Lower Back Pain….JUST a Symptom?
Back pain can very well be caused by a myriad of contributing health problems, with the resulting pain in and around the back, being the cumulative end result we experience.
So, if back pain is the symptom and the causing factor is multi-faceted, then MUCH more of the treatment of back pain MUST involve an integrated approach! AND it must be based on each person.
To understand back pain, we need to be aware first of the various types. Most back pain or back injuries fall into one of two categories, either Acute or Chronic. Acute back pain is the direct result of an accident or episode. So, for example, if you get into a car accident, and the trauma from the impact caused muscle spasm and/or resulted in slight tearing of muscle tissues, as with whiplash. Inflammation results, just as with any other type of injury. The good news with acute pain is that the problem is obvious, and the symptoms easy to classify, thus making it relatively easy to treat.
Feedback is immediate when any agitating movement is performed. Recovery mostly includes resting the area, and letting the body do its job at healing. The majority of acute back pain cases usually heal naturally within 8 weeks. The bad news is that sometimes acute back pain can be a precursor to the more serious chronic back pain.
Chronic back pain is the other type. It is sometimes referred to as persistent pain. It generally applies to pain that continues to occur for more than 3-6 months, and can be on and off. The majority of back pain cases fall into this category.
Within the category of chronic pain, we have specific and non-specific pain. Specific pain is those attributable to a specific cause. These are treatable, but make up about 15% of all chronic back pain cases. 85% of back pain cases are non-specific, meaning that the exact reason why there is pain is essentially unknown.
Non-specific back pain can generally be categorized into 3 areas to focus on:Â
1. Musculoskeletal: This means there is irritation, inflammation, or an injury in the muscles themselves, or by their dysfunction is causing mis-alignment in the spinal vertebrae. These injuries respond well to non-invasive treatments such as stretching, massage, and exercise.
2. Neuropathy: This is the result of the nerves coming out of the spine being pinched or compressed by the vertebrae. This type of dysfunction is very treatable, but depending upon what is causing the situation. If muscles are causing the problem, it’s simple, but if spinal degeneration is the cause, it’s a completely different animal!
3. Discogenic: This is the result of a spinal disc being injured, herniated (often called bulging), or torn. These can heal without invasive intervention, but take time and patience to heal, and absolutely require restrictions on certain movements and specific movement therapies must be used. In bad cases, may require surgical intervention.
Chronic back pain is by nature the more difficult to treat. In all probability, the reason why you are reading this book right now, to find a solution to it. The question remains: Why is it so difficult to address? Well, because there are many root causes for it. They can easily range from one to MANY contributing factors happening at once such as:
1. Failure to fully address rehabilitation of crucial elements in the acute stage, leading to long term dysfunction of muscles, joints, etc.
2. Failure to maintain focus on the corrective measures taught during the acute stage, thus leading to regression.
3. Internal metabolic issues, causing slow healing and regeneration of damaged tissues.
4. Re-injury of dysfunctional site, due to repetitive stress to it, perhaps from lifestyle factors such as improper lifting, sitting postures, etc.
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HealthSource Chiropractic and Progressive Rehab