SACROILITIS....a very common lower back problem

Today, i would like to discuss about a very common problem that is being suffered by many people (both men & women). Unfortunately, this health issue is being misdiagnosed & is being given several names other than actually what it is..!

Many patients of mine complain of a pain in the lower back & when i ask them to show the region where the pain is..they show an area in their lower back which is just adjacent to the spine & is exactly at the starting of the buttock region. They complain of a radiating pain too...by spending 5 minutes with a patient (by physical examination & special tests - not the usual lab tests or any kind of radiology, but they are just manual tests), a doctor can definitely diagnose it properly.

This conditions which i am going to discuss now is called SACROILITIS..

SACROILITIS
There are 2 sacro-iliac joints present for everyone of us. If you can palpate your pelvis..exactly where we wear the belt...just 2" beside the spine...is present the sacroiliac joint (on either side). Whenever a person lifts some heavy weight semi-consciously or if a person sits for a long time with his wallet in his back pocket or drives a car for long distances with his wallet in his back pocket or does any abnormal activities like jumping from heights or so...there is every chance of getting this condition. This condition is very commonly seen in pregnants, especially in those who have weak back & weak abdominal muscles.

The pain is mainly local...at the injured site & usually radiates to the legs (behind the thighs, into the calves & sometimes into the feet too). Hence, it is misdiagnosed as Sciatica.
But if the doctor does some manual tests, he will notice that it is Sacroilitis. In this condition, the problem arises in the joint & not in the spine & there is no need to panic imagining about some kind of nerve compression or so.

But yes, the pain would be severe, will not allow the person to either stand or sit or lie down. In severe conditions, the patient can't even change his posture while he is in lying position.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE JOINT....
As it's been already explained...Sacroilitis may occur because the person has lifted heavy weight or has been sitting for a long time with his wallet in his back pocket or because of some abnormal movement, the sacroiliac joint which is less mobile (10-15 Hz), now moves abruptly & misses its alignment causing an internal swelling in the joint, which in turn leads to the radiating pain & spasm of all the related muscles of the lower back & pelvis.

Many patients ask me as how much weight can they lift?
There is no answer for this question because it depends upon their strength which, obviously, varies from person to person. A 10 kg. weight may be heavy for a lady to lift but might be easier for a worker.

The principle is :
Increase your strength & be active otherwise you will have to be compromised in your independence.

WHAT TO DO...FOR PAIN:
Rush to a Physiotherapist.
He will mobilize the sacro-iliac joint & re-align the joint properly.
He may want to stretch your gluteus maximus, hamstrings or piriformis muscles.
He may treat you with Laser therapy (works wonderfully) or Ultra-sound therapy or both in a combination.. let him decide.
Later, he will teach you a few back strengthening exercises which have to practiced by you.

VERY IMP.:
1. Choosing a physiotherapist for this condition is very important. Not every physiotherapist can mobilize & re-align the joint. He should have done his specialization in Maitland's or Mulligan's concept along with his Bachelors or Masters degree in physiotherapy.

2. For pregnants, never ever the mobilization should be done in prone lying position. It has to be done in supine lying.

3. There is no medication to re-align the joint....it has to be done manually!

REMEMBER:
Not all the radiating pains into the legs are SCIATICA !

Foot Pain

Who are the ones who generally become a prey to the foot pain?
1. Obese / overweight
2. Rigid / uncomfortable / improper footwear
3. Standing / walking for a very long time
4. Lack of calcium in the body
5. Lack of Vitamin D
6. Flat foot (Pes planus)
7. Too much arch of the foot (Pes cavus)
8. Diabetics

There are 2 common conditions that may occur in the foot.
1. Calcaneal spur
2. Plantar fascitis

Many health professionals, generally, get confused about these two. But today, let us find out very important differences between these two conditions.

1. Calcaneal spur:
This is a condition where the pain is felt on the medial side (innerside) of the heel. It means that the person is putting more weight on the heel rather than on the foot or the fat pad that should be present under the heel (it's present between the heel bone & the skin) is thin enough (which has to be a little thicker, & that avoids this condition to occur).

The main symptom of this condition is, the person gets the pain early in the morning, rather than after work. As soon as the person gets up he may be unable to put the foot on the floor. This is because as he has been using his foot all through the previous day (strained his heel), when he goes to bed, the muscles & the heel pad swells up & when he gets up in the morning, because of the swelling present (which may not be visible from outside), it may be too painful to touch the floor with his/her swollen heel.

