Living Healthy In Pattaya

[PattayaOneTeam]

No Need to Live With Back Pain

By Khun Dee

It’s estimated more than 80 percent of older people suffer back ailments—a figure even higher among smokers.

Back pain can result from something as simple as lifting a heavy object, as complex as anxiety, or as multisyllabic as spondylolithesis--a condition in which one vertebra slips over another. Naprapath Patrick Nuzzo tells Pattaya One that “Stress, injuries and life-style are the leading causes of back and neck pain.”

Nuzzo, who calls the body “a natural health-care system that can and will heal itself,” says most back pain resolves itself in six to 12 weeks, with or without treatment. However, many sufferers must seek medical treatment and often need surgery. In fact, back pain is the third most frequent reason for surgery.

What To Do

In Pattaya, most health-care practitioners first recommend conservative techniques, such as over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants and physical therapy that incorporates stretching and strengthening exercises to support the spine and improve flexibility. Furthermore, promising results have been seen with use of certain anti-seizure medications or anti-smoking medications (smokers have a higher incidence of chronic lower-back pain).

When conventional techniques fail, many seek alternative measures such as acupressure or acupuncture, believed to promote healing by stimulating the release of pain-relieving endorphins.

At Bangkok Pattaya Hospital’s physical therapy clinic, Dr. Komwudh Konchalard, MD, sees frustrated back-pain sufferers who have tried multiple therapies. "Some patients are skeptical," he says, "and they turn to acupuncture because they've used everything else to no avail." The physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist, who also operates the Dr. Komwudh Clinic in Sriracha, allows that acupuncture “is not a cure-all. But combined with life-style modifications, we have a success rate of 70-80 percent of acute back pain and about 60-70 percent for chronic back pain, without the side effects often attributed to drugs.”

Bone Cement

For many who suffer from spinal or vertebral fractures every year (think osteoporosis-induced breaks, not car-crushing blows), back pain is a daily inevitability. Though most will not require surgery, the persistent pain can overpower medication. For these patients, the answer may lie in a procedure called percutaneous vertebroplasty—or bone cement.

Surgeons in Thailand and abroad inject the toothpaste-like substance directly into the fracture area. After 10 to 15 minutes, the cement solidifies, giving more support to that fracture site. It increases the structural integrity and helps with overall pain.

Patients can stay awake, though sedated, and a local anesthetic numbs the area. No incisions are needed; the needle is similar to that used in blood donation and is guided with X-ray machinery. If it works, results are excellent. Vertebroplasty, often requires no more than an overnight hospital stay, affords instant pain relief.

Surgery

When all else fails, patients with persistent back pain may turn to surgery. Thanks to the refinement of a host of minimally invasive spinal-surgery techniques, surgeons can fuse or remove discs to strengthen weak spines and relieve pinched nerves. Surgeons can perform many spine operations through tiny incisions with no muscle dissection. The result is less postoperative pain, faster--sometimes same-day--hospital discharges, less pain medication and a quicker return to work, family and life.

The able Dr. Komwudh says in his experience, “where spinal instabilities are at issue, most Thai orthopedic surgeons prefer more extensive procedures which involve opening the lamina of the spine [in cases of spinal stenosis and disc herniation] and using metal instruments to repair the problem.”

Back surgery in general has gotten a bad rap. But as the medical community refines its techniques and identifies those people who will benefit from an operation, the negative perception is changing. Before opting for surgery, however, consider the alternatives.

-- Pattaya One 2010-10-01

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[zebina]

Well done PattayaOne on your first edition.

I would like to make a very serious suggestion on how PattayaOne could make a huge contribution to the health of so many Pattaya residents and visitors.

Please mount a campaign and continue it until something is done to reduce the speed of vehicles and motorbikes travelling on 2nd Road in Pattaya.

We all know that people are killed fairly regularly on this relatively short section of road and many many other are seriously injured each year. Recently an

elderly British gentleman was rundown and killed in a motorbike collision while trying to cross the road near The Avenue Shopping Complex.

As I have said above these are not isolated instances and it just beggars belief that nothing is being done to try and save the lives of people

simply trying to cross the road. Idiots ON motorcycles also come to grief on 2nd Road mainly because of high speed travelling on this stretch

of road.

Can PattayaOne campaign on this as a community and visitor interest basis to the mayor of Pattaya, local business forums and Pattaya Police ??

Simple suggestions like having a series of pedestrian crossings manned by Police etc may not work on an ongoing basis or at all, but putting speed bumps

in strategic locations (ie 50 metres or so before pedestrian crossings etc) would reduce the speed at which it is possible to travel along this road. Even if

the placement of these speed bumps is only put areas of high pedestrian traffic such as from say, South Pattaya Road to Central Pattaya Road it would be a

huge improvement and would save lives.

It would not be expensive and could be done by a works crew in a couple of days.

Come guys this is an opportunity to do some good for the people and visitors to Pattaya.

Readers who agree with this suggestion please indicate your support here.

Thank you.

[PattayaOneTeam]

Hi Zebina, while we agree with all your points we don't have the space to mount campaigns, and, unfortunately, we don't believe it would be effective here.

The casualty and mortality figures and the costs in terms of healthcare for injured Thai road victims don't seem to have concentrated the minds, so it is unlikely an expat paper complaining about it will have any effect.

Individual columnists have some strong views on this subject however, and you will see some critical comments in future editions.