Back Pain
July 2009. Filed in: Pain
Today, we continue with the theme of pain. However, the primary focus of today's Blog will be be on Back Pain. Back pain will effect 3 in every 4 people at some stage in their lives; for most people it will be short lived and - at worst - unpleasantly painful. For the unfortunate few it will be absolutely debilitating.
Today, we continue with the theme of pain. However, the primary focus of today will be Back Pain. Back pain will effect 3 in every 4 people at some stage in their lives; for most people it will be short lived and - at worst - unpleasantly painful. For the unfortunate few it will be absolutely debilitating.
Back pain accounts for about 65-70% of those who seek out our services. So, we know a little about back pain. We thought it might be useful to look at back pain from several significant angles. It may help you to understand that not all back pain is the same. In fact, every person with back pain presents with a unique story and we pride ourselves on being able to read that story and - in most cases - provide you with a good ending.
Whilst the following categories are not ones you are likely to run across in the text books, they are nevertheless useful ways of categorising back pain. We believe that they will make more sense to you - especially if you suffer from back pain. Today we will take a look at the categories and next week we will look at how and what sort of treatment is helpful.
Structural Back Pain:
Structural back pain is due to physiological changes to the actual structural integrity of the spine. This category includes damage to discs (bulges, prolapses, impact injuries, etc.); damage to the vertebrae (wear and tear with age, cracks, breaks and changes to the bone structure); neurological damage (trauma to the spinal cord; peripheral nerves, paralysis, carcinomas, etc.); arthritic damage (the most common being osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. There are more of course).
Structural problems all require treatment; how much and what we will look at next week.
Postural Back Pain
This one is pretty much speaks for itself. Mostly due to work related issues, such as incorrect lifting, siting too long and excessive standing in the one spot. Not everyone who present with postural related pain requires treatment. Often it is simply a case of being aware of how you are creating the pain, and doing some corrective work, and/or exercises and the pain will soon subside.
Functional Pain
Functional pain is a little more challenging to describe. Perhaps the best way to think about functional pain is to think of it as being due to something else going on which is not always related to the back itself. It could be due to internal conditions referring to the back, such as bladder, kidney, liver or bowel infections or carcinomas.
We might also include in this category such things as muscle spasms, tissue injury and general poor health.
Emotional Pain
By emotional pain we mean pain which is - either directly or indirectly - due to the muscular tension and strain caused by life's traumas, upsets and stressors. Whilst this is not often acknowledged we see it every day in our clinic. People carry their worries and concerns in their muscles and often this manifests in the back, shoulders and neck (and gut). So severe are some cases, that the pain is far more debilitating than the physical trauma cases.
This type of back pain presentation is on the increase. Probably because of the increasing stresses and strains of the 21st century. So much so, we will devote an entire Blog to this presenation - in two weeks time.
In the meantime, if you suffer from back pain, give us a call for some expert advise on what would be most appropriate for you. Please return next week for a full and frank discussion on the treatment approaches to each of the above types of back pain.
Back pain accounts for about 65-70% of those who seek out our services. So, we know a little about back pain. We thought it might be useful to look at back pain from several significant angles. It may help you to understand that not all back pain is the same. In fact, every person with back pain presents with a unique story and we pride ourselves on being able to read that story and - in most cases - provide you with a good ending.
Whilst the following categories are not ones you are likely to run across in the text books, they are nevertheless useful ways of categorising back pain. We believe that they will make more sense to you - especially if you suffer from back pain. Today we will take a look at the categories and next week we will look at how and what sort of treatment is helpful.
Structural Back Pain:
Structural back pain is due to physiological changes to the actual structural integrity of the spine. This category includes damage to discs (bulges, prolapses, impact injuries, etc.); damage to the vertebrae (wear and tear with age, cracks, breaks and changes to the bone structure); neurological damage (trauma to the spinal cord; peripheral nerves, paralysis, carcinomas, etc.); arthritic damage (the most common being osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. There are more of course).
Structural problems all require treatment; how much and what we will look at next week.
Postural Back Pain
This one is pretty much speaks for itself. Mostly due to work related issues, such as incorrect lifting, siting too long and excessive standing in the one spot. Not everyone who present with postural related pain requires treatment. Often it is simply a case of being aware of how you are creating the pain, and doing some corrective work, and/or exercises and the pain will soon subside.
Functional Pain
Functional pain is a little more challenging to describe. Perhaps the best way to think about functional pain is to think of it as being due to something else going on which is not always related to the back itself. It could be due to internal conditions referring to the back, such as bladder, kidney, liver or bowel infections or carcinomas.
We might also include in this category such things as muscle spasms, tissue injury and general poor health.
Emotional Pain
By emotional pain we mean pain which is - either directly or indirectly - due to the muscular tension and strain caused by life's traumas, upsets and stressors. Whilst this is not often acknowledged we see it every day in our clinic. People carry their worries and concerns in their muscles and often this manifests in the back, shoulders and neck (and gut). So severe are some cases, that the pain is far more debilitating than the physical trauma cases.
This type of back pain presentation is on the increase. Probably because of the increasing stresses and strains of the 21st century. So much so, we will devote an entire Blog to this presenation - in two weeks time.
In the meantime, if you suffer from back pain, give us a call for some expert advise on what would be most appropriate for you. Please return next week for a full and frank discussion on the treatment approaches to each of the above types of back pain.