According to this article, 100-Year-Old Woman Gets Relief From Debilitating Back Pain After Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, balloon kyphoplasty is a procedure where:

a needle and tube are used to create a small pathway into the fractured bone. Orthopedic balloons are inserted and then inflated inside the fractured bone in an attempt to restore vertebral body height and correct angular deformity. Inflation of the balloons creates cavities in the vertebral body that are filled with bone cement, forming an “internal cast” to support the surrounding bone and prevent further collapse.

What makes this story so unique is the patient – at 100 years old, it could be difficult to find a doctor willing to do any type of medical procedure, for fear of causing further harm or even death. Others may feel that at 100 years old, it’s best to leave well enough alone. But, luckily for Ms. Daniels, this wasn’t the case. Hopefully, she’ll continue to walk about and live her life to the fullest for as long as she can.

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Image: iStock.com

Post from: Blisstree

100-Year-Old Has Successful Back Surgery

If you’re one of the millions of people who live with low back pain, this may be welcome news for you. The American Pain Society (APS) has issued new clinical practice guidelines to treat lower back pain. Clinical practice guidelines are guidelines for doctors to take into consideration when diagnosing and treating a health problem. The guidelines were published in the most recent issue of the journal Spine .

According to a press release :

To develop the guideline, a multidisciplinary APS panel, augmented by experts on interventional therapies, reviewed 3,348 abstracts and analyzed 161 relevant clinical trials. The panel found that the evidence for the use of these interventions was mixed, sparse or not available. Based on the data the panel gathered, the APS now recommends:

1. Against the use of provocative discography (injection of fluid into the disc in order to determine if it is the source of back pain) for patients with chronic nonradicular low-back pain.

2. The consideration of intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation with a cognitive/behavioral emphasis for patients with nonradicular low-back pain who do not respond to usual, non-interdisciplinary therapies.

3. Against facet joint corticosteroid injection, prolotherapy, and intradiscal corticosteroid injections for patients with persistent nonradicular low-back pain, and insufficient evidence to guide use of other interventional therapies.

4. A discussion of risks and benefits of surgery and the use of shared decision making with reference to rehabilitation as a similarly effective option for patients with nonradicular low-back pain, common degenerative spinal changes, and persistent and disabling symptoms.

5. Insufficient evidence to guide recommendations for vertebral disc replacement.

6. A discussion of the risks and benefits of epidural steroid injections and shared decision making, including specific review of evidence of lack of long-term benefit for patients with persistent radiculopathy due to herniated lumbar disc.

7. A discussion of the risks and benefits of surgery and use of shared decision making that references moderate benefits that decrease over time for patients with persistent and disabling radiculopathy due to herniated lumbar disc or persistent and disabling leg pain.

8. Discussion of risks and benefits of spinal cord stimulation and shared decision making, including reference to the high rate of complications following stimulator placement for patients with persistent and disabling radicular pain following surgery for herniated disc and no evidence of a persistently compressed nerve root.

Let’s see if this makes any difference to those of us who know how painful life is with a painful lower back.

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Image: iStock.com

Post from: Blisstree

New Guidelines to Treat Low Back Pain

When I had a health issue I used to go to my doctor first.

Thousands of dollars in copays later I would end up at the health food store and what they would give me would out-perform the prescriptions.

Now I’ve learned the cheapest and most effective thing to do is hit the health food store first.

I’m going to try Natures Inventory’s Allergy Relief Wellness Oil, a completely organic 100% natural oil to reduce congestion and itching eyes. Check my Sinus Wash Miracle Cure for more great uses of oils.

I’m excited to try the Body Ache Relief.

I meditate a lot and want to see if this Meditate Wellness Oil will help me keep my mind from wandering to dark or trivial things during yoga and morning and evening meditations.

I’m tempted to try the Skin Lightening Formula Wellness Oil - even after treating my liver condition there are some brown spots left.

Or the Liver Support Wellness Oil to help my hemochromatosis.

And an oil for happiness? Sign me up!

How are you going to pick just 5? How am I?

Leave a comment saying which oils you’re most interested in trying and you are entered to win. Subscribe to the Blog Fabulous RSS feed or an email subscription and I’ll make sure to share my results with you.

More giveaways at the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival!