2. Plantar fascitis:
Plantar fascia is a sheath made of 5 muscles present at the bottom of the foot. This fascia originates from the heel bone (calcaneum) & gets inserted into the toe bones. Now, any pain which includes the anterior portion of the bottom of the foot & also the posterior portion of the bottom of the foot is to be considered as the Plantar fascitis.

These people too may suffer from the foot pain early in the mornings & the same principle which i have endorsed above applies to them too.

Now, let us discuss something about the prevention & the treatment.
1. Use soft insoles (if u wear shoes, put a silicon made insole into the shoe), or if you use chappal, then use the chappal which is made of Micro-cellular rubber (MCR)
2. The footwear should be flexible enough (when you try to bend the anterior portion of the footwear, it should be bent easily)
3. The front end of the shoe should be broad
4. Decrease your body weight (if it applies to you)
5. Increase the intake of Calcium in food
6. Get exposed to the sunlight early in the mornings (for 20-40 minutes)
7. Use the arch support if there is a lack of arch in the foot (flat foot)
8. Soft insoles are a MUST for the feet which have too much arch
9. Maintain the diabetes levels
10. Regular exercise is a MUST
11. If the pain has already started, then put some cylindrical structure or hot water bottle underneath the foot & keep on rolling the foot on that cylindrical structure or the hot water bottle. Do it twice a day (early morning & at night before going to bed). Pain relief is assured.
12. Please DO NOT take any injections into foot. These injections contain Hydrocortisones, which stops the pain for 3-6 months depending upon the dosage injected. This may ruin the condition further.
13. In the initial stages, Ultra-sound therapy treats the condition. But if it's in severe stage, Laser therapy (LLLT) works out well.

I hope this article & the above discussion is of some use to you. ALL THE BEST !

Our Mind Vs. Our Behaviour

What is that on which our behaviour depends on?  How does it get influenced by our mind?

Before talking about mind, we should know the difference between Brain & Mind. Is there any difference?

The answer is YES. Brain is physical which has some physical properties like weight, circumference, length, width etc...

But mind is purely psychological or mental. It does not have any physical properties. We cannot touch it. Hence, to understand mind, psychologists have divided our mind into 3 levels. They are:
Sub-conscious, Conscious & Super conscious.

Sub-conscious is also known as Id, conscious as Ego & super conscious as Super Ego.
 
Ego as we know from our movies or serials or from the society is been defined in a wrong way. We are misled. Ego is nothing but....our likes & our dislikes.

Eg.: If i like ice-cream, then that's my ego. If i don't like lizards, that's also my ego.

There is a lot to say about sub-conscious mind. Sub-conscious mind registers every sense that's sensed by our sensory organs.

We have 5 senses: vision, auditory (hearing), taste, smell & touch. All these 5 senses send their input to the brain every now & then. Now, all these senses whatever they send, get stored in sub-conscious mind.

In a common language i would like to say that all these inputs are divided into two groups: Positive & Negative.

Eg: If i taste something which i like it, it get stored as Positive, & if i get pain somewhere in my body, then it gets registered as Negative. Hence, the final outcome depends on the number of negatives & the number of positives stored in our sub-conscious mind.

One more thing about the sub-conscious mind is once any input gets stored in it, it cannot be eliminated till death (exceptions are a few diseases/disorders like Parkinsonism).

Super-ego follows the rules & regulations of the society. It makes us follow the religious, social or customs' path.

Now, our behaviour can be defined as "the final outcome of the above said three (sub-conscious, conscious & super conscious) integrated altogether".

Apart from the above, it also depends upon the person's sensitivity towards the situation.

For eg: Let us say, 5 people are in an elevator & the elevator has stopped at 10th floor because of the power cut or whatever. Now what could be their reaction?

Obviously, all the 5 people will have 5 responses:
The first one may say, why should something like this happen to me everytime?
The second one may say, it's my bad luck. I know it.
The third one may get frightened.
The fourth one may know what to do when the elevator stops abruptly, but he may not respond to the situation.
The fifth one may call the emergency services.

So, even though the situation is same for all the 5 people, their responses (behaviours) are completely different from each other.

Hence, if a person is behaving odd, we should try to understand the cause behind it & if a person knows that he is behaving odd, then it's his duty to find out the cause.

