When your tooth hurts, you seek out a dentist. When a skin problem arises, a dermatologist can offer relief. For problems with the musculoskeletal system such as back pain, a chiropractic physician is your best option. Chiropractor back pain treatment plans are solely created on an individual basis, to fit each patient to their specific healthcare needs. There are many causes of back pain and many locations throughout the back where pain can arise.

Cervical Pain

The cervical spine is the region of the back that includes the spinal vertebrae from C1 to C7. This neck portion of the back can be injured from whiplash, sprains, strains and other forms of trauma and poor posture. A cervical spine fracture or a herniated disc will cause a tremendous amount of pain in the neck.

Thoracic Pain

The thoracic spine includes vertebrae beginning at T1 and extending to T12. This portion of the spine is the longest segment, covering most of the back beginning at the upper shoulders and extending to near the bottom of the ribcage. This large segment of the spine is the least flexible and because of this, back pain is less common in the thoracic spine.

Lumbar Spine

The lumbar spine contains the L1 through L5 vertebrae. It is this region of the spine that, when there is dysfunction or injury, will cause low back pain. Low back pain is very common and in most cases the cause of pain is not life-threatening. There are some rare medical conditions that do produce feelings of low back pain however, so it is important to seek treatment for persistent low back pain.

Diagnosis and Treatment

A chiropractic physician is trained in the diagnosis and treatment of all forms of back pain. The goal of chiropractic care to is eliminate the cause of the back pain whenever medically appropriate through conservative care options such as rehab, massage therapy and chiropractic manipulation. From a patient evaluation and physical examination, a chiropractic physician will determine if treatment is appropriate. There are some medical conditions that would prevent a chiropractor from beginning chiropractic care for a patient and in these instances, the patient would be referred to another medical specialist for care. For those patients that are indicated for chiropractic treatment plans, the length and type of care required for resolution of the back pain will be dependent on the severity and duration of the pain.

References Cited in this Article

www.spine-health.com                       www.medicinenet.com

Are you pregnant and experiencing agonizing and unrelenting back pain?  You’re not alone; Pregnancy and Back Pain almost always go hand-in-hand.  The reasons why this happens is due to the following: you’re gaining weight, you’re walking in a different way, and your hormones are relaxing the muscles and ligaments in your body. 

How to ease back pain at home

There’s absolutely no reason to do nothing about the back pain while pregnant.  Here is a list of some common things to perform at home to reduce the effects: sleep on your side holding a body pillow between your legs and arms, sit and stand appropriately, always practice good posture by tucking the buttocks under bringing the chin and head to anatomical position, when lifting lift with your legs and also only objects that aren’t too heavy, wear proper fit shoes with a good arch support, exercise regularly but not strenuously, perform pelvic tilt exercises, and try heat or cold compresses at home. 

How to ease back pain outside of the home

While performing at home regimens is necessary, sometimes it’s just not enough to ease the pain and discomfort of back pain.  Some women choose to seek out the care of Chiropractors, Massage therapists, and Acupuncturists.  Some Chiropractors are skilled in the Webster technique, a technique which stabilizes the women’s pelvis by adjusting the sacrum and performing soft tissue techniques to the ligaments of the pelvis like the round, broad, and the sacro-tuberous ligaments.  Massage therapists may receive additional training in the art of pregnancy massage.  In these classes, the massage therapists are trained in proper bolstering of pillows, proper draping, and techniques to not only reduce the patient’s back pain but also the therapist who is performing the massage session.  It is always important to obtain clearance from the OBGYN before administering massage therapy, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy.  Skeptics claim that it could possibly cause a spontaneous abortion and must be contraindicated.  However, this has not been proven recently.  In addition, Acupuncture may provide the pregnant patient with reduced back pain and a sense of calm as well.  Acupuncturists will help to balance the patient’s chakras and meridians.  In the third trimester upon the delivery date, they will be able to induce delivery by applying pressure to specific points on the hands and feet.  These points may also reduce the pain that the pregnant women feels while laboring.   

