Several days ago, I received an e-mail from a reputable source of medical information which contained information about back pain. The article began with a quiz about the causes of back pain. One asked what was the leading cause of back pain and among the choices were muscles and the spine. As a chiropractor, I knew the answer to that one, but they said I was wrong. The right answer, according to them, was the muscles.
This is typical for many medical analyses of health problems. They stop with the symptom instead of finding the cause(s). If they treat the symptom the cause does not disappear. While it is true that muscles can be strained or injured, in most non-traumatic cases of back pain, the CAUSE is related to the spine. Most patients sing a familiar refrain, "Doc, I didn't do anything." The prescribing of muscle relaxers does not often relieve the pain.
The spinal muscles, which are supposed to be the CAUSE of the pain, are, in fact, reacting to mechanical faults in the spine. It's their job. Just as muscles contract when tension is placed upon their tendons, they react, go into spasm, when the spinal segment to which they are attached places stress on them because of abnormal position or movement. THEN the muscles hurt. But, there is also pain from nerve irritation, the so-called "pinched nerve". The logical treatment for these conditions is to correct "the pinch" and restore the normal position of the segment(s) involved, and therefore the movement, causing the muscles to relax and the pain to subside as the muscles recover. The muscle spasm is not the CAUSE of anything but is, instead, the reaction to the true cause. They are acting as splints do in a fracture, trying to minimize painful movements.
This is typical for many medical analyses of health problems. They stop with the symptom instead of finding the cause(s). If they treat the symptom the cause does not disappear. While it is true that muscles can be strained or injured, in most non-traumatic cases of back pain, the CAUSE is related to the spine. Most patients sing a familiar refrain, "Doc, I didn't do anything." The prescribing of muscle relaxers does not often relieve the pain.
The spinal muscles, which are supposed to be the CAUSE of the pain, are, in fact, reacting to mechanical faults in the spine. It's their job. Just as muscles contract when tension is placed upon their tendons, they react, go into spasm, when the spinal segment to which they are attached places stress on them because of abnormal position or movement. THEN the muscles hurt. But, there is also pain from nerve irritation, the so-called "pinched nerve". The logical treatment for these conditions is to correct "the pinch" and restore the normal position of the segment(s) involved, and therefore the movement, causing the muscles to relax and the pain to subside as the muscles recover. The muscle spasm is not the CAUSE of anything but is, instead, the reaction to the true cause. They are acting as splints do in a fracture, trying to minimize painful movements.
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