subject: Back Pain Is Not Your Problem - It Is The Alarm To Your Fire [print this page] Back Pain Is Not Your Problem - It Is The Alarm To Your Fire
Is pain good or is pain bad?
When I speak to a group of, say, 50 people, I'll get 40 people whoyell "bad" at the top of their lungs,eight people who say "good" and twopeople whowhisper, "It's neither."
Whichone ismost correct?
Ina way, they are all right. Pain doesn't feel good, so in that way it is bad.But pain is good because it is telling us something we need to listen to. So, Iprefer the two people's answer of "It's neither." Pain is an indicator. It's an alarm.
Why do we try so danghard to stop the alarm, rather than addressing its cause? Did you know that today, in America, we willconsume 2 tons of Aspirin. That'sabout1.5 million pounds ofAspirin per year. And that is just Aspirin! That doesn't include other over-the-counter drugs as well as perscription drugs suchas Vicodin,Percocetand Oxycotton.
As a society, we are alarm chasers, symptom chasers. But what about the fire?
Back pain is the#2 reason why people go to see the doctor, behind respiratory infection. As a nation, we spend $50 billion on backpain a year. It's a pretty big deal.
Now, let's talk aboutcommon options for solving back pain.
My dad complained ofexcruciating back pain at the age of 43. He wentfirst to see a Harvard-trained neurosurgeon medical doctor. Now, before we go any further, realize that everyone in businessare in the business of offering solutions to yourproblems. The only problem is thata Harvard-trained medical doctor will only offer you solutions thathe knows - he, of course will not offer you solutions she does not know.
First, theHarvard physician gave my fathersteroid injections toreduce inflammation. It worked...for a while. Then the drugs wore off. Then hegave him severalother shots of drugs. They too wore off. Then he said, "Jim, we are going to have to perform surgery to move your nerve in your low back so that it is no longer pinched."
Yikes! My fatherpaused.My dad's dad was ageneral practitioner and surgeon, so my dadknew aboutsurgical complications. Surgery should never be taken lightly. Something as seemlingly minor as scar tissue can havegiganctic negative implications.My dad thought, "there has to be another way." But he did not know ofone.
At that time, hisbusiness partner chimed in, "Jim, why don't you go see my chiropractor." Two weeks later, after several gentle adjustments, the pain was gone. Amazing.
Whathappened?
Pain is a symptom of dysfunction.Remove the dysfunction, and you will remove the pain.But the pain is not the majorconcern. To explain this better, let me tell you astory.
I work for aColorado Springs Chiropractor named Dr. Molly (chiropractor's prefer to go by their first names).Thisis the story of one of our patients, male, age 40:
He is hangingChristmas lightson his roof when he loses his footing, scrambles and falls off his roof (sounds like a Chevy Chase movie doesn't it). He crashed down on his side. It was one of those falls that you don't know how you survive, but somehow you walk it off.
A couple weeks go by and he begins to lose bladder control. He is wetting himself. He's thinking, "I'm 40 years old! What the heck is going on with me!" He's scared.His back is aching so he makes his way toalocal chiropractor. Several adjustments later, he can control his bladder again.
What happend?
The central nervous system is a networkof nerves connecting your brainto the rest of the organs of the body. This connection is a big deal.Disrupt the flow of communication and your organs start acting funny. This iswhat happened to this man. Hisspinal misalignment- a result of thefall - was cutting off the vital communication to his bladder (and probably a few other organs), and he literally could not control himself. That'show big of a deal this is.
But you don't have to be losing bladder control for this to be a big deal.
What do you think would happen if you cut the nerve(s) running from yourspinal column(which envelopes your spinal cord) to your heart?It would stop functioning. You would die.What if you pressed on thatnerve for 30 years? Do you think it would impact the health of the organ? You may not even feel this happening, but it is nonetheless, a big deal.
If you are experiencing back pain, it is thealarm to a much bigger problem. Pain is a symptom. While my chiropractor in Colorado Springs addresses pain (because everyone wants to get out of pain), she also educates her patients to think of their health with different lenses.
If you are experiencing back pain, neck pain, numbness in the hands or feet, or headachesand would like more information like what you've read, you can check Dr. Molly out at www.doctormolly.com.
I justfeel down mystairs a week ago. I'm very glad I have a chiropractor to but me back together...