Many individuals wonder, “How can I adjust my work station to fit my body?”  Well here’s your chance to learn just that.  Let’s first begin by understanding what the work ergonomics means?  “Ergo” means to work, and “nomics” means rules or laws.  This means the laws of work figuratively speaking.  OSHA defines ergonomics as, “the science of designing the job to fit the worker, instead of forcing the worker to fit the job.”  Ergonomics helps to make the job safe as well as decrease the strain on the human body.  This will help with being healthy and happy as well.  This saves the company much more money in both the short and long term. 

Two Categories of Ergonomic Factors

 There are two ergonomic factors, they are physical and environmental.  Environmental problems include but are not limited to the following: excessive noise levels, inadequate lightening, and fluctuations in temperature.  Physical factors can put pressure on the joints, ligaments, and muscles of the human body therefore causing pain, irritability, and absenteeism.  These are sometimes referred to as Cumulative Trauma Disorders or Repetitive Strain Injuries.  These may include: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Epicondylitis, Tenosynovitis, and Bursitis.  Most of these injuries would not happen if only performed once but thousands of repetitions later it begins to become a physical problem.  Such factors include: thousands of strikes typing, clicking the mouse over and over, and hours of filling, stocking, and lifting.  Awkward positions can also cause a physical problem such as: having an anterior head carriage and rounded shoulders at the computer desk, reaching to the mouse, an abnormal angle while typing, lifting items above shoulders or below the waist, twisting to look at the computer monitor, and bringing the ear to the shoulder while on the telephone.  These can all put unnecessary strain on the shoulders, back and neck creating pressure; therefore, pain.  Too much more on the keyboard, improper grip, and stamping are all types of pressure that can cause repetitive stress injuries as well.  When seated, your elbows should remain hanging at the sides of your shoulders and they should be as relaxed as possible.  In addition, you should use a back rest, keep your feet planted on the floor, and decrease the need to lean forward.  Next, keep your wrists in a neutral and comfortable position and be sure to not bend them up and down or side to side too much.  These are all simple tips that should be practice for Office Ergonomics and also at home too!

Source: OSHA

Health is functioning at 100% of your full potential.  In 1999 Golf Magazine Tiger Woods stated, “We are playing for a lot of money out here and most guys realize how important it is to take care of your body and stay in shape.  That’s the equipment you really take care of-your body!”  Where exactly do you stand?  Is your golf game better than it was five years ago?  Will your golf game be better five years from now than it is today?  Proper mechanics can prevent pain and injury.  The most common injuries occur in the soft tissue such as: muscles, ligaments, tendons, and the joints of the body more commonly seen in the lower back, elbow, shoulder, and wrist.  Professional golfers have more overuse injuries than weekend players due to repetition.  However, the amateurs are much more likely to get injured because they aren’t conditioned enough.  What are the causes of golf injuries?  They are overuse, not stretching prior to playing, poor mechanics, hitting the ground when you swing, overuse, over-swinging, twisting the spine while swinging, and an incorrect grip on the club.  There are 30 million golfers in the United States alone!  There are several factors which are involved in a basic golf game and they include: basic introduction, shot- making skills, physical conditioning, equipment fitting, course instruction, and mental alertness.  There are many physical factors that can determine a golfer’s physical capabilities.  80% of all golfers play with a golf injury at some point in their life.  Why would you want to be in that statistic?  Be one of the 20% that resolves the golf injury.  Age brings about reduced muscle mass, less endurance and flexibility, and poor balance.  The highest proportion of injury is located in the wrists, elbows, and shoulders. 

Golfer’s Elbow

Medial Epicondylitis is also known as Golfer’s Elbow; this particular condition is seen very frequently in golfer’s.  This is caused from overuse –period.  Other activities that can cause this include: typing, splitting wood and hammering nails.  Initial treatment includes rest followed by restricting the activity that caused it in the first place.  Ice the elbow several times a day and have it evaluated by a physician.  Prevention tips include: larger club grips, soft neutral grips, irons with less vibration components, graphite shafts, selecting proper club length, and strengthening your forearm muscles will all help with Golf Injury Prevention.

