I know, I'm the brunt of the cruelest joke in the universe. A
chiropractor with a bad back.
Back pain is the number one reason
people see a doctor.
Why is it so common?
I believe
it's due to several issues.
Either not moving enough. i.e. Sitting
too much, or moving incorrectly.
We all know sitting for too long
is not good. The window of time any one can sit before it starts to
become a problem is 30 min.
The reason is that when we sit
we contract various muscles in the front of our bodies. Especially
the hip flexors or psoas muscle.
Any muscle that is contracted for
over 30 min. wants to stay contracted or shortened.
Over years
this changes how we move and creates havoc with the joints in our
bodies, especially with your back.
Were all guilty of this.
We all went to school were we all as good little boys and girls sat
quietly, (well some of us sat quietly) for what seemed like an
eternity. We all drive cars, we all sit at a computer. God forbid you
have an office job.
But Doc, I work out every day for 2 hours!
......Great, but what are you doing the other 22 hours?
I think
you get the point. Were all guilty of this.
As far as moving
incorrectly, besides the issue I just covered, we tend to move in
ways that are not bio-mechanically sound.
Everything from how you
get out of chairs, your posture, the condition of your feet to how
you breath!
The other confounding thing about back pain
is knowing what is actually causing the pain.
For instance, you
can have pain from over exertion, a fall, a disease process such as a
kidney infection or cancer, and watch TV and notice how many drug
commercials mention back pain as a side effect!.
The two most
common chronic reasons I see are disc issues and spinal
stenosis.
Both are very different and both present with different
signs and both require different treatment in order to be managed
effectively.
In my case I'm dealing with spinal stenosis. So lets
start with that one.
Stenosis is a condition of super accelerated
degeneration were the canals where the spinal nerves come out of are
compromised by bone growing into the canal. You can have central
stenosis which affects the actual spinal cord or lateral stenosis
which usually affects one of two sides of the spine.
The cause of
this is unknown and it's important to realize it is not curable!
It
is manageable.
In my case it probably is a result of being
stupid. Trust me, I'm the dumbest guy I know.
I used to be
addicted to squatting heavy weights and would routinely injure my
back and be back under the bar before I was even out of pain.
This
condition if severe enough may require surgery, but this should be a
last resort as there are non surgical options.
The best non
surgical option is spinal decompression, as it is for a disc
issue.
The right exercises are also essential, as both require
different exercises to manage these conditions because the exercises
for one issue can actually cause damage if applied to the wrong
situation.
So it's critical to understand what condition were
dealing with.
A disc issue is a result of the disc that sits
between the vertebra is either bulging out or in extreme cases
actually sequestered, meaning a piece of the disc has actually broken
off and is floating around the spine.
This usually requires
surgery.
There are 3 red flag signs we look for that usually
require a visit to a neurosurgeon.
Saddle paresthesia, ( numbness
around the groin area), bladder incontinence, and foot drop, (you
cant stand on your toes)
Lets look at how the two conditions
present.
Stenosis usually is aggravated by walking, pain tends to
travel down the leg and tends to feel better when you bend forward
and is aggravated when you bend backwards .
The common thing
I hear and applies to me is that it feels better when you push a
shopping cart around.
A disc often will hurt more bending forward
and can often travel down the back of the leg.
It commonly will be
positive for certain orthopedic tests.
The gold standard for
diagnosis for both conditions is an MRI but the clinical presentation
is usually accurate.
I have had great success with both of
these conditions utilizing the combination of ART, (Active Release
Technique), spinal decompression using what's known as the Cox
Technique and cold laser therapy.
This combination finally got me
out of pain and kept me from having surgery.
But, this is not an
overnight miracle. The therapy takes time. Too many people get
frustrated and drop out of care before they see results.
These
conditions, as is generic back pain a result of years of insult and
it takes time to correct this. But the combination of PT, (the
correct exercises and therapy can produce very good results.
If you live in or near San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Mission Viejo or Laguna Niquel, call us at 949-248-7246 to get out of back pain.