If you've been living chronic back pain for years or just experienced an episode of severe pain, then Sheppard Chiropractic may be a treatment option for you. One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year. Back pain accounts for more than 264 million lost workdays in one year—that's two workdays for every full-time worker in the country. Experts estimate that up to 80% of the population will experience back pain at some time in their lives
The back is a general term that covers between your shoulder blades down all the way to your hips. It is comprised of many tendons, ligaments, discs, muscles and vertebra. With all these different parts of the body, it can be complicated in order to locate and address the true source of your lower back pain. Here is an explanation of many of the common issues and specifics as they may give you a better understanding about why you may have back pain.
Disc bulges and Herniations
Disc bulges and herniations are conditions when the disc or shock absorber between the vertebra become damaged. This jelly like center can be pushed out or even become bulged. While this is a very common issue sometimes it's not always the cause, but it can be become very painful. Depending on the type in the position of the disc bulge a herniation typically equates to quality and intensity of pain that you may have. When the disc is damaged or protrudes you may experience severe shooting stabbing and radiating pain that may be down your legs.
It is very important that your issue be identified and properly treated to help reduce further damage. Sheppard Chiropractic will assess your back to determine the extent of your problem and the appropriate treatment in order to help provide relief for your pain.
Subluxation
Subluxation is a chiropractic term that describes the misalignment of the vertebral column. There are many varieties of causes which include physical stress, technology, trauma and toxins. These misalignments can be quite painful and disrupt normal movement and activities of daily living. Chiropractors are trained to identify these specific subluxations or misalignments and to correct these issues using very specific spinal adjustments.
Muscle Sprain and Ligament Strains
Many times, people engage in activities that your body may not be an accustomed to causing a sprain muscle or strained ligament. Sometimes can occur as a result of a work/car accident, that weekend warrior football game or even that landscaping project. When we left objects past our physical limitations, this can cause strains and sprains of the back resulting in swelling, pain and muscle spasms. Typical strains and sprains in the lower back involves these misalignments of the spine and respond well to chiropractic care.
Stress
We all deal with stress on a regular basis and chronic stress can wreak have it on all parts of the body including the spine, organs and muscle tissues. Chronic tension can lead to trigger points. These trigger points are extremely painful, restrict movement like bending over or lifting your child and need professional attention. Chiropractic have the tools to help relieve stress and deal with underlying nervous system and alignment balances.
Chiropractic has been shown to be effective in treating low back pain. In a study from the British Medical Journal showed that manual therapy resulted in a faster recovery than physiotherapy and general practitioner care. It also shows that the total cost of chiropractic therapy we're about 1/3 of the cost of other providers. From the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics reported that older Medicare patients with chronic low back pain, who received spinal manipulation had lower cost of care and shorter episodes of back pain then other patients in the treatment groups.
If you have any questions about how our team and Sheppard Chiropractic can help you, please schedule a consultation.