Ultimate Neck Pain, Back Pain & Sciatica Relief Strategies

Look Ma, No Back Pain…and an Apology!

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my absence over the last couple of weeks or so! I have been out and about, rebuilding and living my life for the first time in decades!

The title pretty much says it all, I have had an amazing holiday season and a wonderful neck pain, back pain, and sciatica free New Year…the first in decades!

Ultimate Bad Back Strategies and The Bad Back Guy were created over a year ago in order to tell my story, to share my knowledge, and to inspire others to take the first step towards a neck pain, back pain, and sciatica free life, as I have. It was my hope that in helping all of you, I would also put myself on the spot…and it worked!

The journey I started over a year ago, a journey towards a life free of neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica has been incredible!

The benefits I have received have been nothing short of miraculous!

My life from 1997 through most of 2008 was consumed by chronic and acute neck pain, back pain, and sciatica. My life long battle with neck, back, and sciatic nerve pain started in 1971!

In fact, by the year 1999 I spent all day, every day in a recliner we bought because it met my needs as someone who would live the rest of his life in it, 24/7. It was even electric because my legs were too weak to push down the leg/foot rest. I was about as close to an invalid as you can get, my wife afraid to leave me to go to work because I often passed out on the way to the bathroom, a combination of pain and blood pressure issues. I was also a type II insulin dependent diabetic, taking insulin 4 times a day and checking my blood sugar at least 5 times a day.

I had two diseases attacking my body simultaneously and both, separately and in concert, were quite possibly going to end my life!

In other words, I was a wreck!

I had thrown in the towel and felt doomed to a result heading towards me like a Mack Truck!

On top of it all, I was on massive amounts of prescription pain medication, enough to kill a large horse I was told repeatedly, medication that had eliminated my ability to concentrate, to read (one of my true loves), to learn, and to enjoy even the simplest pleasures of life (and we all know what that means!).

I was a Zombie!

Then “It” happened! I really can’t tell you what “It” is or was, other than to tell you one day everything changed!

I guess I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.

It was about that time I talked to a friend of mine who had discovered a product online that had put him on the road to a back pain free life. Granted, his problems weren’t as complex as mine, and he wasn’t fighting the diseases I was, but I thought to myself:

“If he can do it, maybe I can too!”

So, I borrowed it and quietly started applying the principles, along with the things I already knew about physical training and age-progressive phenomena that affect the spine and sacroiliac joint.

At first I didn’t even tell my wife what I was doing in case it didn’t work, I just didn’t want to disappoint her again!

Well, to make a long story short, I started seeing results and I started to experience something I hadn’t experienced in a long time…hope!

The hope and the results provided the impetus to keep going and to slowly but surely reclaim my life!

It has been a little over a year now and in that time I have gone from 265 pounds, and quite literally waiting to die, to 205 pounds and walking between 5 and 8 miles a day.

I have also started several online businesses, for a variety of reasons but mainly because as I started getting better I couldn’t find a job. With the huge gap in my “overqualified” resume, no one wanted to touch me!

Here I was a college professor, the winner of one of the most prestigious doctoral fellowships in the country, and I couldn’t get a job…I mean nothing, nohow, nowhere! Not even delivering pizza! It was the most humiliating part about getting better…I couldn’t find work!

So, I applied my education, started a tutoring business, online at first, at least until I could get my strength back, and then in the home…it was a way back, a way to apply my education and work with kids (another of my loves), and it worked!

When I look back to August and September of 2009, and those first tentative steps, I can’t believe I am the same person; it just doesn’t seem possible.

And yet here I am, quite literally a new man!

It is kind of ironic because now, as I tell my story and create videos and articles to inspire others, I am often attacked as a spammer and even as a scam artist!

Incredible!

If they only knew, if they could have seen me just a short while ago, I wonder if they would still be so quick to cast aspersions!

Well, I know one thing…there is nothing anyone can say or do that can be any worse than what I have already had to live through…and have overcome.

That being said, and I have said this before, if I can inspire just one person to triumph over their pain as I have, and reclaim their life, then I will have paid the kindness of so many wonderful people who helped me, and my family, get through the most trying time of our lives!