In every step of life, whenever we get confused with our behaviour or with our life itself, we should approach a Psychologist / Psychotherapist / Counsellor.

We have a bad stigma running in our society that whoever approaches a Psychologist / a Psychotherapist / a Psychiatrist, he is MENTAL.

But that's not true. Many times we may get confused & may not be able to understand others / ourselves properly. This happens because of our busy schedules, mechanical life, targets to reach, lack of time, improper diet pattern, lack of exercise, politics in our daily life style, competition & what not?!

Let us discuss game of mind in the next part (Our Mind Vs. Our Behaviour - II).

Friends, please feel free to put down your opinions in my blog. This would help me & encourage me to share many more issues with you people.

Thank You.....

Pain (physical) - Part I

Pain !  What is pain ?

Pain is an abnormal, unwelcome & unusual sensation. Pain can be physical or psychological. Today, i would like to discuss only about the physical pain.

Many of us are afraid of pain & would like to escape from pain. Many of us hate pain & think that we are unlucky, which is not true. But pain is a God's Gift to us. The presence of pain tells us that our body is working properly, but there is some disturbance in its function.

Pain indicates some or the other injury inside our body. The intensity of pain depends upon the severity of the injury. If there were no pain, then we may not have known about the injury, especially if it's an internal injury.
So, pain is Good, pain is Must if there is any injury. Whenever there is an injury, in the initial stages of the injury itself, we can identify it because of pain. If the pain were absent, we would not have a chance to identify the injury & the injury would have caused a remarkable damage by the time we identify it & treat it.

Now, i would like to explain you about Pain Gate Theory proposed by Melzack & Wall in 1962. (Do not worry. I will try to simplify it as much as possible. Believe me, it's interesting). This theory tells us about the travel of pain in our body. First of all, you have to know a few facts !
(i). Our eyes cannot see
(ii). Our ears cannot hear
(iii). Our tongue cannot taste
(iv). Our nose cannot smell
(v). Our skin cannot feel touch or pain

You might be surprised, but it's true & all these functions are done by our brain through the above said organs i.e.,
(i). The brain sees through our eyes,
(ii). The brain hears / listens through our ears,
(iii). The brain tastes through our tongue,
(iv). The brain smells through our nose &
(v). The brain feels touch or pain through our skin.

Now, with the above said, we can come to a conclusion that all the above mentioned organs are only like doorways or windows to the outside world for our brain, but not the real ones to sense something.

So, when pain has to travel from the injury site to the brain, obviously it will have some way to pass through.
Pain from the injury site, at first, goes to the spinal cord & then leaves for brain. Let us say, there are two types of fibers in our neural system (which carry the sensations like touch & pain). The first one is thin fiber & the second one is large fiber.
The thin fiber carries pain & the large fiber carries touch. Now, as the fibers that carry touch are large enough, their speed of carrying touch is also high & as the fibers that carry pain are thin, their speed to carry pain is relatively slow. Hence, the sensation of touch is carried faster than the sensation of pain. When touch sensation travels at high speed, it first occupies those neural paths of the spinal cord which carry these sensations to brain & doesn't permit pain to occupy its position. Hence, this is the reason why when somebody gets hurt & feels pain, if he rubs his finger around the injury, he feels soothened & it gives him relief.

We generally take pain killers (medicines) to reduce pain. But let me tell you that the term "Pain Killer" is a misnomer. Pain killers never kill the pain. But they obstruct the pain at the spinal cord level & don't allow the pain to reach the brain & we think that the pain is reduced & we try to work normally. But remember that the pain has not been reduced, but instead its just temporarily been blocked in the spinal cord. That's why a pain killer (analgesic) acts for only 6-8 hours & again the person starts feeling pain. Remember that until you solve the problem or the issue because of which the pain was produced, the pain would exist. So, act accordingly. Never try to stop or obstruct the pain, instead try to find out the cause & treat the cause.

Rarely, pain is produced without any cause. Sometimes, it may present itself in an amputated part & this type of pain is known as 'Phantom Pain' (false pain). In a few chronic cases, the pain may be felt eventhough the problem is been solved.

Pl. try to understand pain. Its abnormal but indirectly is protecting us.

Let us know more about physical pain in "Pain (physical) - Part II".

Common Injuries to the software professionals - Introduction

As the title says "Common injuries to the software professionals", there are many injuries to which the sofware professionals are prone to. A few injuries are physical & a few are psychological.