Post from: Blisstree

Natures Inventory Oils – 5 FREE Bottles

1. Lose weight. Yoga is exercise, pure and simple. You will be mystified by how much you sweat considering there is absolutely no jumping around. There is nothing aerobic about yoga. Yet, you will be dripping in sweat. You build muscle in yoga and muscle eats fat.

2. Mental Rest. Perhaps you can relate to me and my mental habits. If I allow it, my mind will run round and round things that should have happened or things that I don’t think should have happened. Sometimes I’ll rehearse things I should say or do in my relationships. I’ll resolved to do or say something different in the future and will rehearse it over and over in my head. Frankly, this is exhausting. But, pre-yoga I felt like I just couldn’t turn my brain off. I would lay awake for hours at night with this mental tally running around in my head. I could never get any real rest.

3. Mental Focus. Even if I’m not focusing on past or future fictions in my brain, I’m usually trying hard to remember appointments and check things off my responsibility list. If you’re a woman, especially a mom, you know that I have a lot on my mind every second of the day. It’s easy to become overwhelmed. But, it’s hard to focus on what I am actually doing and stay in the moment with the responsibility circus performing tricks in my head all day long. I’ll be working with my daughter on her numbers and be thinking about balancing the household budget. Thisnasty mental habit is not allowing me to enjoy working with my daughter and it’s not getting the budget done any faster. Yoga has really taught me how to tame the circus freaks running around and helped me learn to focus on my present experience.

4. Positive Attitude. One of the things I try to do during my hour-and-a-half yoga classes is speak kindly to myself. You’re supposed to think of nothing. But, I have yet to master this skill. So, instead I have a rule that I am only allowing empowering things about myself to go on in my head during yoga. No self-flagellation or doubt or loathing allowed. Pure forgiveness of me, pure acceptance of me. Pure compliments to my body. It’s really quite nice and this practice has helped improve my self image and self esteem tremendously. I also do a lot of praying and forgiving of others during this quiet time.

5. Insomnia. Do to the fact that my mind is at a gallop most of the time it is difficult for me to turn it off. Especially if I am mad about something or ticked off at someone. So I used to lay awake for hours until I took sleeping pills. Or I would wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep. Which made me frustrated and irritable the next day. Since starting yoga I go to sleep easily and sleep all the way through the night. In turn, I feel better in the mornings and throughout the day.

6. Challenging. I used to want to avoid challenging myself physically. Frankly, I have never, ever exercised in my life. I was simply too lazy and wanted to relax. With yoga classes though I can see improvement and it makes me feel accomplished and empowered about my physical body. Moves that I could barely do for a second – like plank, basically a push-up – left me pathetically exhausted. But, I feel so proud of myself now that I can hang out in plank for a few minutes and can see the improvement I’ve made in my core strength.

7. Strength. Can I just say I have a 25 pound baby? It takes a lot of physical labor to haul that kid around 24 hours a day. Yoga has built my muscles more than I thought possible. My whole body – muscles I never would have worked on in a weight room – is stronger. Turns out I really love being strong. I love feeling capable. I love being able to see definition in my arms and calves. I feel sexier when I look at my muscles than I thought I would.

8. Flexibility and Limberness. I’m only in my 30s and already I’m noticing that I have aches and pains that weren’t there when I was younger. Like my akelis heals are tight and hurt a little unless Istretch them out in the mornings. Downward Facing Dog has really helped this problem. 

9. Back health. For many years I have had chronic back pain. MDs just wanted to prescribe medication that makes me drowsy and loopy all the time. Finally, I found a chiropractor and started spending some money on ergonomic work chairs and mattresses and that helped a lot. Still, I would have a bit of pain and be afraid to do anything to hurt my back. Since yoga I can not tell you how nice it is to have ZERO back pain. Really, I don’t ever think about my back anymore. Because it is strong and I have great support in my core to hold my back up properly.

10. Rest. When I grew up Sunday was the Day of Rest. Rather than take a nap on Sunday afternoons I take an extremely challenging yoga class. No kidding, it is more restful than sleep. It is so peaceful and calm with the lights low and slow flowing movements that I feel like rested jello when I am finished.

Yoga is the single kindest thing I do for myself. I encourage you to try it, you deserve to be kind to yourself.

Post from: Blisstree

10 reasons to try Yoga