Excruciating back pain with the smallest movements, trouble getting out of bed, difficulty sleeping and loss of appetite make working, caring for yourself or children or exercising near impossible. You may need to rely on someone else to help you and your family. Is this something that is familiar to you?
Back pain is reported to affect 1 in every 6 people in Australia. That’s 3.7 million people in 2014-15 according to Australia Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
Four in five back pain sufferers reported limitation in activity, that is, difficulty in everyday tasks and activities with mobility, communication, work and self-care. At worst, a person can have serious neurological symptoms including loss of sensation and strength to legs and loss of bowel and bladder control that usually warrants surgery. Back pain is the third leading cause of disease burden in Australia according to AIHW's recent data.
Though common, back pain is not normal. Back pain usually occurs when there are problems in joints, muscles, fascia, ligaments and discs anywhere along the spine (back bones from the neck to the pelvis). For the purpose of this article, issues in the upper, middle and lower back will be addressed. Neck pain will be discussed on another page.
Many associate low back pain with sciatica and or disc disorders. What are they and are they related to each other?
Four in five back pain sufferers reported limitation in activity, that is, difficulty in everyday tasks and activities with mobility, communication, work and self-care. At worst, a person can have serious neurological symptoms including loss of sensation and strength to legs and loss of bowel and bladder control that usually warrants surgery. Back pain is the third leading cause of disease burden in Australia according to AIHW's recent data.
Though common, back pain is not normal. Back pain usually occurs when there are problems in joints, muscles, fascia, ligaments and discs anywhere along the spine (back bones from the neck to the pelvis). For the purpose of this article, issues in the upper, middle and lower back will be addressed. Neck pain will be discussed on another page.
Many associate low back pain with sciatica and or disc disorders. What are they and are they related to each other?
SCIATICA
Sciatica is a term that describes pain that travels anywhere from the low back down one or both legs. The pain may be felt in your buttocks or leg, or shoot down to your toes. The pain is often brought on or made worse by movements or postures that places more pressure on the involved nerve.
Every part of your body is supplied with nerves that carry information to and from the brain via the spinal cord. The spinal cord is protected by the bony spine that has joints to allow for movement so that you can move your back. Each spinal bone is called a vertebra. The discs in between each bony vertebra cushion impact along the spine to prevent wear and tear to the spine. It is important to know that in between each vertebra are gaps in the spine for the nerves to exit the spinal encasement to travel to other parts of the body. So for example, an L4 nerve that comes off the spinal cord will exit in between the lowest two vertebra (see image above) and travel down the leg, splitting off at various points into smaller nerves to communicate with parts of your low back, lower limb and even parts of your reproductive organs.
Anything that decreases the spaces for the nerves to exit from the spinal cord area can negatively affect function of the nerves and thus the parts of the body the nerve is supplying. What decreases these spaces? Conditions including inflammation from a spinal joint sprain, osteoarthritis (bony spurs growing out of your spinal bones that can grow towards the direction of the nerve) and disc problems (eg. disc bulge directly placing pressure on the nerves). A person can experience all of these simultaneously.
Every part of your body is supplied with nerves that carry information to and from the brain via the spinal cord. The spinal cord is protected by the bony spine that has joints to allow for movement so that you can move your back. Each spinal bone is called a vertebra. The discs in between each bony vertebra cushion impact along the spine to prevent wear and tear to the spine. It is important to know that in between each vertebra are gaps in the spine for the nerves to exit the spinal encasement to travel to other parts of the body. So for example, an L4 nerve that comes off the spinal cord will exit in between the lowest two vertebra (see image above) and travel down the leg, splitting off at various points into smaller nerves to communicate with parts of your low back, lower limb and even parts of your reproductive organs.
Anything that decreases the spaces for the nerves to exit from the spinal cord area can negatively affect function of the nerves and thus the parts of the body the nerve is supplying. What decreases these spaces? Conditions including inflammation from a spinal joint sprain, osteoarthritis (bony spurs growing out of your spinal bones that can grow towards the direction of the nerve) and disc problems (eg. disc bulge directly placing pressure on the nerves). A person can experience all of these simultaneously.
CAN CHIROPRACTIC HELP?
Yes! Chiropractic has been known to help back pain sufferers all over the world for more than a century. Today we have research to show that chiropractic is effective in dealing with low back pain (Source: Roy, R, Boucher, J and Comtois, A (2010), “Inflammatory response following a short-term course of chiropractic treatment in subjects with and without chronic low back pain,” Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 2010 Sep; 9(3):107-114, Effective management of low back pain: it’s time to accept the evidence. Pran Manga, Douglas E Angus, and William R Swan J Can Chiropr Assoc. 1993 Dec; 37(4): 221–229.).
A chiropractor looks for chiropractic subluxations - meaning, joints that are “stuck” or are in a wrong position. This is different from the medical term subluxation which is essentially a dislocation. Chiropractic subluxations cause muscle/ligament tension and imbalances, as well as inflammation at the joint. Consequently, the nerves exiting the spine may become irritated leading to disruption to nerve supplies. It is not uncommon for chiropractors to find joints that don't move well in a person's low back who also reportedly suffers from sciatica, leg muscle weakness, clumsiness and or leg swelling.
Chiropractic adjustments aim to restore proper movement in these poorly moving joints. This allows the nervous system to function better. Improvement may be felt immediately or it may be gradual.
If you or your loved ones would like chiropractic care foir back pain, book online or contact Soul Chiropractic today on 0415300341 or [email protected]
A chiropractor looks for chiropractic subluxations - meaning, joints that are “stuck” or are in a wrong position. This is different from the medical term subluxation which is essentially a dislocation. Chiropractic subluxations cause muscle/ligament tension and imbalances, as well as inflammation at the joint. Consequently, the nerves exiting the spine may become irritated leading to disruption to nerve supplies. It is not uncommon for chiropractors to find joints that don't move well in a person's low back who also reportedly suffers from sciatica, leg muscle weakness, clumsiness and or leg swelling.
Chiropractic adjustments aim to restore proper movement in these poorly moving joints. This allows the nervous system to function better. Improvement may be felt immediately or it may be gradual.
If you or your loved ones would like chiropractic care foir back pain, book online or contact Soul Chiropractic today on 0415300341 or [email protected]