Back pain is,
sadly, one of humanity's great shared experiences.
It's incredibly
commonplace and although it may be rather more prevalent in some cultures than
others, it's nevertheless found around the globe.
Evolution
It's probably fair
to say that medical scientists don't always fully agree on the percentages of
back troubles that are attributable to this category. Even so, it has been said
that humanity's socio-behavioural changes over the relatively recent (in
evolutionary terms) past seem to have run a bit faster than true evolutionary
biology could keep up!
Many respected
experts point out that our spinal column simply isn't optimally designed for
walking and working upright all the time. In fact, many would argue that our spine
still shows evidence of the time when we used front limbs to help us when
walking and running - the way many apes do today.
While that may all
be true, it doesn't mean we should all start sort of 'shuffling' around with a
stooped back! What it does indicate though is that our back is rather more
susceptible to injury and its associated pain than we'd ideally like.
The clear message
is that it's important to protect and generally 'take care' of your back.
Injuries
Accidents can, of
course, inflict injury on our backs.
In the vast
majority of cases, such injuries are relatively minor and
usually affect elements of our musculature. In everyday language that's often
called "twisting our back" or perhaps "pulling a
muscle".
These injuries can
also be very painful and debilitating but with
painkillers and anti-inflammatories they can often be managed. Sometimes
surgical intervention may be required to assist and as part of the recovery to
full mobility and heath, physiotherapy and chiropractic treatment may be
required.
At times, an injury
may directly affect elements of our spinal column itself. Any such injury is
usually regarded as serious or potentially so and surgery combined with drug
treatments might be necessary.
Posture
A very significant
amount of back pain arises from a class of problems generically related to our
posture.
This touches on the
first point above. Today we live lives that put stresses onto our skeletal
structure, notably our back and neck, which they were never designed by
evolution to handle.
A good example is
the numerous hours many of us spend sitting down hunched over a desk and PC
screen. Nature just didn't see that one coming and as a result, our backs can
start to object - painfully so. Our musculature and the underlying spine can start
to deform and adopt positions that are unhealthy and likely to generate pain.
Chiropractic
treatments can prove very beneficial to many patients here. They may help to
relax and re-set tired and misaligned muscles and joints etc.
It's worth noting
that back pain can be exceptionally difficult for doctors to diagnose precisely
in causal terms. Many patients are unhappy at taking analgesic drugs
ad-infinitum and particularly in the absence of a known cause. Such patients
may find the manipulations of chiropractors beneficial in pain relief.
Lifestyle
Another major cause
of back pain arises from our lifestyle choices.
The nature of our
posture while we work might not be something we can easily control, even with
ergonomic office design. However, we can control things such as:
·
Our lack of exercise / sedentary lifestyle
·
Obesity
·
Over consumption of alcohol and smoking
·
Our diet
·
Stress (both psychological and physical - for example, putting too much
lifting stress on our backs while working).
Chiropractors and
general practitioners have known for years that many of these factors can be
hugely and negatively influential on the health of our back as well as say our
cardio-vascular system. For example, muscles under emotional stress situations
can become unhealthily taut and ripe for problems.
That's why
prevention is stressed today. Many chiropractors will offer an initial examination
to help you understand the health of your spine and surrounding musculature
plus what you can do to improve things.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9570598