I will introduce more of my story over the coming months but for now I can tell you this, had it not been for my friend and that program, a program I recommend to this day, I would either be gone or still seated in that recliner…no future in sight but the ultimate future we all must face.

The difference?

I was ready, willing, and yearning for it…but no more! I simply took a chance on life. After all, what did I have to lose? Just the pain!

I have my life back and you can too! Because, if I came back from where I was at, anyone can!

Neck pain, back pain, and sciatica are in the past and I will help anyone who asks how to reclaim their life and live pain free! Once again, if I can, you can!

More to follow!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526 (home)
216-539-7412 (bus)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

PS, If you want to take the first step and reclaim your life you can go about it one of two ways: 1) You can go to the http://TheBadBackGuy.net and begin there, it is only a beginning; and/or 2) You can contact me and I will work with you personally. In either case, I will be happy to talk to you, to recommend strategies, and to provide encouragement.

PPS, I am not a medical doctor, I am a physical anthropologist with a specialization in age-progressive phenomena affecting the spine and sacroiliac….what goes on with the neck, back, and hips as we age. I am a bone guy! The show Bones is a glamorized depiction of what I did. But, I guess it’s about as close as you can get outside of TLC or Discovery. So, my advice is anecdotal and is not to be construed as medical advice. There, now the government is happy!

Osteoarthritis, Aging, and the Back Pain Complex

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most frequently diagnosed musculoskeletal condition in people over 50 years of age.

OA is the arthritis of your parents and grandparents and arthritis-related spine pain is responsible for debilitating levels of neck pain, back pain, and sciatica in millions of people worldwide.

Osteoarthritis or OA is generally characterized by focal degeneration of the joint cartilage and new bone formation at the base of the cartilage lesion, the subchondral bone, and at the joint margins, often referred to as bony spurs, bone spurs or osteophytes.

The Historical Record and OA

Interestingly, osteoarthritis occurs in all mammals. Osteoarthritis is the earliest documented human disease and the earliest human skeletons shown evidence of OA. In research I conducted at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH), the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), The Smithsonian, and the University of Kentucky, Lexington osteoarthritis was evident and, in fact, pervasive in modern and pre-Columbian skeletal samples. It is evident that OA has been around as long as we have, at the very least.

There are two types of OA, primary and secondary. In this article, we will be dealing with the probable etiology, the cause or causes for OA. We will also talk briefly about subcategories of OA, to include localized, generalized, and erosive osteoarthritis. Finally, we will discuss how OA affects spine-related pain or what I refer to as the back pain complex (i.e., neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain or sciatica).

Once again, osteoarthritis, as it affects the spine, is responsible for spine-related pain, meaning neck pain, back pain, and sciatica.

Localized osteoarthritis presents with Heberden nodes, but without other joint involvement, and is the most common form of OA. Studies of families demonstrate genetic factors being of importance in the development of Heberden nodes. This presentation of OA has to do with the distal interphalangeal joints, is localized primarily in the distal (away from the wrist) finger and toe joints, and affects women more than men. The interesting thing about Heberden nodes, sometimes mistakenly called Herberden, after William Heberden (1710-1801) is that they are a calcifc node, an osteophyte…osteophytes develop as a result of wear and tear at the joint and can be found wherever advanced osteoarthritis is found.

Generalized osteoarthritis was named by R. Moore in 1952 is defined by involvement of three or more joints or joint groups, for example the distal interphalangeal joints (DIP) are grouped and counted as one group. The DIP, proximal interphalangeal joints (PIP), first carpometacarpal (CMC), spine, knee, and hip joints are commonly involved. Other features of generalized osteoarthritis include predilection for postmenopausal women and episodic joint inflammation. See: (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2022370/?page=6).

Generalized osteoarthritis is also labeled as primary, generalized OA and, once again, is recognized by the involvement of several joints or joint groups, as noted above.

In most instances, generalized OA presents in the knees, spine, hips, OA also affects the fingers and the big toe. Interestingly, the shoulders, elbows and wrists are generally not involved in the generalized form of OA.

