Low back pain still forms part of the top two reasons why people visit chiropractors. And it’s responsible for up to 40% of missed workdays. For the majority out there, back pain is not a “disease”, and for most of us it’ll get better by itself…right? Here’s the lowdown, 30% of you will have re-occurrence within 6 months, and 40% within one year.
If it sounds familiar, maybe you should stop seeing back pain as an isolated event, making changes to your sleeping pattern, choosing to live an active life, and getting the nutrition’s needed alongside an effective treatment plan should be of top priority.
There are a few different patterns of back pain.
- Back dominant pain
Some patients have only pain in their back whilst others can feel the pain going right don their leg too, with back pain still being overriding though. Typically a person would say they find it relieving doing “quick” forward or side stretches. This type of pain would be described as “good” pain since there’s probably no damage to the nerves or spinal cord and there’s no need for surgery. Typically this type of back pain comes and goes, or comes in the form of a spasm.
- Leg dominant pain
There are two common presentations. The first comes from a disc problem, and puts pressure on the nerves and it travels down the leg. This is typically referred to as sciatica. See article: http://chiropracticdubai.com/chiropractic-info/cox-flexion-distraction-a-proven-treatment-for-treating-back-pain-sciatica-2/. It’s a constant pain that tends to feel better when you lie down…
The second is noticeable when standing, walking or running. Pain relief would come from sitting or bending forward. Patients usually feel the pain aggravating when walking, which causes them to stop being active and fall into a sedentary lifestyle. The medical term for this is Neurogenic Claudication. This is common amongst older patients (usually over 60) and it happens as a result of stenosis (narrowing) of the spinal tunnel.
Chiropractic, physiotherapy, massage and acupuncture are so called active therapy methods. The amount of treatments needed varies and depends on the patient, but an average amount would be between 8-10 sessions.
