Your back has an important job. It supports your head and torso, enables you to bend, twist and stretch and provides protection for your spinal cord. In order to perform all these tasks, your back is made of a complex maze of bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons, each being susceptible to pain and injury. When your vertebrae are out of alignment, because of injury, muscle tension, muscle spasms or loose, weak muscles, you experience pain.
Did you know...trigger points arent always painful to the touch. Often, pressing them sends pain to another part of your body.
Vertebrae
Your spine comprises 33 bones called vertebrae. Vertebrae contain canals for nerves, intricate joints and are attached to muscles and ligaments. Because your vertebrae are not all the same and have different functions, theyre defined in the following three segments.
1. Cervical vertebrae in your neck are smaller and more delicate, so you can move your head freely, in a number of directions.
2. Thoracic vertebrae connect with your ribs and provide some flexibility.
3. Lumbar vertebrae located where your lower back curves, do heavy lifting, providing support for the body and important mobility. Because they carry the bulk of the weight and have a major role in bending at the waist, theyre most prone to pain and injury.
The sacrum and coccyx are actually fused vertebrae. The sacrum is the larger, shield-shaped bone that supports the lumber vertebrae and protects the pelvic area. And your coccyx, a reminder of our very early ancestors, is a tail.
Disks
Its likely youve heard the terms ruptured disc and herniated disk. Disks are fluid-filled sacs that fit between each of your vertebra, serving as shock absorbers, holding your vertebrae together and making it easier to move. Sometimes disks slip out of position or rupture. This causes pain, particularly if it presses on a nerve.
Spinal Cord/Nerves
Made of nerve fibers, the spinal cord has the critical job of sending messages to and from the brain and the rest of your body. Sometimes these nerve fibers become irritated because of conditions such as a herniated disk, misaligned disk, injury or degeneration of the vertebrae.
When this happens you may well feel symptoms like pain, headache, tingling, numbness or weakness. Your chiropractor has a number of techniques for relieving these symptoms.
Techniques and tools of the chiropractic trade
Doctors of Chiropractic use more than 55 different procedures and methods.
Practices you may experience include:
Chiropractic adjustments restore motion to joints, reducing pain and enabling the injured tissue to heal.
The Activator Technique involves use of a small device to apply pressure or gentle force to misaligned vertebrae.
Mysofacial treatments use massage or pressure to relieve pain from knotted muscle fibers called trigger points.
Flexion-Distraction treatments use a motorized table to gently stretch and relieve pressure on your spine while your DC focuses on problem areas.
Applied Kinesiology helps balance tense or loose muscles that pull a bone out of alignment. A combination of massage and manipulation is typical of this technique.
Logan Basic Technique uses sustained, gentle pressure at the sacrum, located at the base of the spine, to correct the spine.
Cox Flexion Distraction relieves lower back pain through stretching or traction of the spine.
