Back Chiropractor Discusses Back Pain and Posture
Low back pain is one of the most common ailments that chiropractors treat. That’s probably because MOST of us will suffer from low back pain that requires outside help at some point in our lives! Posture has long been studied as a potential cause of low back pain.
A December 2014 study looked at posture in two groups of lower back pain patients and its relationship with problems associated with intervertebral disk diseases. The low back area has an arched or inward curve called the “lumbar lordosis” (or, the “swayback” area), and is variable in terms of the angle or amount of arch, and normally differs between males and females. This arch can be attributed to the cause of low back pain in some people.
Research has determined that when a chiropractor treats patients with low back pain, some patients feel better when placed in a bent forwards position, or they favor a flat low back curve. Others have the opposite response, or their position of preference favors a more curved (arched) lower spine. The reason for this difference is that low back pain is generated from different tissues in the low back, and some tissues feel better in one position and typically feel worse in the opposite direction when injured.
The intervertebral disks in the spine lie between the vertebral bodies and serve as “shock absorbers” for the spine and trunk. The center, or “nucleus,” of the disk is liquid-like and is usually well contained inside the disk, held by a tough, outer fibrocartilage material (the “annulus”). The disk is approximately 80% water, and as we age, the water content gradually reduces and the disk spaces narrow, thus limiting the mobility of that part of the spine. More importantly, degenerative disk disease usually narrows the size of the canals through which the spinal cord and nerve roots travel. When we bend forward, these canals open up wider placing less pressure on the nerves and/or spinal cord.
This is why we often see elderly people leaning on grocery carts when shopping, as it hurts less and they can walk longer and farther. Those with herniated disks tend to be the opposite, as they favor bending backward as this position shifts the nucleus or liquid center forwards and away from the nerve root thus reducing the pinched nerve resulting in less or complete elimination of radiating leg pain.
Are you suffering from low back pain and are asking the question, “Are there back surgery alternatives?” Call McKim Chiropractic for more information about the DRS Protocol™, a non-surgical spinal decompression therapy which relieves back pain associated with spinal and disc problems. Our licensed and certified staff is happy to help the residents of Nampa, ID obtain a pain-free living.
