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Senior woman having back pain in bedroom at home
How To Prevent Chronic Low Back Pain?
We specialize in chiropractic interventions for injuries and accidents
Today we will talk about low back pain and why it’s important to take care of it before it gets too bad and out of hand. Nonspecific low back pain accounts for 85% of all pain over the world and 10% will go on to develop chronic low back. With all strength we want to prevent chronic pain because it is much harder to treat and even harder to fix. Chronic pain changes the way our brain functions and treatment are aimed to “retrain the brain” through spinal chiropractic adjustments, therapeutic exercises, and massage. One of the main causes of chronic neck pain are car accident and whiplash injuries. If you ever where in a car accident, make sure to give us a call, let us know and talk to us immediately, so we can get you scheduled for an examination and treatment. I will be able to get on the phone with you and answer all your questions. If you need that all you must do is text our office, call the office and we will be able to respond promptly if you tell us that this is because of a car accident / “I was in a car accident”/ “I need some help”/ “I have some questions”. My staff will be able to get me on the phone.
How spinal manipulation or adjustments of the spine work?
Spinal manipulation works by the following mechanisms on our body: creates freedom of articular movement, breaks up adhesins adhesins (scar tissue) in the articular surfaces or articular joint capsules (1). Chiropractic manipulation has been shown to Improvement of mobility of the trunk and creates a reflexive relaxation of hypertonic muscles by sudden stretching (1).
The quick movement of an adjustment releases captured synovial folds that occur in the joints of our spine and extremities. A joint manipulation also decreases alpha motor neuron activity in the brain and increases proprioceptive sense of our body. For example, adjustments of the ankle joints and spine improve the ability to balance on one foot. This is just one measurement of the bodies sense we call proprioception. A chiropractic spinal adjustment also creates a release of beta endorphins in the brain.
How do we know if our back pain has gotten bad enough that we need treatment?
TOf course, preventing the development of “chronic pain” would mean you come for evaluation and treatment before it gets “bad enough”. As we have said previously chronic condition take much more time and money to resolve. But not all back pain is the same. Every mechanic knows that when the car does not start it could be a simple problem (a dead battery) or something beyond repair (broken engine). When you and I have back pain we judge it according to how “bad the pain is”. This is absolutely the incorrect way to gage “how bad your problem is”. I had that were not able to walk due to the pain and were fixed in one adjustment, and others walking in with very serious problems that took a lot of effort to improve. Here I will go through some pointers so you can tell if your problem has become “bad enough” to seek care.
If you are having back pain with leg pain that is a more serious condition than just back pain. Another finding of “serious back problem” would be directional preference. This means that certain bending and twisting positions hurt less and others hurt more. For example, bending backward and twisting to one side may completely relieve the leg pain or back pain you are having. In medical terminology you have a finding of “directional preference”. That is a sign of discogenic pain. Discogenic pain means that the disk is the source of your problem. Discogenic pain does not mean you have a disc herniation, but it is sure on its way if we do nothing about it. We will discuss how we can differentiate discogenic pain and a disk herniation in future posts.
How do we know if our back pain has gotten bad enough that we need treatment?
Next reason for care we will discuss are injuries we sustain. If you injury your back, a simple regiment of 2-4 chiropractic adjustments, manual therapy, massage, will usually resolve the pain and prevent arthritis and chronic pain. Therapeutic exercises will be necessary to maintain your improvements. Such care will take anywhere from 1-2 weeks and will prevent years of future pain. Another reason to get treatment is also a sign of aging and can be prevented. If you are unable to comfortably squat and pick a small object off the floor you will get older faster. This will cause you to automatically move less, have more pain, and increase your risk of developing various diseases. Being stiff in the morning is another sign of aging, arthritis and can be reversed.
So, my recommendation is: get yourself better, keep moving, and come in when you see any functional limitations or pain. You can wait for the problem to arise but also, I can evaluate your spine and tell you that your spine is healthy and moving well. It is usually obvious to my patients and me that a problem is developing. Upon examination we may find one hip turning in half the amount of the other. If such a person does not have knee or back pain, they are likely to develop it. One shoulder may have a limited internal rotation from an old injury causing increased neck strain and headaches. People gradually lose their mobility and only after an adjustment they are surprised how much neck rotation was missing. Lack of neck rotation and agility of movement is precisely why so many people get into car accidents. Those two factors can be easily tested with a large joint goniometer (a body protractor) and you can see the improvements immediately. If you or someone you know is involved in a car accident, we will be able to see them on the day of the crash.
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(*1) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1297319X03000745