The golf swing is the most stressful motion on the lower back.  The start is static and then you propel and rotate your spine as far as it will go forcefully while keeping the lower body stable.  If you have low rotational abilities, you are at high risk for low back injuries.  You will not have the strength to generate any power to impact; therefore your drive will be inadequate.  Muscles of the lower back are usually tight and weak.  You are swinging a three foot club one hundred miles per hour.  Torque in the low back is not beneficial to your spine because this is not a natural movement that your spine usually does. 

Stretching and Strengthening exercises

The lower back should be stretched daily to decrease pain and stiffness.  Strengthening exercises can be done three times a week.  These particular muscles include the buttocks, lower back, hamstrings, and abdominals.  Golf cancause back pain in those individuals who don’t exercise and stretch before playing.  Some tips to prevent lower back pain include but are not limited to: rotating the shoulder and hip about the same amount during the back swing, and keeping the spine vertical during the follow-through while avoiding hyper-extension of the spinal column.  It’s very important to stretch before and after you golf.  Warm up with five minutes of walking, hold for ten seconds and repeat three times, and perform one set per day.  Start by stretching the Quadriceps, place back against a chair and cross arms, one foot rests on the chair behind you while you tighten your buttocks and rotate side-to-side.  You can stretch your lower back by holding onto the chair and keeping your spine straight.  Then move your body down and away from your hands until you feel a stretch in your armpits.  You can stretch your hips by doing hip flexor stretches to stretch the psoas muscle.  Then, lean until you feel a pulling sensation.  Add rotation by pulling the knee to the opposite shoulder.  To stretch the hip flexors, kneel on the knee holding the golf club with the adjacent hand.  Lean forward by allowing your body weight to go to the front.  You should feel this in the hip and thigh muscles.  Golf and Low Back Pain may go hand-in-hand but prevention and stretching is the key to survival and reduced injury.

Millions of Americans each and every year suffer from debilitating back pain.  Low Back Pain is a major culprit for absenteeism within the workplace and employers are starting to take notice.  Back pain can be from a host of conditions such as but not limited to the following: strain/sprains, metastasis, Sciatica, Piriformis syndrome, Scoliosis, trauma, infection, repetitive use, etc. 

Chiropractic care

Chiropractors specialize in maintaining balance within the nervous system.  This system is the most important system in the entire body controlling and coordinating every organ system and body part.  The first take a detailed case history and physical examination to determine levels of subluxation with the spine and/or extremities.  A subluxation is a mis-alignment of a bone which may put pressure on a surrounding nerve root and cause pain and inflammation.  They will next apply a manual adjustment in the correct line of drive to correct this subluxation.  They may also incorporate the use of physiotherapy modalities to speed up the recovery process such as: electrical muscle stimulation, cold laser, ultrasound, whirlpool bed, inter-segmental traction, massage therapy, acupuncture, etc.  In addition to physiotherapy modalities, Chiropractors may also utilize the PRICE therapy regimen which stands for protect, rest, ice, compression, and elevation.

 Low Back Pain due to repetitive stress

Repetitive stress injuries occur every day costing employers high dollars.  This can be greatly reduced or even eliminated by employing good standards within the workplace environment by utilizing ergonomically-correct equipment.  These may include specialized keyboards and monitors to alleviate signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, well-equipped chairs to decrease back strain and hyper-lordosis, and therapeutic balls to sit on while at desks and workstations to alleviate low back pain and inflammation. 

