Do you live in North Carolina and have back pain? Well, the amount of people in North Carolina has more than doubled in the last 14 years. These findings definitely have a huge effect on health care expenditures.
Statistics from the Archives of Internal Medicine claim that 80% of people will have lower back pain at some point in their life, 95% will get better in a few months, and 85% will have a repeat occurrence.
Sufferers of back pain go to the doctor frequently, spend money on massages, pain medicine, physical therapy, chiropractic appointments and surgeries.
According to a study conducted last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association, treating back pain costs about $86 billion in the U.S.
In the study, researchers from UNC Chapel performed a statewide phone survey of about 5,300 people in 2006 and discovered that 10.2 percent suffered from back pain that continued for more than 3 months. That’s more than two times the amount in 1992, when a survey of more than 4,400 revealed that 3.9 percent said that they were sufferers of back pain.
There is one treatment that is not used much or respected enough by doctors and patients, even though it is totally free. Although it is not a cure, people who exercise regularly under a doctor or physical therapist’s care tend to feel better and are able to do more.
So it is not a surprise that there has been an increase in back pain and obesity at the same time. Doctors who have treated back pain have noticed the parallel between the two. Dr. Kenneth Carnes, who works at Raleigh Neurosurgery Associates, claims that being overweight puts extra stress on the spine. Carnes says “all the extra weight and pressure is being centered in the low back and spine.” “That puts a lot of wear and tear on tissues – bone and ligaments and soft tissues. The end result is pain.” Because of this, he usually suggests exercises to help make a patient’s abdomen and back stronger. He says people just need to use their common sense by eating a balanced diet, watching their weight and exercising.
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