Identifying relations between posture and pain in lower back pain patients: a narrative review

Posture is a “body’s attitude or the positioning of the limbs when standing or sitting.” There are many examples of different postures which include lordotic posture, swayback posture, flat back, and anterior pelvic tilt. Everyone in some of the other parts of their life considers pain as an unpleasant feeling or sensation that is experienced. Specifically, low back pain can be relentless and daunting to many people who often recovered without the need of a health care professional or any treatment by changing their posture or performing the movement. Various factors are leading to low back pain other than the postural fault, for instance, age, sedentary lifestyle, anxiety, and sleep. However, for back pain, posture has become deep-rooted in people’s thoughts. Health care professionals have instructed people to correct their posture to fight back pain. As people become older, the posture becomes worse, but this does not appear to cause pain. If any person cannot move his/her body, that does not mean that they are having a problem involving posture; that is actually because of a problem relating to movement. A study proved that there is no difference in the lordotic angle of the populace having an issue with LBP. There is a decrease in the range and speed of the movement performed. What matters is the movement rather than the appearance of standing or sitting. The primary aim of this paper is to improve knowledge and understanding of the association between posture and LBP, as, speaking about recent researches, they have observed no association between posture and LBP. There are many studies published to support this evidence. People call the importance of posture and alignment for while performing a heavy deadlift, land a jump, or any strenuous activity. Therefore, an urge to write a paper on this topic is to change the mindset of many people worrying out there about their postural faults or their appearances by providing information about varying their static posture to conform to some ideal and keep moving to improve their function.

Motivating Players to Perform an Optional Strenuous Activity in a Virtual Reality Exergame Using Virtual Performance Augmentation

Research on VR Exergaming is mostly conducted with participants who are not presented a choice whether or not to play the exergame and thus to perform a certain strenuous activity. Whether players would engage in such activity if it were optional and how they could be motivated to do so is mostly neglected. Therefore, we have developed a novel controller and implemented a VR exergame that utilizes Virtual Performance Augmentation (VPA) to motivate players to engage in an optional strenuous activity. The motivational impact of three different conditions (VPA vs. Points vs. No Motivator) was evaluated in a study with 47 participants. Our results suggest that using VPA can significantly increase the time the players engage in the strenuous activity enriched by VPA, while in contrast to our hypotheses, no significant differences for the players' enjoyment and perceived exertion between the conditions were found. We discuss our findings in the context of motivation, exertion, and the resulting implications for further VR exergames research.

Outdoor Activity: Benefits and Risks to Recreational Runners during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Running has become one of the most popular recreational sports worldwide. It is an easily accessible form of exercise as there are minimal equipment and sport structure requirements. Aerodynamic simulation experiments showed a risk of droplet exposure between runners when two people run in a straight line at a close distance (slipstream). Thus, running activities require a safe physical distance of 10 meters to avoid droplet exposure, which can be a source of transmission of COVID-19 infection. However, running outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic is still often done in pairs and even in groups without wearing a mask. Open window theory stated that changes in the immune system occur immediately after strenuous physical activity. Many immune system components showed adverse changes after prolonged strenuous activity lasting more than 90 minutes. These changes occurred in several parts of the body, such as the skin, upper respiratory tract, lungs, blood, and muscles. Most of these changes reflected physiological stress and immunosuppression. It is thought that an “open window” of the compromised immune system occurs in the 3–72-hour period after vigorous physical exercise, where viruses and bacteria can gain a foothold, increasing the risk of infection, particularly in the upper respiratory tract. Outdoor physical activity positively affects psychological, physiological, biochemical health parameters, and social relationships. However, this activity requires clear rules so that the obtained benefits can be more significant while simultaneously minimizing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 infection.

ROTATOR CUFF TENDON INJURY - AN AYURVEDA MANAGEMENT WITH JALOUKAVACARANA

Most shoulder pain is related to muscle or tendon strain. Chronic pain is often triggered by prior injuries, especially if original injury was severe or was not allowed to heal completely. Shoulder injury can cause weakness, tenderness and loss of full joint mobility. More common and less traumatic causes include lifting, reaching and pulling move- ments that strain the muscles and tendons or sprain ligaments surrounding the shoulder joint. Injury may or may not be realized during the activity. Various conditions like shoulder joint impingement, frozen shoulder, and rotator cuff tendinitis have resembling symptoms under the umbrella of disease Avabahuka described in Ayurveda. Leech application was carried out in first stage where there is reduced vascular supply. Here a case report of a female aged 31years old, who had an acute on chronic rotator cuff strain from strenuous activity underwent three sittings of Jaloukavacarana. Keywords: Rotator cuff tendon injury, Avabahuka, Jaloukavacarana.

