Back Pain is a Warning Sign

Just like the oil light on your car’s dashboard.The back pain is not the problem nor is the light the problem. The oil light is to warn you that you need to fill the oil or greater damage to your engine can occur. Every pain in the back also has a cause. It is a warning that there is something wrong. Some people would prefer to cover up the pain instead of correcting the cause. What do you prefer?

Consider Correcting the Cause Rather than Treating the Symptom

Many people think their back pain is from the muscle. Most often the muscles are involved but that is the end result of a deeper problem. Just treating the muscle is like putting black tape over the dashboard. Again not getting to the root cause.

One of the most common causes of back pain is the nerve rich small joints in the back side of the spine. These joints guide and control the movement of the back. It is somewhat like two gears working together. If the joints aren’t lined up and moving correctly like the gears, they can cause pain.

The discs are another source of back pain. The discs work as spacers and shock absorbers of the spine. The discs are a little like an onion with many layers of tough fibrous with a center of soft more liquid like material that works like a ball bearing. Trauma can cause the center soft, pulpy material to bulge or herniate, putting pressure on delicate nearby nerves.

Once you know the cause of the back pain, you have several choices. One approach is bed rest. But research shows that more than a couple of days of bed rest you can actually make your problem worse as well as delay recovery!

Physical therapy is another option. But exercising spinal joints that aren’t working right is like continuing to drive your car with misaligned tires!

Another choice is to numb or cover up the pain with drugs. While drugs can offer temporary relief, they can’t correct functional problems of affected spinal joints. Just think of the definition of a joint. A joint means movement. How can a drug move locked joints!

The last and most drastic measure is surgery. A laminectomy cuts out the painful joints, leaving the spinal cord exposed! A spinal fusion cuts out the disc tissue and immobilizes the joint. This makes other areas of the spine work harder. While there may be times when surgery makes sense, it’s expensive, risky and more than half of all back surgeries fail.

Chiropractic Care Is the Best First Line For Back Pain

Why choose chiropractic care first? A chiropractor is an expert in diagnosing the cause of your pain. He is like the mechanic to find out why your oil is low. A chiropractor can order a MRI, nerve, and blood tests to make sure what is the cause of your problem. If the chiropractor accepts you as a patient he will be able to administer a gentle specific chiropractic adjustment that can help improve spinal function.

The nice part is that chiropractic care is safe. Chiropractic is natural. And chiropractic looks to correct the underlying cause of the problem.