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Why Does My Back Always Hurt?
Low back pain is a very common problem affecting 80-90% of all of us at some point in our lifetime. Why is that you ask? There are many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that we are 2-legged animals carrying 2/3rds of our weight above our waist. Studies have shown deterioration or arthritis occurs much sooner in us vs. our 4-legged animal counterparts. A 180 lbs man carries roughly 120 lbs above the waist. This means, every time he bends over, in order to stand upright, he needs to lift 120 lbs PLUS whatever he is lifting. Hence, the argument of, “…but I only bent over to lift a pencil and my back went out,” seems on the surface as impossible but in reality, the man in our example is lifting the pencil plus 120 lbs. Now, let’s add to that the point that a 5 pound weight equals 50 pounds when held out in front with the arms stretched out straight. Now, if that’s not bad enough, now, let’s assume all of this is happening from a bent forward position, with a twist at the waist, with out stretched arms, while lifting a 20 pound object. Get the idea? It’s amazing our back doesn’t get injured every day as we lift 2 bags of groceries into the far end of a car trunk, or, when lifting our 30 pound child in and out of a car seat, height chair, or when they are screaming and pushing away from us as we try to lift them!
In order to further appreciate why the low back is so vulnerable to injury, some basic understanding of anatomy is needed. When we’re born, the back is made up of 33 segments of which 5 fuse by the time we’re about 18 years old to make up the sacrum (bottom of the spine) and 4 fuse to make up the coccyx (tail bone), leaving 5 lumbar (low back), 12 thoracic (mid-back) and 7 cervical (neck) vertebra. These are stacked up on top of each other like building blocks and are connected to each other by a shock absorbing disk in the front and two smaller facet joints in the back, acting like a tripod. In the low back, we’re supposed to bear about 80% of our weight in the front and 20% in the back but, if our abdominal muscles are a bit out of shape and the pelvis rotates forwards, the curve in the low back increases and overloads the back of the vertebra (facets) making them vulnerable to injury. The disk becomes injured when we bend/lift/twist. This can tear the outer tough fibers of the disk, allowing the central more liquid-like material to leak out. If this happens, the leaking or “herniated” disk can put pressure on the nerve that exits the spine and travels down our leg. If the pain pattern includes the back of the leg, it’s commonly referred to as “sciatica.” OK, enough about anatomy. What can we do to reduce the chances of having periodic low back pain? Obviously, staying in shape is very important. Certain muscles of the body must be tight to keep us upright or standing. These muscles need to be stretched on a regular basis. For example: the hamstring muscle. We’ve all had to perform hurdler types of exercises and remember how tight they feel!

YOU MAY BE A CANDIDATE FOR CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR A NO-CHARGE, NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 715-834-6333

Chiropractic Manipulation:

• A New Study Regarding Headaches

Headaches are a common complaint in patients presenting for professional care, including chiropractic management. Patients with headaches seek chiropractic care because they find manipulation or adjustments applied to the cervical spine and upper back region are highly effective in reducing the intensity, frequency and duration of the headache pain. This is because the cervical spine / neck, is often the origin of the headache as the three nerves in the upper neck (C1, 2 and 3) pass through the thick, overly taught neck muscles in route to the scalp / head. When the muscles of the neck are in spasm, the nerves get “pinched” or squeezed by the overly tight muscles resulting in headache pain. Each nerve runs to a different part of the head and therefore, pain may be described as “…radiating over the top of head (sometimes into the forehead and eyes),” or, into the head and over the ear, sometimes reaching the temple. Also, an area located in the back and side of the head is the area where the C1 nerve innervates, so pain may also be reported in that location. When more than one of the C1-3 nerves is pinched, the whole side to the top of the head may be involved.

In the October 2009 issue of The Spine Journal, Western States Chiropractic College, Center for Outcomes Studies, reported benefits are obtained with the utilization of spinal manipulation in the treatment of chronic cervicogenic headaches. The word “chronic” means at least 3 months of headache pain has been present. This new study compared 2 different doses of therapy using several outcome measures including the pain grade, the number of headaches in the last 4 weeks and the amount of medication utilized. Data was collected every 4 weeks for a 24 week period and patients were treated 1-2 times/week and separated into either an 8 or a 16 treatment session with half the group receiving either spinal manipulative therapy or a minimal light massage (LM) control group.

The results of the study revealed the spinal manipulation group obtained better results than the control group at all time intervals. There was a small benefit in the group that received the greater number of treatments with the mean number of cervicogenic headaches reduced by 50% in both pain intensity and headache frequency.

The importance of this study is significant as there are many side effects to medications frequently utilized in the treatment of headaches. Many patients prefer not taking medications for this reason and spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) offers a perfect remedy for these patients. Couple SMT with dietary management, lifestyle modifications, stress management, and a natural, vitamin/herbal anti-inflammatory (such as ginger, turmeric, boswellia) when needed, a natural, holistic approach to the management of chronic headaches is accomplished.

We are proud that chiropractic care has consistently scored the highest level of satisfaction when compared to other forms of health care provision and look forward in serving you and your family presently and in the future.
YOU MAY BE A CANDIDATE FOR CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR HEADACHES!
FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 715-834-6333

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