My neighbor comes by yesterday, limping and moaning: Acute back pain. Knee jerk reaction: I send him to a Trager practitioner.
The neighbor returns later, with his son, to tell me about the miraculous treatment. The practitioner seems to think this is not a disc but a sacrum problem, somehow. I offer the son a piece of chocolate (dark, milk-free - of course); the boy declines politely because he just had chocolate - with nuts. The father brags that he is eating a lot of nuts, for health - especially cashew.
Cashew?? Cashew is in the poison ivy family (Anacardiaceae, or sumac family). It is well known for inducing inflammation in the body - especially in the back and joints.
So, this is the diagnosis: Cashew-induced sacroiliitis. Probably not helped by a recent flight from Europe and long hours of sitting at the computer. Not to mention a little bit of weight gain (when your belly grows, you bend backward and compress the area of your lower back - just watch a pregnant woman waddle by).
Besides Trager movement education, I recommend Zyflamend (an herbal concoction that is expensive but has anti-inflammatory action). And, needless to say: No more cashews. Oh, and no mangoes - same family.
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
Back Pain - One Riddle Solved
April 17, 2010
Tags:
Movement, Anacardiaceae, anti-inflammatory, back pain, Back Pain - One Riddle Solved, cashew, chocolate, joint pain, mango, nuts, Poison Ivy, Trager movement education, Zyflamend
5 Comments
Comments
Jun 20, 2010 11:06 AM EDT
Thank you Dr.Fleckenstein! I've had tough time finding the connection between an exacerbation of arthritic pain in my otherwise stable patient and the recent increase in the amount of cashew nuts she has been eating (there was no other change in her daily routine), which I suspected to be the possible "trigger" of her decline. Thank you so much for sharing this information!
- Darek, PT
Jun 20, 2010 11:20 AM EDT
Thank you, Darek! Update on the patient/neighbor: Fine - I think he has forgotten how bad he was. But his children are still impressed with the cashew diagnosis!
- Alexa Fleckenstein M.D.
Aug 07, 2010 8:08 AM EDT
This morning, my neighbor helps me with a stuck garage door. He mentions his back pain - all gone now. But he also tells me that in between he had forgotten the cashew nuts issue and had eaten them again for about a week. Same result: back pain. He thinks he learned the lesson - for good. And I am glad to have such a neighborly neighbor.
- Alexa Fleckenstein
Mar 13, 2011 7:29 AM EDT
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- Andrew
Mar 13, 2011 5:16 PM EDT
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- Alexa Fleckenstein