What's Wrong With My Back?

Not all back problems are created equal. One person may have been working on a home improvement project and injured her back while simultaneously bending and twisting. Another person may have developed back pain as a result of a vehicular collision. Another person may be experiencing back pain as a result of osteoporosis. Yet another person may have a serious illness which causes back pain as a related problem.

Back pain is a problem common to many types of injuries and illnesses. How can you tell the difference - in other words, how can you tell when back pain requires you to take action, such as seeing your chiropractor? A reasonable approach is to use a 48-hour guideline. Your body usually has a powerful ability to heal itself. If your back pain hasn't gone away on its own within 48 hours, then seeking professional assistance is a very good plan.

However, some situations require immediate attention. For example, if you've had an accident, seeing your chiropractor right away is probably the right thing to do. In another scenario, if you begin to experience severe pain without an obvious cause, then seeing your chiropractor right away makes a great deal of sense. Like many things in life, having physical pain requires us to use good judgment. The 48-hour rule-of-thumb applies to most situations, but if you've had an accident or are having an unusual problem, see your chiropractor as soon as possible, today if necessary.

When a person has back pain, it's very important to make sure there are no related problems. Most of the time there aren't, but no one wants to be the exception and it's always better to be safe than sorry. Making your own diagnosis is never a good idea. "Oh, that's been bothering me for months," some people will say. "It's just back pain." Of course, such an approach to one's health violates the 48-hour rule. If the problem really wasn't anything much, it would have gone away within a few days. Something else is going on, and usually the longer a physical problem is left untreated the more difficult it is to deal with. The old expression, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is as true today as it was 100 years ago.

Your chiropractor is an expert in back pain. They know that physical pain happens for a reason.^1,2 Their job is to discover that reason, using the tools of history taking, physical examination, biomechanical analysis, and special tests, if necessary, such as x-rays and other imaging methods. Most of the time, the underlying problem is mechanical in nature, involving the spinal joints and associated soft tissues, including the ligaments, muscles, and tendons. Such mechanical problems cause the vast majority of cases of back pain, and are directly addressed by chiropractic care.³ In unusual circumstances, your chiropractor will refer you to another specialist. The important approach in all situations is to seek appropriate care. Your chiropractor's office is the right place to start.

 
Most people now know the importance of exercise in daily life. The benefits of exercise range from improved strength, balance, and agility to deeper, more restful sleep, improved outlook on life, and heightened levels of creativity. Of course, there's also an additional direct benefit for persons with back pain.
Most cases of back pain are biomechanical in nature. In these circumstances, spinal joints have lost some mobility and spinal muscles have become tight. The long-term result is back pain, which may be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the extent of the biomechanical dysfunction. Chiropractic care is the specific treatment for problems involving the spinal joints and muscles. Exercise is an important addition to chiropractic care. When you perform challenging activities throughout a full range of motion, as you do when you exercise, you're retraining the joints and muscles of your back. By engaging in such activities on a regular basis, you're helping to restore spinal strength and mobility, enhancing the benefits you're receiving from chiropractic care.

Your chiropractor is an expert in rehabilitative exercise and will be glad to design an exercise program that will work for you.

¹Bakker EW, et al: Spinal mechanical load as a risk factor for low back pain: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies. Spine 34(8):E281-E293, 2009

²Shambrook J, et al: Clinical presentation of low back pain and association with risk factors according to findings on magnetic resonance imaging. Pain 157(7):1659-1665, 2011

³Wilder DG, et al: Effect of spinal manipulation on sensorimotor functions in back pain patients: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials 12:161, 2011

Resolution of Infertility Followed by a Healthy Pregnancy and Delivery with Chiropractic

From the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health comes a case study published on March 12, 2012 documenting the  resolution of infertility in a woman previously diagnosed with a case of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is a condition in which there is an imbalance of a woman's female sex hormones. This imbalance can lead to infertility and affects approximately 6.6% of reproductive-aged women.
The authors of the study start by reporting that infertility is a wide-spread problem that affects one in five couples. Of these it is estimated that 60% are due to a female health problem. As a result 9.3 million women seek infertility treatment at some point during their lives. Most of the care sought is medical care.
In this case a 29 year old woman previously diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and infertility sought chiropractic care. The study reports that she had been unable to become pregnant for six months. She had been to a medical practitioner one week earlier but had heard that chiropractic care could be helpful and therefore sought chiropractic care.
A chiropractic examination was performed including a spinal and nerve system analysis. It was determined that subluxations were present in multiple areas of the woman's spine resulting in nerve system malfunction. A series of specific spinal adjustments were initiated to correct the subluxations.
The study reports that after two months of care the patient was told by her medical doctor that she was pregnant. It was estimated that the woman became pregnant between the second and fifth chiropractic visit. The study reports that the pregnancy was normal and that the woman delivered a healthy 6 pound 7 ounce baby girl after an all natural labor.
In their discussion and conclusion the authors discussed how spinal misalignments could cause infertility by stating, "A subluxation is characterized by a dysfunction of the nervous system that results in widespread physiological changes and altered health status." The authors continued to discuss the additional benefits in this case by noting, "Following initiation of chiropractic care, the patient not only became pregnant, but also reported improvement in many facets of her life, including improved sleep, better dietary choices, increased water consumption, and an improvement in her ability to exercise."

Chiropractic - The Knock Out Punch for Migraines & Dizziness

Two case studies reported in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine find chiropractic care to be effective in both alleviating migraine headaches and cervicogenic dizziness - dizziness originating from a mechanical disturbance of the neck. Since these are individual case studies, they each deal with just one individual's results with chiropractic care. However, the successful management of migraine headaches and dizziness in certain individuals has been known and reported within the chiropractic profession for more than 100 years. According to these specific case studies, a 52 year old female with a 40 year history of migraine headaches occurring approximately once a month was migraine-free at her 6 month follow up evaluation after receiving chiropractic care. Additionally, a 29 year old man with a 10 year history of progressive dizziness with symptoms including a sensation of excessive motion, imbalance, and spinning associated with neck pain and stiffness reported a reduction of pain and dizziness and an improved quality of life after chiropractic treatment. While not every migraine sufferer or individual with dizziness obtains these results, there are a great deal of those who do obtain full or partial relief. If you are suffering, don't continue to wait. Call your local chiropractor today for a professional no obligation consultation! Author: ChiroPlanet.com Source: Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. Vol 10, Issue 3, September 2011. Copyright: ProfessionalPlanets.com LLC 2011