Kidney Stones are solid masses made up of tiny crystals.  Kidney Stones may be extremely painful especially when in the ureters.  Pain will come on very rapidly and they may diminish fast as well.  The patient will complain of severe discomfort in the flank near the kidney or in the belly.  Pain may also be felt in the groin or testicular region as well depending on where the stone is located at the time.  The largest risk factor for Kidney Stones is dehydration and symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, abnormal urine color, blood in the urine, chills, and fever.

Causes

Kidney Stones usually develop due to elevated levels of certain substances in the body which can form crystals.  Calcium stones are the most common type of stones and occur more frequently in men than women and happen around 20-30 years of age.  Diseases of the small intestine can increase the risk of contracting calcium oxalate stones.  Cystine stones form in patients with Cystinuria; this runs in families and affects men and women alike.  Struvite stones are found mostly in women suffering from urinary tract infections and can grow very large.  Finally, uric acid stones are more commonly found in men suffering from Gout or receive chemotherapy. 

Treatment Goals

The goal of treatment is to relieve the patient’s symptoms and prevent reoccurrence of the stones.  Once the patient gets a stone their more likely to get them in the future, especially if the cause isn’t diagnosed.  Stones that are small enough should pass on their own without medical intervention; however, some stones are too large and severe and require medical intervention.  Depending on the type of stones, physicians may prescribe the following medications such as: Allopurinol for uric acid stones, Antibiotics for struvite stones, Diuretics, Phosphate solutions, Sodium bicarbonate, and Sodium citrate which both make the urine more alkaline.  In severe cases surgery is needed when the stone is one or more of the following: too large to pass, the stone is growing, or the stone is blocking urine flow causing a kidney infection or damage.  More modern treatment forms for kidney removal include: extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, ureteroscopy, and standard open surgery for removal. 

Kidney Stones can cause severe damage if left untreated or the cause isn’t diagnosed.  They can cause chronic kidney damage, urinary tract infections, loss of function in the kidney, obstruction of the ureters, and reoccurrence of the stones.  Chiropractors need to be able to distinguish the presence of kidney stones and infections as they mimic back pain in most instances.  A routine urine test will show the presence of crystals in the urine and the patient should exhibit some tell tale signs and symptoms as well.  Early detection is the key for good kidney health!

A disc herniation is when the inner nucleus pulposus travels beyond the limits of the outer annular fibrotic ring.  This in turn may put added pressure on spinal nerve roots causing pain, local inflammation, and sensory and motor deficits.  Since our discs are filled with water, they begin to degenerate and lose that water capacity as we age.  This is why disc herniations are most common in our 20’s and 30’s because this is when there fully hydrated and were active.  Disc herniations can be caused from several things such as: trauma, overuse and repetitive injuries, etc.  As we age, our discs begin to lose water causing us to “shrink” in height overall somewhat.  Disc Herniations Neck and Low Back are the most common areas for discs to herniate in the spine.  Most commonly, lumbar disc herniations happen between the fourth and fifth vertebra or between the fifth vertebra and the sacrum.  Furthermore, cervical disc herniations most commonly occur between the fifth and sixth vertebra or between the sixth and seventh vertebra.  Lumbar disc herniations are fifteen times more likely to occur than cervical disc herniations.  Disc Herniations are diagnosed via detailed case history, a comprehensive physical examination testing sensory, motor and reflex responses, and special imaging such as an MRI report.  This will determine if the herniation is contained, non-contained, a protrusion, extrusion, or sequestration.  When the disc herniation is deemed non-contained, the herniation is impeding on the spinal cord; this can lead to possible paralysis and devastating long-term sensory and motor deficits. 

Disc herniations and Chiropractic Care

When a disc herniation is said to be mild, moderate, and/or contained, alternative Chiropractic care may be administered.  When the herniation is severe and/or non-contained, surgical intervention is the most appropriate treatment option.  Chiropractors will employ a few different techniques in the treatment of disc herniations including: manual adjustments, Cox Flexion/Distraction technique, and spinal decompression.  Both Cox technique and spinal decompression open up the facet joints allowing the disc space to open up, freeing pressure off the spinal nerves.  This will ultimately decrease pain, local inflammation, restore range of motion, and improve sensory and motor function.    

