Back Pain Help from your Bellevue Chiropractor

Disclaimer: No individuals, including those under our active care, should use the information, resources or tools contained in this article to self-diagnose or self-treat any health-related condition. Diagnosis and treatment of all health conditions should only be performed by your doctor of Chiropractic or other licensed health care professional.

Back pain is one of the most common ailments around the world and severely affects the lives of millions of people; nearly everyone at some stage of active adult life experiences lower back pain to some degree. It is often described as lumbago, slipped disc, bulged or herniated disc, arthritis in the back, and when it causes pain extending into the leg, sciatica. Proprietary medication is often the first route to back pain relief. The problem with pain relief medication is that it doesn't help the cause of the problem; it merely makes it a little more bearable. Medication should be used sparingly and under the strict supervision of a medical professional, especially when it is used on a regular basis. Fortunately, a number of back pain relief treatments can be very effective without the need for drugs.

The reason back problems are so common is because it is so easy to injure the spine. Once spinal injury has occurred it can be a permanent condition with ongoing and sometimes frequent flare-ups. The most common cause of lower back pain is postural stress. This type of low back pain is frequently brought on by sitting for a long time in a poor position; with a rounded lower back - a loss of the inward hollow or “lordosis” in the small of the back. Jobs which require working in a stooped position (gardening, sweeping, digging, vacuuming, etc.) also put the back at higher risk for injury. Often after a sporting activity, such as golf, jogging, or tennis, we sit and relax; collapsing slouched in a chair or on a bench. Once there is onset of pain, we erroneously blame the sporting event when instead we should consider that the pain has resulted from the poor posture we have adopted using a freshly warmed up back!

Back pain is sometimes caused by a lifting accident or from lifting incorrectly and it is normally the lower back that suffers. Lifting objects with the back rounded has been found to raise the pressure in the discs to a much higher level than when the weight is held with the body upright and the lordosis or inward hollow present. Bending or lifting objects incorrectly has been found to be especially dangerous during the first 4 or 5 hours of the morning.

One of the simplest but also underused remedies is just the act of stretching which can bring relief to tense muscles as well. When we have been sitting or stooping for a prolonged time, the lower back may have lost its inward curve and the contents of the lumbar discs may have become wedged with their contents squeezed towards the rear. Standing upright and bending backwards five or six times immediately before and after lifting can correct any distortion that may have developed and help avoid a potential catastrophe of acute lower back pain. If at present you are experiencing a bout of back pain, especially one resulting from a lifting injury, it is best to completely avoid lifting for a few weeks so that healing of damaged tissues may take place.

There are many passive (therapist performed) treatment options available to today’s back pain patient. Using hands or specialized tools, a licensed massage therapist kneads, rubs and strokes the affected muscles to increase circulation or blood flow. This helps to improve the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and eliminates any acids or other waste products that have accumulated in the tissues, thereby relieving pain. Although acupuncture is an age old Chinese medical practice that has been used for thousands of years, it is only recently that the Western world has accepted it as an alternative form of back pain relief, and recent research has found sufficient evidence to support the use of acupuncture for some conditions.

Osteopathic or chiropractic manipulation can also be very effective at relieving lower back pain. Restoring proper joint motion can eliminate the mechanical stresses that caused the pain in the first place, like removing a rock from your shoe. In most cases, passive treatments should be used in conjunction with other, more active (patient performed) types of treatment during back pain recovery.

McKenzie Method is a physical therapy method of evaluating and treating spinal disorders developed by New Zealand Physiotherapist Robin McKenzie. It involves a mechanical assessment which includes observing the patient's response to repeated, end-range spinal motions. Patients are treated by a combination of specifically tailored postural adjustments, exercises, and in some cases, spinal mobilization or manipulation. The emphasis is on self-treatment and the patient is empowered to take an active role in his or her own recovery.

Dr. Chris Hall is a Bellevue chiropractor who is also a certified McKenzie Mechanical Therapist (Cert. MDT). He has found that by integrating passive therapies for immediate pain relief (massage, manipulation) and active therapies for long term patient independence (McKenzie exercises), treatment regimens are greatly reduced and the patient has the necessary skills to avoid future episodes. For back pain patients in Bellevue chiropractic treatment and rehabilitation with Chris Hall, DC, Cert. MDT can be the shortest path to a permanently pain-free back!