It is not possible to describe or discuss about all the physical & psychological injuries in one page. Hence, i would like to go part by part & would like to discuss about all the injuries & the prevention or the treatment of these injuries.

Generally, the software people are exposed to Repetitive Stress Injuries & Psychological Stress. As these people, as they go into the program, doesn't know when they can get out of it. May be for many minutes or hours they go on staring at the screen & doesn't bother about their posture or the eyes.

I am sure, many of them would not have seen sunrise or the sunset for long time. But both the sunrise & the sunset are the two most beautiful sights of nature. They are exposed to A.C continuously for long hours, which is acutally not at all good for health. But is there any way to avoid A.C ?  I am sure, there isn't because otherwise your computers may hang up. But there is a way to face this A.C - KEEP YOURSELF FIT !!
This is the only way to decrease the effect of A.C on your body.
A.C has an ill impact on your Bones, Eyes, Brain, Body Temperature (regulation of temperature is affected), Nose (sinus is affected) & so on.
Hence, when you cannot change something in your professional environment, i advice you to put your body in such a healthy condition that it can face that unmodified, ill - effect causing stupid machiene.

From tomorrow onwards, i would like to discuss about each & every health issue that can have an impact on a software professional's life.

These topics include:

1. Neck pain
2. Back pain
3. Shoulder pain
4. Sacro-ilitis
5. Dryness of the eyes (xerosis of the eye) 
6. Tennis elbow (elbow pain)
7. Golfer's elbow (elbow pain)
8. Carpal tunnel syndrome (at wrist)
9. Fibromyalgia (total body aches)
10. Osteoarthritis
11. Rheumatoid arthritis
12. Heel pain (Calcaneal spur, Plantar fascitis, Metatarsalgia etc.)
13. Obesity
14. Eating disorders (Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa, Compulsive overeating, Binge eating disorder)
15. Sleeplessness (Insomnia)
16. Psychological disorders (Obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, phobias, disorders etc.)

Please be in touch with my blog because everyday i would bring a new discussion & i would like to reveal many tips which can keep you hale & healthy.
If any doubts in any kind of health issue & at any time, please mail me on saileshdr@gmail.com or put your comments on my blog.

Vegetable soup recipes

Hello everyone,
         Now, i would like to disclose a few vegetarian salads. Believe me, these salads taste like heaven, especially to those who like salads (like me) & their preparation is also very easy. Try them some time. U can have one or more than one salads every day if you want to reduce your body weight !

1) Mixed vegetables salad:


Ingredients:

• Cabbage, chopped coarsely, 2 cups

• Tomato, 1 cup finely sliced

• Onion, 1 Tbsp, rings

• Carrot, 1 cup, chopped into matchsticks

• Cucumber, 1 cup, chopped into matchsticks

• Green or red capsicum (pepper), 1/2 cup, chopped into matchsticks

• Button Mushroom, 1 cup finely sliced (optional)

• Celery stem & leaves, 1/2 cup finely chopped

• Lime/lemon juice 2 tsp

• Mint or coriander leaves, 1 Tbsp, minced

• Olive oil 1 Tbsp

• Vinegar, 2 tsp

• Salt to taste

• Pepper, 1/2 tsp



Preparation:

Combine cabbage, onion, cucumber, mushrooms, carrot, celery and capsicum in a salad bowl.

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vineger, salt and pepper.

Pour over salad in the bowl and toss.

Garnish with tomato slices and mint/coriander leaves.





2) Sprouted mung salad:


Ingredients:

• Sprouted Mung, 2 cup

• Onion finely chopped, 1 cup

• Cucumber, chopped, 1 cup

• Tomato, chopped, 1 cup

• Lettuce leaves chopped, 1 cup

• Peanuts, roasted 1 Tbsp {Optiuonal)

• Lime/lemon juice, 1 tsp

• Mint or coriander leaves, chopped 1 Tbsp

• Salt to taste



Preparation

Mix all the ingredients except for coriander in a salad bowl.

Garnish with coriander leaves.





3) Sprouted beans salad:


Ingredients:

• Sprouted beans, 1 cup

• Onion, 1/2 cup, finely chopped

• Tomato, finely chopped, 1/2 cup

• Coriander, 1 Tbsp, finely chopped

• Lime/lemon juice, 2 tsp

• Corriander (Cilantro) leaves, chopped 1 Tbsp

• Green chili or capsicum (gereen pepper), finely chopped, 2 tsp

• Salt to taste

• Pepper, 1/2 tsp



Preparation:

Toss all the ingredients in a salad bowl.





