Mrs. Oghene, 42 years old banker, developed acute pain in the neck in 1995. It was not serious. Then he could take analgesics and the pain would just disappear.
In 2006, the pain assumed a different form. She began having episodes of the pain. This continued till 2009. The pain now began to ascend the back of the head (scalp) and the sides. She described the pain as a helter/skater pain, as though ants are moving to and fro on the scrap of her head. The pain began to affect his eyes, memory and sleep. She went to hospital and her doctor diagnosed stress.
Mr. Daniel (39 years), a pneumatic drill operator in a civil engineering company, complain of great discomfort in his upper back while at work. After working for years, he began to experience pain at the upper back, between the two scapulars. Many times he would ask for excuse duty to go to hospital after trying over-the-counter drugs for his pain. The pain gradually got worse. It began to spread across the ribs to the chest. He began to feel it on the left side the chest. He thought his heart is affected. This made him sober. May be my heart going? The though of it became another problem. He went to his doctor. On examination, his heart was certified okay. Meanwhile, this has caused him to resign his job to take care of ‘heart’ and the pain has continued to get worse. The doctor told him that the mid back has caused him stress.
Mr. Ogbonna (32 years) who is a personal secretary in one of blue chip Company in Lagos suddenly developed waist pain as she bent over to pick some file from a lower shelf; she had a twinge in the waist. She has had waist pain (lumbago). This happened in 2006. Since then till now she has been having episodes of it despite her numerous appointments with her in-house doctor. The pain became excruciating and began to spread to the right leg. If it were not for her Christian disposition, she would have associated the condition to voodoo being directed at her in the office.
However, that aside, the pain began to make her frigid. The thought of not rendering her conjugal obligation to her husband and how he may be feeling about her on-going condition, the thought frightened her. The health practitioner diagnosed stress and her pain continued to increase more and more.
The word stress is a term used to describe the body and mind’s reaction to everyday tensions and pressures. Too much stress can increase pain and can make a person more prone to illness such as heart disease or mental problem.
The thought of settling medical bills, changes in life style, and the concern about the future, loved ones, etc. can also make it harder for people with disturbing back pain. It is for these reasons that stress management is an important part of taking care of your back pain. Learning stress management or how to cope with stress in a positive way is a skill. Like any skill, it needs to be practiced.
On the physical aspect of back pain, it is needful to equally arrest the back pain challenge from affecting the emotions of victim.
Physiotherapy skillfully performed is a preferred approach to meaningfully eliminate the pain in the back or dramatically reduce the pain within minutes.
A reputable physiotherapist would use appropriate treatment modalities tailored to the patient’s condition and if necessary involve the patient in home programme to complement the physiotherapist treatment.
This will go along way to put a check not only on the physical aspect of the health condition but also reduce or eliminate the emotional stress.
When ever you have unbearable back pain, have a positive outlook and be rational on the choice of healthy facility to attend or talk to your physician for a proper referral to a reputable physiotherapy clinic.