Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian at Baptist Hospital of Miami, says pain is the greatest motivation for patients with back pain: “These patients have a lot of pain and they want to be pain free and not relying on medication. When I tap into that motivation, I find they connect better.”
Dr. Ronald Tolchin, Medical Director at Baptist Center for Spine Care, explains lifestyle modification is probably the hardest thing in people, so he recommends doing small changes. Practicing a good posture when you stand or sit, maintaining a healthy weight, and eating a healthy diet are tips to prevent back pain.
Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian at Baptist Hospital of Miami, says good posture gives less pressure on the back and weight is the main factor of back pain. Exercising to keep your back and abdomen strong and flexible, and taking steps to reduce stress on your back are also some other tips to stay healthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every four American women aged 65 or older suffer from osteoporosis, and about 6% of men in the same age group suffer from the disease. Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian at Baptist Hospital of Miami, says not eating enough fruits and vegetables, and getting too much protein, sodium and caffeine are controllable risk factors of osteoporosis.
Having an inactive lifestyle, drinking too much alcohol and being overweight are also risk factors that you can change in your lifestyle to avoid osteoporosis diagnosis. Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian at Baptist Hospital of Miami, recommends people to stretch, and do pilates or yoga, because it helps them with their posture.
“I highly recommend standing desks for my patients, it gets them out of the chair throughout the day, so they’re starting to use their leg muscles, they’re stretching their back out, their mechanics are better, and their postures better,” says Dr. Ronald Tolchin, Medical Director at Baptist Center for Spine Care. There are some misconceptions with plant-based diets, but some things can be true. Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian with Baptist Hospital of Miami, explains why a lot of fat, even if it is healthy fat, is still not healthy. Extreme diets cannot be long-lasting. Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian with Baptist Hospital of Miami, explains why this type of diet has to be short-lived, and how you can manage being restricted to small amounts of food. How can you enjoy your favorite food without worrying too much about how healthy it is? Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian with Baptist Hospital of Miami, gives some advice, like eating your favorite food less often, eating smaller amounts, and trying alternate versions. How to know when something you are going to eat is healthy or not? Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian with Baptist Hospital of Miami, talks about how healthy it is cutting out cookies and chips, and minimizing soda. But she highlights the importance of keeping eating carbs correctly because the body needs them. Not eating too fast is a great tip to eat better. Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian with Baptist Hospital of Miami, gives us more recommendations, such as not cleaning your plate while eating, and not eating when you are not hungry, among others. Choosing high-fiber grains, healthy vegetables, and healthy meats can help you with your diets on holidays. Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian with Baptist Hospital of Miami, explains more tips to eat healthy on vacations. Dr. Ronald Tolchin, Medical Director at Baptist Center for Spine Care, explains a herniated disc is when that nucleus or gel within the disc starts to migrate out beyond the edges of the disc.
He says in surgery they can see how the gel is migrated out, it’s pushing on the nerve, and it’s going to cause sciatica, which is the irritation of the nerve by something either the disc, or the bone behind it pushing on it, squeezing it, and causing pain down the leg. What are healthy diets? Susan Nowrouzi, Registered Dietitian with Baptist Hospital of Miami, explains the importance of having healthy carbs and fats for health, and what are the lines you cannot cross while eating. Dr. Ronald Tolchin, Medical Director at Baptist Center for Spine Care, says back pain in overweight patients is relevant, because it deals with what the spine is designed to carry.
“When you have an abnormal load, because you have increased weight, it goes forward and it pulls you forward. That strains the back muscles, so in order not to go forward and fall forward you work the back muscles to stand erect. But that puts more stress on the discs, and the bones, and the joints around the spine,” he explains. Dr. Ronald Tolchin, Medical Director at Baptist Center for Spine Care, explains to consider someone is overweight, doctors can’t just use absolute weight as a criteria. “You need to look at their height, and their weight together, and we call that measurement BMI or body mass index,” he says.
He explains if someone weighs 200 pounds, and is 6 feet 5, that weight might be okay; but if the person is 5 feet 8, that would not be okay. You can know your body mass index calculating your height divided by your weight squared: “We call overweight is that calculation is 25 to 29.9, if you’re less than 25 you’re considered normal.”