4) Lettuce salad:


Ingredients:

• Lettuce, chopped coarsely, 2 cups

• Onion, 1 Tbsp, rings

• Tomato, 1 cup, diced

• Cucumber, 1 cup, sliced

• Green or red capsicum (pepper), 1 Tbsp, chopped lengthwise (1 inch)

• Lime/lemon juice 2 tsp

• Mint or coriander leaves, 1 Tbsp, minced

• Olive oil 1 Tbsp

• Vinegar, 2 tsp

• Salt to taste

• Black pepper powder, 1/2 tsp

• Garlic powder, 1 tsp (Optional)



Preparation:

Combine lettuce, onion, cucumber and capsicum in a salad bowl.

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar salt, pepper, garlic powder and coriander. Pour over salad in the bowl and toss.



5) Cucumber mixed vegetable salad:


Ingredients:

• Cucumber, 1 chopped

• Onion, 1 finely chopped

• Tomato, 1 finely chopped

• Radish, 1 finely chopped

• Carrot, 1 small, finely chopped

• Mint or coriander leaves, 1 Tbsp finely chopped

• Green chili, 1 finely chopped

• Fresh lime or lemon juice, 1 tsp

• Oilve oil, 1 Tbsp (optional)

• Salt can be added for taste



Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl and toss

Hi Frendz,
        In support to my previous discussion on "Our Diet Vs Obesity", i am disclosing a few vegetarian recipes for vegetarians (especially) & ofcourse, non-vegetarians will also be glad to enjoy them. These recipes help you in reducing your weight & maintaining your health tone.
These recipes directly do not work on reducing the body weight, but they also do not increase your body weight. In addition, they give a feeling of satiety, because of which you may resist in eating further...so, indirectly they help in loosing your body weight. Try them, they are cooool..............& tasty too!



1) Cabbage soup:


Ingredients:

• 1 Head cabbage, shredded or chopped

• Few tomatoes, chopped

• 4 Stalks celery

• 6 Carrots, sliced

• 2 Big onions, chopped

• 1/2 Pound green beans, sliced on diagonal

• 2 Green peppers

• Any fresh herb of choice, chopped

• Black pepper (for taste)

• 1 to 2 Packages lipton onion soup mix, or any dry onion soup mix.


Preparation:

Place all the vegetables in a big pot and cover it with water, bring it to a boil.

Stir in the soup mix and boil gently for about 10 minutes.

Cover it and decrease the heat and simmer till all the vegetables are soft.

Add the black pepper (very minimal or avoid it if possible) and chopped herbs to it.





2) Mutter-Palak soup:

Ingredients:

• Spinach (Palak), shredded, 1/2 cup

• Peas, 1/2 cup

• Mint (Puidina), 1/4 cup

• Coriander leaves, 1/4 cup, finely chopped

• Onions,1, finely chopped

• Black Pepper, 1/4 tsp

• Cumin (Jeera) seeds, 1/4 tsp

• Salt to taste (use less salt)

Preparation:

Wash all the leafy vegetables and a chop.

In a pressure cooker add the peas (reserving little for garnish), the leafy vegetables and onion. Pressure cook up to 1 wistle, do not over cook.

Remove puree and add water to get proper consistency.

Heat butter in another pan, saut矴he remaining peas, add salt, cumin and pepper, and add the prepared pure. Turn off the gas when it starts to boil,

Serve hot, topped with coriander leaves.







3) Barley-lentil soup:


Ingredients:

• 1 cup of dried lentils, rinsed and soaked

• 1/4 cup of barley

• 1 onion chopped

• 3 large cloves of garlic, chopped

• 1 stalk of celery

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 1 zucchini chopped

• 1 small can diced tomatoes, undrained

• 6 cups of vegetable broth

• Black pepper (can be added for taste – optional)



Preparation

In a large pot combine all ingredients, cover, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for one hour or until lentils are tender. Add water for desired consistency.


In the next discussion, i would give you the recipe of different salads.......yummy isn't it!

I request you to prepare them practically & put your comments on my blog, so that i would know whether my discussions are really being helpful to you (in maintaining your health).

I wish u all  Buon Appetito (in Italian).....!