Secondary osteoarthritis is generally thought to have an underlying cause or that the patient has a predisposition to secondary OA. The underlying conditions of secondary osteoarthritis associated with etiology include a myriad of other arthritis-related contributory conditions, such as excess weight and/or obesity, injury, overuse of the affected joint, and much more.

Secondary OA, for the purposes of understanding neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, seems a more significant, contributory factor.

Once again, osteoarthritis, what your grandparents and parents used to call arthritis, is the most common type of degenerative joint disease.

OA is essentially a consequence of wear and tear or trauma and shouldn’t be confused with rheumatoid arthritis or RA, the second most common form of more than 100 forms of arthritis. In one series, 15% of erosive osteoarthritis patients subsequently fulfilled criteria for a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis or RA. I have dealt with RA extensively at here at Ultimate Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Strategies.

Osteoarthritis has many causes, to include recurrence minor joint damage, repetitive motion injuries, and specific joint-related trauma.

Osteoarthritis presents when the cartilage wears down between the bones, at the joints, and the bone begins to undergo changes as a result of trauma. Without adequate cartilage bones rub together at the joint causing pain and stiffness.

OA affects more than 27 million adults in the United States alone, and affects more women than men. Additionally, osteoarthritis results in neck pain, back pain, hip pain, and knee pain, in millions of people around the globe every year.

Interestingly, while the majority of OA sufferers are 50 years of age or older, there are also millions of affected individuals in their 30s and 40s.

In spite of what you may have heard, osteoarthritis is not inevitable. Being proactive, and integrating an activity and exercise program into your daily regimen will help offset the effects and the neck pain, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, and other related joint pain associated with osteoarthritis.

Overall osteoarthritis has multiple causes, affects individuals 50 years of age and older more frequently, and depending on the type of osteoarthritis, may affect men or women more frequently.

The five factors play a big part in etiology, particularly excess weight and/or obesity, muscle weakness, and dehydration. However, diet and nutrition is also thought to play a big part on contributing to and exacerbating OA, and consequently neck pain, back pain, and sciatica.

We will explore the five factors and OA in subsequent articles and videos.

Contact me anytime!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

PS, For a program guaranteed to help you deal effectively with osteoarthritis related neck pain, back pain, hip pain, and knee pain, got to http://TheBadBackGuy.net and discover real and lasting pain relief! Guaranteed!

The 5 Factors, The 5 Effects, and The Second Effect: The Financial Effects and the Impact of Chronic Back Pain

The impact and effects of chronic levels of neck pain, back pain, and sciatica are myriad; and, the increase in pain is exponential as a result of one of the 5 factors feeding into another, and thus leading to certain effects we refer to as the 5 effects.

The 5 effects, impacting and affecting the chronic back pain sufferer, feed into one another and to the next…the pain level increases exponentially once again. In other words, with chronic neck, back, and sciatic nerve pain there is a compounding effect and before long there is no way out…or at least that’s what many would have you believe!

While seemingly without hope of a resolution to and relief from the pain, there is a solution!

The video below explains this far better than I can in print. I actually get a bit excited and start something of a rant (sorry!)…but it’s about time! And, it is necessary!

I also discuss a recently cited research study on exercise and back pain. I found the article in one of the more prestigious medical journals and it was also cited on Johns Hopkins website, so I trust it will be helpful for everyone.

Also, take the time to visit either my YouTube Channel or my other chronic neck pain, back pain, and sciatica blog, there is a ton of useful information on how to live a neck pain, back pain, and sciatica free life.

In other words, how to get your life back…a pain free life!

I believe it is crucial for you to understand what is happening to you and to your spine…and not just tell you anything in order to sell you something! It is imperative that you take an active role in your recovery so you can live a happy and healthy lifestyle.

It is possible to overcome chronic neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain (sciatica). It is possible to overcome failed back surgery syndrome, and it is also possible to win the battle against long term debilitating pain and disability.

The Second Effect: Financial

The 2nd of the five effects is financial and the impact on one’s life can be profound!

