The short answer???? Almost never. Read on and we’ll explain
YOUR BACK PAIN MAY NOT BE CAUSING YOUR BACK PROBLEM
People often have the misconception that the pain and the problem are one in the same. However, if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, we can see how overlooked injuries set us up for future problems in the body. For example, let us imagine that you sprained your ankle playing a sport. Inflammation, swelling, and pain develop initially as your body attempts to protect the area and signal the body to focus healing efforts on the sprained ankle. This is a completely natural process because our bodies are meant to heal. However, what happens if your body doesn’t fully recover to the pre-injury state?
A STORY OF HOW BACK PAIN CAN DEVELOP
Imagine if your ankle muscles were not reset to their original balance during the healing process. What would happen? Eventually, the pain and inflammation would subside, but the problem (i.e. the imbalanced ankle muscle) would persist even after the pain goes away. This imbalance forces the body to compensate in other ways. Maybe the hamstring becomes tighter to carry on the extra strain. This causes imbalances in the quads and leads other muscles to compensate. Eventually, what started off as a muscle imbalance leads to an onion effect where layers of compensation develop over years of time. Eventually, the body loses its ability to compensate and an injury occurs (Ex. Your lower back goes out from picking up a pencil, lifting a box or doing something you’ve done several times before without ever experiencing an injury). The situation draws us to the doctor’s office complaining of lower back pain. That’s where it hurts and the ankle injury that occurred years ago is completely ignored. In the end, the Doctor focuses his/her attention on the back pain, relief is minimized and the back pain becomes a chronic problem.
FINDING THE CAUSE OF LOW BACK PAIN
Back problems can have a number of causes. Looking at the ankle is just one example out of many that can lead to the back pain. Throughout the years we’ve seen causes of lower back pain related to…
Old or persistent injuries
Imbalances in the way a person walks
Problems in the feet, pelvis, knees, neck and even shoulders
Digestive issues
Weight issues
Dehydration
Allergies
Nutritional imbalances (Specifically imbalances related to the production of natural anti-inflammatories)
Emotional patterns (particularly those related to fear)
Everyone has a different story to tell when it comes to their back pain. We find that focusing on a person’s medical history is a key to helping our patients get results that last. If you need help looking into possibilities, schedule a free consultation. We’re here to help.
Life is Always Better in Full Color,
Drs. Richard Tran and Michelle Hsu (Chiropractic Kinesiologist)