Low Back Pain: A Common Cause of Discomfort

Did you realize as many as 80 percent of people experience some type of back pain at some point in their lives? Back pain is a common reason for missed days of work due to injury on the job. Back pain affects people of all walks of life. Men, women, and children suffer from back pain. It affects the young and old. It doesn’t matter what your nationality or work environment is. Anyone and everyone can get back pain.

What Causes Low Back Pain?

A variety of things can be to blame for low back pain. Some injuries can heal up quickly and others are more chronic and degenerative conditions. Here are just a few reasons for back pain.

• Compression of discs: When this happens, the discs of the back compress down, and there is a loss of normal disc height, which puts stress on the spinal cord and nerve roots.
• Scoliosis: Curvature of the spine resulting in pinched nerves and other pain issues
• Osteoarthritis: A degeneration of the joints and discs located in the spine
• Muscle strain or ligament sprain: An injury of this sort is often the result of overusing a muscle or improperly lifting something.

Keeping Your Spine Healthy to Avoid Low Back Pain

Interestingly, the top ones of the spine are as important or maybe even more important than the lower back area when it comes to coping with low back pain. When you think of the spine, imagine it as a whole unit, not a top and a bottom. It all works together. Oftentimes, if a misalignment is present in the top of the neck, the lower back will begin to hurt because it is twisting and compensating for the problem up above. Abnormal spinal cord tension is created, in addition to a disturbance of the signals going to and coming from the brain. Muscle tension on one side of the body may be tighter than the other side. The head becomes tilted, causing the shoulders and hips to become unlevel and triggering low back pain.

Upper cervical chiropractors use a gentle method to realign the top bones of the neck, often leading to a reprieve from low back pain. This is done without the need to crack or pop the neck. It is a mild, yet effective method.

To schedule a complimentary consultation call our Redwood City office at 650-595-0500 You can also click the button below.

if you are outside of the local area you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.