The impact of the second effect, financial, often means everything from hefty medical co-pays and credit issues to bankruptcy and foreclosure, everything from loss of time at work to loss of employment and long term disability. The impact of the financial effects, and they are all inter-related, are physical, mental, and spiritual.

Financial stress feeds into psychological stress and both exacerbate your chronic neck pain, back pain, and sciatica. The chronic pain level increases, then feeds back into the 5 effects and it starts all over again, a classic feedback loop. In short order, the entire organism, the entire system, our body is affected. The chronic pain sufferer then exhibits all of the consequences of the 5 effects of neck pain, back pain, sciatica.

The 5 factors and the 5 effects work against our recovery, so we must understand them and deal with them accordingly…one step at a time!

Contact me anytime. Watch the entire video, as it will give you a better sense of just how passionate I am about this topic and why you should be too! I know it went a bit long but there is a reason and I assure you it will be worth it!

Again, contact me anytime!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526 (home)
216-539-7412 (office)
Skype: johnzajaros1
JohnZ@UltimateBadBackStrategies.com

PS, If you want to get started today on a program that will result in real and lasting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief, simply click the link here and you will be on your way to a neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain free life!

How to Pick a Strength and Fitness Coach with Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Experience: Empathy is Crucial!

I think I have said it all about neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain (sciatica), as well as how to choose a qualified strength and fitness trainer, in the video below!

Choosing the right strength and fitness coach can make or break your neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief exercise program; and, empathy has got to be one of his or her best qualities.

Make sure you check out the video below, it will explain quite a bit about my perspective and background as a strength and fitness coach…in addition to being a “bone guy,” also known as a physical anthropologist! I believe this is also crucial, as it is important for you have a sense of who I am and what experience I bring to the table before you take anything I say seriously.

Be careful online, as there is far too much bad information and far too many people simply out for a buck spreading really bad advice!

So, once again, beware of the fast buck charlatans and the misinformation they offer! Take the time to get to know about your condition and who you are taking advice from!

I wish you all the best and I hope this blog and these videos help!

Check out the video about how to choose a gym at Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica Relief Strategies of The Bad Back Guy.

Once again, choosing the right trainer can make or break any neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica relief exercise program whether you have chosen the proper gym or not! So choose wisely grasshopper!

The video is long but I believe it will be worth it for you! Please let me know by leaving a comment. Thanks!

Contact me anytime for assistance!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526 or 216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

PS, As you consider your options, take a look at the video at http://TheBadBackGuy.net as it will provide additional, quality information.

In previous articles, videos, and blog posts dealing with the ultimate neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief strategies, we have discusssed the five factors and their contribution to and exacerbation of neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain, also reffered to as sciatica. In more recent articles and videos we have introduced the concept of the five effects, discussing how they relate to and impact the five factors, each other, and neck pain, back pain, and sciatica.

In this article and video we will discuss, at length, the first of the five effects, the psychological effect, and its relationship to chronic pain.

The five factors are once again:

1) Excess weight and/or obesity

2) Muscle weakness

3) Muscle imbalance

4) Inadequate diet and nutrition

5) Dehydration or inadequate hydration

The five factors, examined individually or collectively affect and impact neck pain, back pain, and sciatica. In fact, unless you focus on and deal effectively with the five factors, it may be argued that regardless of the treatment modality, the prognosis cannot, and will not, be good.

It can be argued that the five effects work together, against us in much the same way the five factors do. Significantly, this ensures a poor outcome and little neck
pain, back pain, and sciatica relief, particularly if we do not deal with them effectively, both individually and collectively.

The five effects are:

1) Psychological effects

2) Financial effects

3) Physical effects

4) Functional effects

5) Systemic effects

It may be argued that a sixth effect should be added, the spiritual effect. However, spirituality, while an integral part of my life, and perhaps yours,is beyond the scope of this article and this series. That being said, the personal decision to integrate spirituality into one’s treatment plan cannot and should not be minimized. The benefits of such a focus have been demonstrated time and again, particularly in my own life!

