The Low Back
If we are going to start to answer this question, we must first start at the beginning of knowing what even the “low back” is and what it consists of. The “low back” or the lumbar spine consists of 5 vertebrae, 5 intervertebral discs, and a multitude of muscles/ligaments/tendons to help your body move precisely and load the rest of the body efficiently. The lumbar spine combined with pelvis is the foundation of holding our body upright on a day to day basis. To assist against the gravitational load, the spine develops curvatures during birth that delegate the pressure along the spine regularly, with the curve in the lumbar spine being called, “lordotic”. Even with this guidance of pressure, in a normal weight bearing position, the anterior/middle (front/middle) part of the lumbar vertebrae hold 80% of the pressure from the entire spine and the posterior (back) portion holds 20%.
The Process
Now that we have an idea of some of the general anatomy and purpose for the lumbar spine. We must now investigate the area of pain. In the human body. Pain is more often than not, the last symptom to occur when things start to become dysfunctioned. Of course, there are things that occur instantaneously like accidents, falls, traumatic situations but for most of the time, there is a gradual process from when you first start to notice the pain and how it grows more and more to a point that it truly starts to become a part of our daily life. If never acknowledged this is when things first start to go down hill. If you are reading this, I’m sure you have experienced low back pain in some way, shape, or form in your life. I would also bet that the first time you noticed the issue, it wasn’t as painful, as frequent, or as much of a menace to your daily life. There is a reason for that. Our bodies are remarkably resilient, they have the capability to heal wounds automatically, transform stressful environments into opportunities of growth/strength, rewire connections in our brain to make obstacles we face more efficiently solved in the future. We also have bones that are living tissue that adapt to pressure to lay down more bone in areas of more pressure for the future, and a multitude of other things! But, you get the idea. With all this being said, just like any living tissue, there is an expiration date for how long it can handle the issues with no help. Functions become weakened, systems start to shut down, and their resiliency starts to decrease over time like someone burning out at a job they are constantly overwhelmed with. This is when the pain starts to become more frequent and intense to a point that sooner or later is the last straw. Now, that doesn’t mean it is hopeless. As I said before, that is if nothing is acknowledged when it first happens. I will show you what should be done when this occurs initially.
Investigation
When you initially have pain, it should be investigated. Is it legitimate pain? Is it soreness from working out or a new activity? Or is it just discomfort due to your body being put through something different than what it is used to? Once you deduct that it is legitimate pain that should not be happening, you investigate further. Did this just happen? What did you do just now that caused you to feel it immediately? Have I felt this before? If I have, what was I doing then that relates to what I am doing now? Both lines of questions lead to different answers in the end but before that happens, we must continue to ask more. What type of pain is it? Dull? Ache? Sharp? This states whether it could be a tear that happened recently, sprain/strain, disc involvement, nerve involvement, bone involvement, or a combination. Does it radiate? Is there loss of sensation? Numbness? Tingling? Sharp pain? Weakness? These often lead to nerve involvement and intensity of symptoms can tell the severity of nerve involvement. If there is pain, we want the pain to always be localized because the farther away from the initial site, the greater likelihood of compromised nerves that could lead to a multitude of negative effects due to our nerves being the informational highway from our brain to the rest of our body function in all aspects of life such as using the bathroom, eating, breathing, digestion, etc… but that’s for another article. Next, you want to find out what makes it worse or what makes it better. I am not talking about medication, I am talking about daily life and movement. If you bend a certain way, twist, eat certain foods, drink enough water, sleep a certain way the night before, anything you can pin point. This is also important because you want to avoid certain movements that aggravate the issue and continue the ones that make it feel better.