Unfortunately, Depression and Back Pain go hand in hand.  Nearly, 90% of all Americans will experience at least one bout of back pain within their lifetime.  Back pain is one of the most common reasons for absenteeism in the workplace in the United States.  It only makes sense that depression would coincide with back pain when an individual is laid off or fired from their position due to time off work.  Back pain can be caused from a number of conditions and/or diseases such as the following: pregnancy, poor posture, being overweight or obese, strain/sprains, rib subluxations or mis-alignments, Sciatica, Piriformis Syndrome, disc herniations, canal stenosis, trauma, Scoliosis, metastasis (cancer), and space-occupying lesions such as tumors.  

Chiropractic Care

Many individuals seek out the help of a Chiropractic physician to relieve their back pain.  Chiropractors spend about eight years studying the sciences in the following subject areas: human anatomy and physiology, kinesiology, pathology, physiotherapy, radiology, embryology, histology, dermatology, gynecology, clinical assessment and skills application, etc.  They go on to perform and perfect their adjusting skills as an intern under the supervision of a licensed Chiropractic clinician for another sixteen months.  Once graduated, the doctor focuses his/her attention on the ever-important nervous system for diagnosis and treatment purposes.  The nervous system is the most important system in the human body which controls and coordinates every organ system and body part in the body.  They will use their static and kinetic palpation skills to safely and effectively find subluxations or mis-alignments within the spine and/or extremities.  They will then deliver a specific adjustment to correct this to restore range of motion and nerve flow.  They work closely with massage therapists and acupuncturists to further maintain homeostasis and balance in the body.  They may also incorporate physiotherapy modalities to achieve the desired results faster such as: ultrasound, electrical muscle stimulation, cold laser, inter-segmental traction, whirlpool bed, spinal decompression, etc.  Since depression is a common concern, they may also co-treat with a Psychologist or Psychiatrist for necessary pharmaceutical administration and/or counseling. 

Your body is an amazing entity designed to achieve movement, digestion, blood circulation, excretion, and thought processes.  If the body is not working properly, pain or problems can be experienced in another location.  For instance, if you have a weak hip your back, knee, and ankle will attempt to compensate for the issue.  Most of time you don’t notice these subtle changes because your body is still able to function-just not function well.  Individuals will walk differently, put weight on only one leg constantly, or torque their spine when their body is compensating for an injury.  These compensations can even cause your body to have a headache due to correction of the issue.  If healing doesn’t occur normally due to surgery or injury, permanent biomechanical changes can greatly affect your musculoskeletal system in a negative way.  These individuals experience chronic pain and decreased range of motion which is usually localized in nature.  Chiropractic care can help to remove interference to the nervous system and of course relieve pain; however, the issue may lie in The Feet.  Individuals with a foot imbalance have found in some cases that their orthotics they wear have alleviated their knee, back, or neck pain.  Improper arches and foot problems can be caused years of abuse and repetitive strain on the body.  This can also be due to walking on hard and uneven surfaces over a period of time.  Feet should be scanned in a Chiropractic or Podiatry office to determine the foot condition.  The scan shows a normal and then compares your feet to the normal model’s feet. 

Orthotics

So if the foot scan shows an improper arch what should I do?  The simple answer is to wear orthotics.  Orthotics helps balance the feet and allow your weight to be distributed naturally onto your feet.  These help you walk more appropriately and play sports and activities a little easier.  There are many orthotic companies available but not all are alike.  Some use metal casting while others go the much more inexpensive route.  It’s important to look at good proper fit, lifestyle and what the orthotics are assisting in, budget, and whether or not the insurance pays a portion of the orthotics.  One company that many Chiropractic offices uses is Foot Levelers.  Foot Levelers has been around for many years and is very Chiropractic-friendly and provides their doctors with easy scanning machines that are user-friendly as well.