Building husky men: Strenuous masculinity in post-depression America

Examining American fitness entrepreneurs from the 1930s, this article examines efforts to reform young, and white, masculine identities through new bodybuilding systems. Centred on Mark Berry, Bob Hoffman and Charles Atlas, three of the decade’s most successful entrepreneurs, the article examines the communities, methods and discourses used to attract customers and create a highly specified form of self-fashioning. In doing so, the article highlights the masculine communities and multiplicities of masculinities operating during this decade for American weight trainers. Importantly all three entrepreneurs focused on a very specific kind of American body, and stemming from this, American masculinity. For Berry, ‘husky’ men came to represent men of physical, moral and mental standing. The ability to withstand pain in exercise, to engage in strenuous activity and gain bodyweight was presented as a metric of one’s success in the world. Likewise, Bob Hoffman focused on the ‘weight lifter’, said to be an ambitious young man capable of succeeding in multiple terrains. Finally, there was Charles Atlas, who made ‘he men’ using his system of dynamic tension. In highlighting the lengths young, white, often affluent, American men went to in order to achieve these identities, the article contributes to the growing interest in American masculinities and the fitness systems they used during times of considerable upheaval.

Survey of patient perception of pre-analytical requirements for blood testing in the UK and RoI

Background A patient survey developed by the Pre-Analytical Phase Special Interest Group of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB-PA-SIG) was conducted during November and December 2019. The survey aimed to determine the quality of information provided to patients in preparation for their blood test(s). In addition, the ACB-PA-SIG provide a number of recommendations, which, if adopted, may yield higher quality test results and improve patient management. Methods The survey was distributed at phlebotomy suites in two Hospitals: Ipswich Hospital (United Kingdom [UK]), and Cork University Hospital (Republic of Ireland [RoI]). Results Overall, 235 survey responses were received from the two sites. A total of 103 respondents received no information about preparing for their blood test and 92 had been told they did not need to fast. None of the patients surveyed had been instructed to fast for 12 h. Twenty-two patients had been told to avoid certain foods, drinks or medication, 14 were told to avoid strenuous activity and 41 respondents had been informed of the need to avoid alcohol/smoking prior to their blood test. Overall, only approximately 78 felt well informed about the blood taking process. Conclusions Based on the results of this survey, the ACB-PA-SIG conclude that: (1) clinicians should provide clear written information to patients regarding pre-analytical requirements; and (2) effective communication between laboratories and General Practitioners is required to disseminate information. In this paper, the ACB-PA-SIG provide a list of pre-analytical recommendations to standardize and improve practice across the UK and RoI.

Case Report (Precis): Two Telemedicine Consultants Miss Foot Drop: When To See Patients in Person

Background: Telemedicine has been rapidly adopted due to COVID-19. In the earliest days, most screenings were performed by primary care/internal medicine consultants; referrals to subspecialists were minimized. Now, as the pandemic has evolved over 6 months, secondary telemedicine consultations should be limited, and earlier involvement of appropriate subspecialists should be reconsidered to optimize patient management. Case Description: An older individual spoke to an on-call general medical physician with the chief complaint of the acute onset of low back pain after moderately strenuous activity, with severe unilateral radiculopathy. The telemedicine physician recommended a non-steroidal. anti-inflammatory agent without any specific recommendations regarding follow-up. A few days later, with progression of unilateral pain and numbness, a second telemedicine medical consultation was performed; a Medrol dose pack and muscle relaxant were now recommended, again without any follow-up recommendations. Days later, with increased unilateral pain/ near anesthesia in the foot, the patient was seen by a spinal surgeon who found; unilateral SLR positive at 20 degrees, a 0/5 foot drop, loss of the Achilles Response, and decreased pin appreciation in the L5 distribution. The patient’s emergent lumbar MR showed a large unilateral disc herniation with inferior migration at the appropriate level, warranting surgical consideration. Conclusion: Here, we emphasized several points. First, telemedicine may be adequate for the initial screening, but further complaints would be better evaluated in person by either a medical or surgical subspecialist; here, both could have recognized the very clear unilateral foot drop. Second, the patient should have had a scheduled follow-up in-person consultation. Third, appropriate diagnostic studies should have been ordered at the time of the second telemedicine consultation to establish the correct diagnosis and direct treatment.