No More Aching Back: Dr. Root's New Fifteen-Minutes-A-Day Program for Back

by Leon Root M.D.

Overview

These state-of-the-art strategies are designed to heal, strengthen, and protect your back from stress and injury. Dr. Root's clinically proven program includes a 15-minute daily exercise routine, self-administered first aid, what to ask and what to expect from your doctor, and short- and long-term solutions for pain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307826398
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/28/2012
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Leon Root, M.D. is a well-known orthopedic surgeon in New York City. He is a full-time attending surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery where, among his other responsibilities, he is the director of Rehabilitation Medicine and of the Back School Program.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction
 
 
You are probably reading this book because you have personally experienced a problem with your back, or have been close to someone who has had a bad experience with his or her back. In any case, you are concerned about avoiding and preventing the debilitating experience of being laid up with a bad back. Your concern is well founded.
 
Despite all medical efforts, back problems continue to plague mankind. In the United States, approximately 80 million people have or are suffering from back pain. The U.S. government reports that $25 billion is spent each year on health care for these people. At a recent meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, there were nearly one hundred papers, exhibits, instructional courses, and seminars that dealt solely with low-back pain.
 
Back pain is ubiquitous; it knows no boundaries and is seen in every walk of life. President John F. Kennedy had surgery for his back, and his use of a rocking chair to ease his pain became famous. Joe Montana, the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, astounded the world by having surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back and returning to full contact in eight weeks. A famous conductor does his back exercises every day in order to stand on the podium and wave his baton at the orchestra. Every day I see a multitude of secretaries, teachers, executives, construction workers, lawyers, and even doctors—not to mention pregnant women, actors and actresses, writers, and computer specialists—all of whom complain about pain in their backs. The cause of almost all of these people’s pain is mechanical. In other words, their back problems do not originate from a sickness or disease, but rather a problem with the muscles, ligaments, intervertebral disks, and bones that are the essential parts of the spinal structure.
 
A question that always arises is whether or not back pain is a new problem for man. Did the farmers, laborers, artisans, soldiers, and professional people of the past experience the same magnitude of back problems as modern man does? Or is something new happening, which is perhaps linked to the greater emotional and physical stress associated with disruptions in people’s habits in this changing world? These questions are difficult to answer because we do not have available data to make scientific comparisons.
 
We do know that back pain is not new. Indeed, doctors, faith healers, surgeons, chiropractors, and osteopaths have applied various skills to relieve the pain of these sufferers for centuries. In all cases, however, treatment followed pain. Until fairly recently in this century, there was little concentration on how to prevent back pain; most efforts were directed toward relieving it once it occurs. The sad truth is that although most treatment is successful in relieving the pain, back attacks are usually recurrent.
 
Part of the problem is that different factors can cause back pain. We know that back problems seem to run in some families, so perhaps hereditary aspects play a role. For years, the fact that man has stood erect, rather than on all four limbs, has been considered a major cause of stress for the lower back. However, even four-legged animals like the dachshund develop slipped disks in their spines.
 
Research to determine the effects of lifting and bending on the spine is done at dozens of medical centers throughout the world. The Volvo car makers, with the guidance of orthopedic surgeons, have tested the effect that car seats have upon the back. Back schools have proliferated like mushrooms across the country. Sports medicine centers and local Y’s advertise exercise programs for back sufferers and for those who wish to avoid these perplexing and sometimes agonizing problems. We are immersed in a sea of information, much of it incomplete, some of it contradictory, and most of it confusing.
 
After almost thirty years of treating and studying patients with back problems and having to deal with my own back problems, I feel that I can help people, not only to get over their back pain, but to avoid it in the first place. In this book, I shall show you how to do both. But before you can embark on a program for a healthy back, you must be aware of what constitutes a healthy back.
 
This book is addressed to you, the reader, as if you are a patient with a back problem coming to my office for the first time. During the course of this office visit, I will describe how I conduct an examination and why I perform certain tests. Next I will tell you about the structure of the back and how it functions, using minimal but necessary medical terminology. This will be followed by an alarming section on what can go wrong with your back. But don’t worry, ensuing sections describe how back problems are identified and treated, and offer short- and long-term solutions for alleviating and avoiding back pain. Next in order are a number of helpful hints on the kinds of physical activities in which back-conscious people can engage, including sex, sports, and exercises. Last but not least, I will describe and illustrate the exercise program I have developed to strengthen and protect your back.
 
Does that seem like a tall order? It is, but don’t be discouraged. Contrary to what you may be thinking, I will not be tedious or overly technical, as you will discover as you read along. However, there is one essential point that I must make now (and I shall repeat it many times in this book): The only one who can ultimately make your back better is you.
 
It is not as hard to do as it may sound. Experience has shown that 90 percent of the people with back pain get better with time, even without any treatment. The crucial issue is to prevent it from occurring again and again, which is the distressing aspect of a low-back problem. I hope I have stimulated your interest. Now, read on and find out what you need to know about back pain and how to have“a healthy back. You can achieve that goal. Good luck and good reading.
LEON ROOT, M.D.
January 1, 1990