Back pain can range anywhere between being simply an annoyance to crippling.
The most common back pain is simple muscle inflammation, usually as a result from overuse.
Muscle inflammation is generally classified as a sprain or strain . . .
To better understand back pain, lets cover some basic types and causes of back injuries that cause pain. Back pain can range anywhere from being bothersome to life altering, even crippling. The most common back pain is due to lower back muscle inflammation resulting from overuse.
Muscle inflammation is generally classified as either a sprain or strain, often both. With proper care, rest and time, a full recovery can usually be expected from this usually minor form of injury. A sprain can have some degree of micro tearing of the fibers that make-up the muscle and will usually heal by themselves without noticeable after affects.
Larger muscle tears are not as common and usually result from either a strenuous incident or a sudden jerk movement. Even these larger tears can often heal without surgery, but can leave scaring that ultimately inhibits muscle flexibility. Sometimes aggressive massage is required to break-up the scar tissue to help restore muscle flexibility.
When a muscle is strong and healthy (as with athletes), sometimes it is the ligament that will stretch, tear or even detach before the muscle itself tears. Detached ligaments often require reattachment surgery. Some types of reattachments have a high success rate, others do not or can’t even be done.
Another common condition that can cause back pain is when vertebras (back bones) shift out of alignment(displace) and result in a pinched nerve(s). Misalignments (displacements) can occur from an impact as when struck, but often occur as a result of too much muscle tension pulling on them (especially over extended periods of time).
You see, a muscle attaches between two points and pulls, it cannot push, it can only contract (pull) and relax (release). It is the various muscles attaching to specific points on our skeletal structure that enables us to push with our arms, legs and backs. Some of these attachment points are to vertebras, and vertebras will only tolerate so much force for so long. Some people’s backs (or necks) tolerate a lot, others not so much. Physically, we are not all created equal.
Ultimately, some vertebras can get pulled out of place, sometimes its a slow slight movement, other times you can actually feel them suddenly shift, even “pop” out of place. Stiffness, pain or other symptoms may (or may not) follow. Sometimes symptoms follow quickly, other times it’s a day or two before they manifest. When given a sufficient break from the abusive activities, displaced vertebras will sometimes self correct, but often you remain in a weakened state for several weeks following a displacement incident.
Other times professional intervention from a chiropractor, physical therapist or medical doctor may be required to achieve significant relief. Either way, once displaced, the sooner it gets corrected, the better. Like crooked teeth, in time the vertebras will firm up in their new positions making them resist a return to their rightful places. The longer they remain displaced, the more firmly vertebras take a set into their new positions.
If the muscle tension that displaced the vertebra(s) to begin with continues, muscle inflammation pain and other symptoms can continue to worsen. This is often the case with overuse of the back. Continued abuse of the back could lead to much more serious conditions such as herniated discs. Discs are the tough cushion material that flexibly maintain proper spacing between the vertebras. These spaces are critical for providing necessary clearances for nerves that branch out from them to the entire body.
A disc injury can appear in several forms. Discs can compress, dehydrate, bulge, slip, herniate or rupture. Any one of these disc conditions can result in severe pain due to spinal column nerves coming into direct contact with body tissue such as disc material, bone or muscle.
This is where the most common of the serious back problems stem from, bulging or herniated disc material coming into direct contact with nerves. Extreme disc injuries often result in back surgery; most low back surgeries are the result of herniated discs.
Any contact at all with a nerve is painful, certain movements may either increase or decrease the point of contact. This is the stabbing pain we often hear described as though a knife were being shoved into your back. Nerve impingement is not only painful, it could lead to permanent nerve damage. Such nerve damage could cause chronic and severe muscle inflammation, pain, numbness, weakness and tingling sensations in the legs; in extreme cases, even paralysis.
All that has just been described can result simply from too much lower back muscle tension (strain). Muscle strain resulting from too much bending forward and relying on our backs to endure the task of holding-up our overhanging upper body weight. This isn’t usually a problem when done occasionally, however, if you engage in activities requiring long, constant, and/or highly repetitive bending, you’re exposing yourself to a high risk of back injury. As you age, this abuse becomes even more likely to catch up with you.
This abuse is compounded when you lift or support additional objects from a bent-over position. Because of the length of your back in relation to its muscle attachment points, there ends up being a factor of about ten that applies to the pressure placed on your lower back and its discs.
EG: If you had 100 lbs of upper body weight, when you bend over you would impart a 1000 lb load on your lower back and its discs. If you were to lean over and pick-up an additional 50 lbs of weight, you would now impart a 1,500 lb load on your lower back. If you held this 50 lbs away from your body, it would leverage an even greater load effect. Get the picture? Is it any wonder how we injure our lower backs?
Bottom line is this: when you lift, your back should be held straight and your legs should do the lifting, not your back. When you need to bend forward, you should attempt to lean or brace your upper body against something.
By bracing your upper body you can minimize, even eliminate the dangerous stress and disc loading to your lower back. Easier said than done you say? This is where the Springzback™ comes in. It provides upper body support in almost any situation, thus relieving the strain that would otherwise be forced upon your lower back.
If all of this makes sense, you can read more information on how the Springzback™ works, Or just give us a call now to get your questions answered at: