a dentist who does not have back pain does not have patients

McKenzie
Robin McKenzie is a doctor who revolutionized back care and has written a book called “Treat your own back”. The treatment consists of very gentle exercises that move your spine back into alignment. I found it helpful to have the book in addition to the physical therapy as I was able to understand why the exercises worked and it helped me to remember the exercises at home.

McConnell Taping
Natural pain relief. The therapist tapes your body so that it holds the muscles in the correct position. The tape gives your muscles a little bit of additional support and keeps you from getting into bad postures. I thought this was crazy when the therapist first did it, but it worked wonders and over time I learned to tape myself in between therapy sessions

General thoughts
I looked for a physical therapist who was trained in the McKenzie technique. She had been practicing for over 20 years. For those in the Seattle Area, my therapist was Robin Angus at Movement Systems physical therapy in Eastlake. The PT department at Group Health is also trained in McKenzie.

Prescription Pain Relief
Vioxx
Darvocet
Prescription Topical Muscle Relaxant
Effexor
pain relief devices, including TENS, Ice Pack, Saunders Home Traction, and Electrostim

There are currently no specific standards for dentistry. However, exposure to numerous biological, chemical, environmental, physical, and psychological workplace hazards that may apply to dentistry are addressed in specific standards for the general industry.

OSHA Standards

This section highlights OSHA standards, directives (instructions for compliance officers), and standard interpretations (official letters of interpretation of the standards) related to dentistry.

Note: Twenty-five states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have OSHA-approved State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are identical to Federal OSHA. However, some States have adopted different standards applicable to this topic or may have different enforcement policies.

Back Pain
Toxins
Neck Pain
Mercury Poisoning
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Varicose Veins
Hemorrhoids
Herpetic Whitlow

A herpetic whitlow is a lesion (whitlow) on a finger or thumb caused by the herpes simplex virus. It is a painful infection that typically affects the fingers or thumbs. Occasionally infection occurs on the toes or on the nail cuticle. Herpes whitlow can be caused by infection by HSV-1 or HSV-2. HSV-1 whitlow is often contracted by health care workers that come in contact with the virus; it is most commonly contracted by dental workers and medical workers exposed to oral secretions. It is also often observed in thumb-sucking children with primary HSV-1 oral infection (autoinoculation) prior to seroconversion, and in adults aged 20 to 30 following contact with HSV-2-infected genitals. Symptoms of herpetic whitlow include swelling, reddening and tenderness of the skin of infected finger. This may be accompanied by fever and swollen lymph nodes. Small, clear vesicles initially form individually, then merge and become cloudy. Associated pain often seems large relative to the physical symptoms. The herpes whitlow lesion usually heals in two to three weeks.

In children the primary source of infection is the orofacial area, and it is commonly inferred that the virus (in this case commonly HSV-1) is transferred by the chewing or sucking of fingers or thumbs.
In adults it is more common for the primary source to be the genital region, with a corresponding preponderance of HSV-2. It is also seen in adult health care workers such as dentists because of increased exposure to the herpes virus.

Treatment

Although it is a self-limited illness, antiviral treatments applied to the infected skin, particularly topical acyclovir, have been shown to be effective in decreasing the duration of symptoms. Lancing or surgically debriding the lesion may make it worse by causing a superinfection or encephalitis.