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Colley Avenue Chiropractic and Bodyworks

Dr. Ellen’s BACK SECRETS!

 

Back pain can range from mildly annoying to completely debilitating.  Back pain is so common in our society that it is the second-leading cause of work loss in the United States, following only the common cold.  Sometimes our pain is a result of a traumatic injury, like an automobile or work accident, or a fall.  More commonly, we don’t really know why we are in pain.  Having worked with tens of thousands of people who suffer from acute or chronic back pain in my fourteen years of chiropractic practice, I have found out something very interesting.  For the majority of back pain sufferers, back pain is as a result of habits and activities that they do on a daily basis that create imbalance and instability in their body.  In other words, they are responsible for their own back pain!  There often isn’t any major trauma, or accident or injury that can be pinpointed as a cause.  I have lost count of the number of times that I have heard:

 

“Doc, I didn’t do anything.  It just came upon me for no reason…out of the blue.”

“All I did was reach over to pick up my coffee cup (or pencil, or a quarter, etc.), and my back went out.”

“I woke up this way.”

 

Does this sound like you?

 

If this sounds like you, if you’re in a lot of pain, or if you’ve been hurting for a long time, I hope to see you in my office!  In the meantime...

Here is a list of the TOP TEN THINGS that I tell my patients to do (and not to do) to help their back:

1. Stretch for Five!  Stretch for five minutes before you go to bed: it loosens up your muscles so your body can work better and rest more fitfully after a long day.  Stretch for Five in the am: it limbers you up for the day, gets blood flowing to your muscles and wakes up your brain.  Stretch for Five: Before heading out to the garden, going for your walk, or taking a spin on your bike at the park with your kids.  We wouldn’t go to the gym and jump into the middle of an aerobics workout without stretching out a little and warming up first.  That would increase the likelihood of injuring yourself.  Likewise, when beginning any strenuous activity, start out with a little stretching, or at least with some small tasks first to give your body a chance to warm up.  C’mon…it’s only five minutes! 

2. PUT ICE ON IT.  If you have chronic pain, or a recent injury, try it.  And if you hurt yourself, do NOT put heat on your injury!  Most people have a tendency to want to put heat on an injury to make it feel better.  Or they think ice will just feel icky, make them tighten up, or just plain make them chilly.  I’ve heard every excuse.  You’d be surprised at how much ice can help chronic pain.  And, heat on a new injury might feel good at the time, but in reality heat increases inflammation.  An hour or two later, not only will you feel worse, but your injury is usually more inflamed and your recovery will be delayed as well.  An ice pack (or a bag or frozen veggies if you don’t have a gel pack) applied for 10-15 minutes, every hour or every other hour will decrease pain and speed recovery.

3. BLT.  It’s not just a sandwich.  The three actions that create the most severe back injuries when combined are Bending, Lifting and Twisting.  BLT creates the greatest strain and pressure on your intervertebral discs and is the most likely to create an injury (such as a herniated or bulging disc), sometimes causing injury that even requires surgery.  Avoid this combination as much as possible.

4. One habit that delays recovery from an injury is attempting to resume normal activity too quickly.  Soft tissue (that is, muscles, ligaments and tendons) will usually still be healing in the 1-2 weeks (or more)  after your pain has gone away.  Jumping into heavy activity too quickly reinjures the area and you can relapse.  I tell my patients: when you feel better, treat yourself gently and behave like you’re still hurting for at least 1-2 more weeks to allow yourself to fully heal.

5. Most cars need some help in the seat-support department.  I’ve got a Honda CRV, and I would have thought the built-in lumbar support would be sufficient, but it’s not.  $25 for a lumbar support pillow designed specifically for cars is money well spent.  For free, you can use a folded up towel, but it becomes a hassle every time you get in and out.

6. Make a commitment to be more FIT.  A fit body has more capacity to handle the demands that we put on it than an unfit one.  A fit body will be better able to handle an injury, if one does happen, like a car accident.  A fit body just feels better!  If you have permanent physical limitations, get some assistance to find a routine that will work for you.  Wherever you’re at on the fitness scale, and whatever your limitations, you can always be a little bit more fit than your are.

7. Listen to mom:  She always said “don’t slouch” and she was right.  Good posture is a key to a healthy back.  If you find that no matter what you do, your posture always tends to be bad, Chiropractic care can often help.  If you spend a lot of time at a desk or at the computer, it is CRUCIAL that your chair/office setup assists your posture.

8. Listen to your body.  “Pain is your body telling you something’s not right.”  But we also hear around us: “No pain, no gain.”  Sometimes it’s hard to tell your body’s signals apart.  Yes, pain IS your body telling you to pay attention to something, or that something’s wrong.  At the same time, in the process of getting fit, of building muscle, of getting accustomed to new activities, your body can experience pain as well.  The healthy place falls somewhere in the middle.  Don’t use pain as an excuse not to get fit.  BUT…don’t ignore pain to the point of injury.  Learn to distinguish between a ‘something’s wrong’ pain and a ‘my body’s getting stronger and these are the growing pains’ pain.  If you need professional help determining if your pain is normal ‘getting fit’ pain or if it’s ‘more than your body can handle’ pain, visit a chiropractor, physician or personal trainer.

9. If you wake up in the morning feeling worse than you did before you went to bed, there’s a good chance you may need a new mattress.  Mattress technology has really skyrocketed in the past decade, so it’s not such a ‘lucky shot’ to end up with a good one now, and you don’t have to pay a fortune.  The old adage of NOT TOO SOFT still holds.  Get something firm.  Not HARD, but firm.

10. More on pain.  I hate to even say this one, but I repeat it over and over again in my office, year in and year out: if something hurts, something that a normal body really should be able to do, find out why.  And, if there’s something that you are doing that consistently causes your body pain, just don’t do it.  Stop.  Cease and desist!  People do the darndest things to themselves and their bodies, and PAIN is our body telling us that perhaps our bodies just aren’t meant for what we are trying to do to it.  Or perhaps we need to make some concession that what we got away with when we were twenty might not work so well when we are forty-five.  Or sixty-five.  This doesn’t mean to give up and not try to have a healthy body, but, if you’ve let yourself slide and a fitter body is what you’re working for, do it gradually and build up to your goal.