Back / Stomach

Preventing back pain

To prevent back pain, replace short car journeys with a good old-fashioned walk, take the stairs rather than the lift and don't sit in front of a screen any longer than necessary to maintain your muscles.

To help you maintain good posture and keep your back straight, a magnetic back rest is the ideal solution.

Why does this common sense advice work?

Because they maintain your muscles, and muscle loss is responsible for this. To deal with back pain, the French tend to rely on medication (52% use painkillers or anti-inflammatories).

Natural and very simple solutions can help prevent back pain. These are the findings of a survey carried out by OpinionWay among a sample of 1,009 French people, representative of the adult French population. The study, conducted on behalf of Vexim, a company specialising in back traumatology, revealed that 38% of French people have suffered from back pain more than 10 times in the last five years. This means that more than 1/3 of them suffer from back pain on a very regular basis.

The study also points out that women are ‘clearly more exposed’, with 61% saying they are often affected, compared with only 39% of men. It's also worth noting that young people are the most affected by this so-called ‘ailment of the century’: 84% of 18-24 year-olds say they have already had back pain. In more detail, 25% of the young people surveyed suffer from back pain often, 37% from time to time and only 15% never suffer from back pain at all.

The 18-24 age group are victims of their backs

On the whole, the French do a poor job of managing their back pain, with only 22% saying they were ‘satisfied’ with the solutions they were using to reduce it. To deal with their back pain, the French tend to prefer medication (52% use painkillers or anti-inflammatories), rather than consulting a doctor or other health professional (physiotherapist, osteopath). Most have to combine 2 or 3 treatments, and almost 1 in 5 French people say they do ‘nothing’. This is often the case for younger people, with 1/3 of 18-24 year-olds neglecting chronic back pain and remaining passive. Everyone has back pain, so it seems logical that people don't take the time to look after themselves,’ says Steffen Queinnec, a surgeon at the Institut Parisien du dos. Especially when you're not aware of the therapeutic solutions available. Sophie Jacquot, a physiotherapist specialising in back problems, has a habit of warning her patients as follows: ‘Back pain is not inevitable! I have patients who tell me that their parents suffered from back pain, but it's not hereditary at all. People need to feel responsible for their back, not victimised by it.

Osteoarthritis of the spine affects 70-75% of people aged 65-75, and most often the disease remains silent.

Low back pain

30% of acute low back pain becomes chronic

Worrying about these little strains can be useful... even, or even more so, at the age of 20. Young people spend a lot of time slumped over on the sofa in front of the PC,’ says the physiotherapist. If you get into the habit of arching your back, your discs get damaged more quickly. And the pain radiates throughout the body. Learning to grow taller is much easier at 20 than at 40!

Especially as some of these young people who underestimate their pain run the risk of going on to develop disabling lower back pain. The earlier we get to grips with the problem, the better we can deal with it,’ adds the surgeon. At the Institute, we mainly see patients who are stuck or people who consult us after three or four years of pain. The difficulty lies in reaching patients in between. In fact, 30% of acute low back pain becomes chronic’. This is a pitfall to be avoided as long as you can change your habits, ‘especially as this disease can quickly isolate you if the pain puts a brake on your professional and social life’.

When should you be concerned?

‘When you have lower back pain that lasts for more than ten days or that recurs, you should consult a doctor,’ advises the surgeon. Another warning sign is ‘if you can't sit still for more than a quarter of an hour’.

What are the solutions?

Muscles repair and maintain themselves and ligaments regain their flexibility through movement. The effectiveness of Auris therapeutic magnets against back pain has been validated by the Lombalgis clinical study. With a 4.2-point reduction in the pain threshold on the VAS scale (which has 10 points) and a reduction in the use of painkillers and NSAIDs, magnets offer a real alternative to the treatment of lower back pain and backache in general.

Auris offers you the horizontal magnetic lumboflex to target lower back pain, as well as the trapezius backrest, which covers the back, shoulder blades and trapezius perfectly, and the magnetic lumbo-abdominal belt for a global effect on the back and stomach.

Sciatica

The sciatic nerve is a nerve of the lower limb. It is responsible for part of its sensitivity and has a motor function (flexion of the leg and foot, among others). It arises from the spinal cord in the lower part of the spinal column. It is the largest and longest nerve in the body.

Main cause of sciatica

Herniated disc

In 90 to 95% of cases, sciatica is caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve by a herniated disc. Between each vertebra is an intervertebral disc that acts as a shock absorber. It absorbs shocks and makes the spine flexible and mobile. The disc is made up of a soft core surrounded by a hard shell. As a result of trauma, excess pressure or simply the ageing of the disc, the shell cracks, allowing the nucleus to escape. Exclusion of the nucleus forms a protrusion, which, depending on its location, may come into conflict with the nerves that exit on either side along the spinal column.

Other causes can irritate the sciatic nerve, such as degenerative spinal lesions caused by osteoarthritis, infection, inflammation or a tumour lesion in contact with the sciatic nerve.

The sciatic nerve

In the case of sciatica, it is, as the name suggests, the sciatic nerve that is affected.

Sciatica follows a characteristic path, starting at the top of the back, moving along the buttock, the back of the thigh and the calf, and ending either on the outside of the foot or on the big toe, depending on which part of the nerve is affected.

Symptoms of sciatic pain

The intensity of the pain varies greatly from person to person. It is aggravated by coughing, sneezing and defecation. Lying on your side generally relieves the pain. Sciatica usually affects only one side of the body, but can also affect both sides, or one side and then the other. It may be accompanied by abnormal sensations in the skin, such as tingling or a complete loss of feeling. Decreased muscle strength or muscle fatigue may also be present.

Relieving sciatica pain

The quality and power of Auris therapeutic magnets offer a number of natural solutions for treating pain effectively. These include the magnetic lumbar belt and the mobile magnetic pad.