls. Both groups had a significant amount of disc bulge in back. Compared to the amount of signal intensity and bulging discs, there was less disc space narrowing and stenosis in both groups over the 10 year period.

The researchers acknowledge the pain of the whiplash patients, but concluded that their MRIs could not explain it.

_Source:

_{May, D., MD, et. al. Abnormal Signal Intensity in Skeletal Muscle at MR Imaging: Patterns, Pearls, and Pitfalls. Radiographics. July 2010 Accessed Aug 2010 http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/20/suppl_1/S295.full}

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Whiplash Pain Has Yet To Be Explained originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 14:08:57.

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Millions of people young and old will be returning to school soon. When it comes to knowledge and learning, I am of the opinion that many of us think we know a lot about taking care of back pain. But let me test you.

If you do yoga for back pain, do you know, for example, if your back condition can tolerate the cobra pose and the spinal twist? The yoga for back pain quiz can illuminate you on important issues like this.

Do you know what weakness in your legs that keeps getting worse signifies, and what you should do about it? The back pain quiz has the answer (after you complete all the questions).

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More Back to School Thoughts for Back Pain Sufferers originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Thursday, August 19th, 2010 at 09:17:16.

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If you\'re going to college, particularly if you plan to live in a dorm setting, experts recommend you get a meningitis vaccination.

According to Dr. Michael Koller, associate professor of medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, you should get that vaccine before leaving for school.

Meningitis is an inflammation/infection of the tissue lining the brain and spinal cord. It tends to affect college students, and very young children and their caretakers - anywhere where people are crowded together. Koller says, \"A college dormitory is an ideal setting for meningitis. Meningitis is more likely to spread in crowded living quarters like you have in a dormitory or a military barrack.\"

There are two types of meningitis - bacterial and viral. The viral is the less threatening of the two, and most people with this type get better a few weeks after treatment. The bacterial can cause blindness, deafness and even death. It must be treated immediately.

Symptoms of meningitis include a stiff neck, severe headache and flu-like symptoms.

Even if you think you just have a flu, you should get it checked. It\'s better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to something as potentially deadly as meningitis.

Not sure you know enough about meningitis? Take the meningitis awareness quiz.

_Source:

_{Press Release. Loyola University Health System.Physicians Warn Freshmen Face Higher Risk from Meningitis, Which Can Kill Quickly. Aug 17 2010.}

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Back-to-School Precautions originally appeared on About.com Back & Neck Pain on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 10:37:00.

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