What causes back pain?
There are a whole host of reasons why you might experience back pain. Your pain might be a consequence of everyday life (such as bad posture whilst driving or when sitting at your desk) or, less often, it might be as a result of some underlying disease. The majority of cases of back pain are linked to simple mechanical problems, less than 5% signify nerve root pain and less than 2% reflect serious spinal pathology.
Back pain can be felt as a result of (most likely first):
- Sprains (an injury to the ligament of a joint)
- Injury (e.g. a car or sporting accident)
- Muscle damage (e.g. from over-exercising)
- Fractures caused by underlying bone disease (e.g. osteoporosis)
- Underlying inflammatory disease (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis)
- Degenerative disease (e.g. fibromyalgia)
- Cancer (e.g. prostate and pancreatic cancer)
- Infections (e.g. bladder infections and spinal infections like tuberculosis)
Simple back pain can be worsened, or triggered, by a number of factors including:
- Poor posture
- A lack of exercise
- Standing or bending down for long periods
- Sitting in a chair that doesn’t provide enough back support
- Sleeping on an unsuitable mattress
- Driving for long periods without a break
- Being overweight
- Being pregnant
- Lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling loads that are too heavy
Chiropractic Treatment for Back Pain
Like osteopaths, chiropractors aim to diagnose and correct joint disorders. Although at first glance the two techniques may appear to be very similar, they are in fact quite different.
Osteopathy uses more soft tissues massage and osteopaths suggest that the benefits of their therapy are related to the improved circulation of the blood. In contrast, chiropractors suggest that their treatment improves nerve function and relieves pain in this way. Around half of all chiropractic consultations are for low back pain, including hip problems. The technique was developed in the late nineteenth century by a Canadian called Daniel David Palmer.
After examining you, chiropractors are able to identify whether the contractions of the muscles surrounding the spinal column has pulled the spine out of line slightly, and is thus causing your pain. Once it has been identified, chiropractors try to rectify the problem by reducing the tension in these muscles so that the spinal column becomes straighter and exerts less pressure on your joints, thereby lessening your pain.
Chiropractic treatment is not suitable for people with inflamed joints, spinal infections or cancer. Treatment can be specially adapted to suit those people with osteoporosis or fractures.