We covered the five factors extensively in previous articles, as noted above; and, we have touched upon the five effects. In this article we will delve deeper into the psychological effect and how it is related to not only the other effects but to each of the 5 factors, as well.

The psychological effect is affected by each of the five factors, as well as by the remaining four effects.

Factor one, excess weight and/or obesity, affects the overall health of the individual and neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, particularly chronic and chronically acute pain, is the result. Significantly, chronic neck, back, and sciatic nerve pain related to excess weight and/or obesity often leads to a number of psychological effects; and these include:

1) Depression

2) Mood swings

3) Anxiety

4) Compulsive behavior

5) Irratic behavior

This list is by no means complete but it is remarkable.

Neck pain, back pain, and sciatica affects the psychological health and well being of an individual and, in many instances, leads to depression. Depression, and the other psychological effects, often lead to erratic eating and improper and irratic dietary habits lead to weight gain…the weight gain then contributes to more neck pain, back pain, and sciatica! So, not only does chronic pain lead to the effect, the effect exacerbates the pain. The feedback loop is significant and undeniable.

Accordingly, as our mood darkens, and as our weight increases, we tend to sink deeper into ourselves, thus becoming more inactive. The depressed mood, particularly when in concert with inactivity and improper and irractic dietary habits, contributes to muscle weakness. As our muscles weaken, as a result of the decreased activity due to the psychological consequences, the psychological effect, our neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica worsens. Once again, the system feeds upon itself, compounding the various factors and effects and thus leading to an exponential increase in the level of neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain (sciatica).

The third factor affecting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica is muscle imbalance. Muscle imbalance plays into this “bad back” or back pain complex in a number of ways. If certain muscle groups are out of balance, not only will there be immediate consequences in terms of neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, but the pain will then contribute to and exacerbate muscle weakness, and excess weight and/or obesity; and thus leading to a heightened depressive effect and an overall negative psychological effect and impact.

Inadequate diet and nutrition plays a significant role in neck pain, back pain, and sciatica. Interestingly, inadequate diet and nutrition is not only a crucial factor contributing to and exacerbating neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, it leads to a number of other health issues…in addition to the psychological effect or effects. With psychic pain comes physical pain and when we experience both our diet and overall nutrition suffers immeasurably. Once again, if we are suffering from the psychological effects of neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, we don’t watch what we eat and, when we do eat, we eat the wrong things; thus, leading to excess weight and/or obesity and heightened pain.

The ripple effect throughout the body is significant and difficult to reverse without a concerted effort on the part of a dedicated individual. The program must be focused and specific for the relief of the neck pain, back pain, and sciatica. Additionally, the pain relief program must deal with each of the five factors and each
of the five effects to be successful.

Finally, dehydration or inadequate hydration plays a contributory role in that water is an integral ingredient not only for overall health but for spine health, as well. Water makes up 80-85% of the intevertebral disc. When an individual is suffering from inadeqaute hydration, or full-blow dehydration, the the individual IVDs break down and neck pain, back pain, sciatic nerve pain result. Significantly, degenerative disc disease is often a direct consequence of dehydration.

The effects and impact of neck, back, and sciatic nerve pain are of course myriad. However, the psychological effects are significant and the feed back loop often results in a breakdown of the entire system. Consequently, this results in increasingly intense and chronic neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain (sciatica),
along with the other effects listed above.

In conclusion, we have only touched the surface of this incredibly complex topic. As the video companion to this article will cover in greater detail, the overall impact and the ripple effect throughout the body, resulting in ever increasing levels of neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain (sciatica), is profound. We will discuss the other four effects as we continue to progress towards the New Year, a New Year full of possibilities. A neck pain, back pain, and sciatic nerve pain free New Year!

If you have any questions contact me at any time.

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros., Sr., The Bad Back Guy
216-712-6526
216-539-7412 (office)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimatebadbackstrategies.com

PS, If you are ready for the most complete program on the Internet today, go to http://TheBadBackGuy.net for more information on a pain free life!