subject: Geneva Chiropractor Discusses Why People Get Back Pain and What You Can Do About It Right Now… and in the future! [print this page] Geneva Chiropractor Discusses Why People Get Back Pain and What You Can Do About It Right Now and in the future!
The first thing I want to talk about is
"Chiropractic Is Only For Back Pain, Right?" For years, we explained that if your spine was "out of alignment" it meant that the spine was under pressure . This meant the spine was pressing like a tourniquet on nerves! We explained how this nerve "interference" could cause many other health problems... including low back pain.
What is a Subluxation? A subluxation is the term we use to describe what happens when a vertebrae goes out of its normal position. Like a row of falling dominoes that suddenly stops, so does joint movement because the bones are out of proper position. What happens when you have a spinal subluxation?
Three negative things can and do occur:
1. Nerve flow drops! Did you know that only 10 millimeters of pressure on a spinal nerve root for only 5 minutes can cause a 40% reduction in nerve flow? That is quite a lot. Especially when you consider that ideally you want to be at 100% yet this is almost half of that!
2. Ever hear of a condition called arthritis? When a subluxation exists there could eventually be an arthritic change that develops around the area where the vertebrae is out of position. Misalignments often result in abnormal joint motion which leads to abnormal wear and tear.
3. Permanent damage can occur. We call this a degenerative change. When a nerve dies, it is dead forever. It can't be fixed. Longstanding nerve pressure may result in the death of a nerve or some of its functions.
Is a subluxation something to be worried about? In fact it is
A VERY SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITION!
"But Doctor, Doesn't Everyone Has a Crooked Spine Here and There? Aren't They Still Normal?" While it is fairly common, it is not normal. When we get a new patient, we sometimes show them an x-ray of what a healthy spine looks like. Then I show them a spine not aligned and demonstrating excess wear and tear. Even a small "crook" in the spine, can cause nerve irritation. There are only 31 spinal nerve roots in the entire body. When you limit nerve function at any place, it can cause numerous problems in the body.
Why is the Human Body so Prone to Having Back Problems? Most animals on this planet walk on all fours. Human Beings are somewhat unique in that we are one of a few animals that are bipeds - we walk only on two feet. Gravity also exerts its evil wear and tear on the human because we are trying to walk upright while gravity tries to pull us down our entire existence. Because we walk on two feet, because of gravity, and because we weigh 100+... 200+ pounds, our bodies are subject to tremendous amounts of wear and tear. This wear and tear shows up as back problems. Or what I call spinal subluxations.
Why Are Adjustments Needed to Correct Back Problems? This is something that has caused much confusion with the general public. If a new patient comes in and a doctor reviews their x-ray, we may see numerous spinal subluxations. We then begin chiropractic treatment, which typically includes adjustments to the patient's spine. Often they start feeling good right away. Because you no longer feel pain does that mean you are okay? That's an incorrect assumption because the absence of symptoms does not necessarily mean the condition is gone. Because of the millions being spent by aspirin companies and others offering pain killing pills, people now think that "no pain means no problem." We need to change our thinking about pain. Pain is like the engine light in your car. It is a warning signal that something is wrong and needs attention.Covering up the engine light will only result in a bigger problem with the car engine, just like covering up back pain with medication often leads to a more serious back problem.
What makes chiropractic different is we first seek to locate the CAUSE of the pain. By removing the CAUSE we can eventually eliminate the pain provided the condition has not degenerated too far.