Collect Findings
Now, I understand that even with this, you personally may not be able to pinpoint exactly or diagnose what is going on in your lower back, which is normal. However, that is why there are health professionals out there who have had education in learning the inner workings of the body. Note the information you gather to yourself and present it to the professional for connecting the dots to the specific diagnosis and treatment. It even may require diagnostic imaging such as x ray, MRI, or CT scan but that is at the discretion of the professional. Pain always has a cause, it’s a cause and effect relationship. That is our body signaling to the brain that something is wrong. So when pain is still occurring, we have not truly found the true cause and addressed it completely. Sometimes it does require critical thinking due to the amount of variables at place within the anatomy and physiology, which again is why there are health professionals to help guide. With that being said, there are situations and times when trusted professionals do not assess the areas thoroughly and give the most valuable information/solution for the back pain, which therefore lead to continual bouts of the pain occurring when you were told that it should subside. On the other hand, there are also patients who are told the right things and require patience to let the body heal and do as it was intended but only want a “quick fix” which ultimately leads to more suffering in the long run. All good things require time.
Prevalence
Did you know that 60%-80% adults experience some type of low back pain in their life. Which from a realistic perspective, does make sense due to the amount of load the lumbar spine takes on a daily basis and how essential it is for stability, but did you know that out of all those instances, only roughly 10% ever receive a true diagnosis? The other 85%-90% are classified as “nonspecific” low back pain. Out of the 10%, roughly 5-10% are nerve root involvement like spinal stenosis, sciatica, or disc issues and the other 1%-5% fracture, infectious, or tumor. This is from the World Health Organization. Now, with those numbers being stated and as we talked about before in knowing the cause leads to finding the solution. It does not give great certainty in doing the correct thing if there is not even certainty in the diagnosis. So, you know what the usual treatment for “nonspecific” low back pain is for 50% of those 85%-90%? Pain relievers. Research has further shown that chronic medication users for low back pain have a higher likelihood of disability, actually increased chance of low back pain recurring, and require higher utilization of healthcare. This is not meant to knock medication or its prescribing frequency, this is meant to show how something so prevalent in everyone’s life can be impacted and grow into such a detrimental factor to one's life if not thoughtfully assessed or acknowledged in the beginning stages of pain. Which leads to someone wondering why they continue to have pain and keep coming back in that area if they continue to take “pain relievers” if they have pain. Also, if they are not simply guided on the natural forms of rehabilitation, they can not expect to have any foundation to fight against similar situations in the future, which lead to an endless cycle of insanity and conditioning in the brain of low back pain being a part of your “normal life”.
Solution
What is the solution? The solution is more simple than people are aware of. It’s getting back to the primal innate nature of what the capabilities of the body are. We start with chiropractic care, because it will be your first line of defense against any issue, stress, or challenge. Adjustments will not only improve joint fluidity, assist in soft tissue development, but ultimately it starts regaining control internally at our communication source, the nervous system. The body's master control system. This is what the brain uses every single day to relay information from our brain to the rest of the body. With that being said, it constantly does it without fault, but we bog it down with so much background noise and information from daily life without ever giving it a chance to sort it out. It is the one thing that ensures function and healing is maintained inside and out. It clears the body of interference that continually creates static across its internal frequency. This, therefore creates disinterpretations of information for how our body heals, moves, lives, breathes, and so on… After we clear the static, we must then find the weak points across our body. Are we drinking enough water? Are we maintaining a stable diet providing all essential nutrients? Are we moving productively, not just “working out at work”. Are we sleeping an adequate amount of time for the brain/body to reset? All these things play a pivotal role in how we process and express functionality in our lives. You may be wondering how that relates to your one issue of low back pain, but let's look at water as an example. Your intervertebral discs are made up of 80%-90% water and when there isn't adequate intake, discs get thinner, movement becomes less fluid, and shock absorption becomes decreased. This unfortunately leads to arthritis and degeneration sooner due to constant unnecessary pressure. Then BOOM, consistent preventable low back pain.
So, I will say again, when these things are not kept up with, systems start to shut down, the body becomes tired, and pain grows rapidly. Conclusion So, what is the answer to your recurring low back pain? Awareness, acknowledgment, and correct initial care. We must notice the low back pain when it first happens and not simply brush it off or try to cover the symptoms because that is like trying to cover an infected wound from sight even though it is still getting worse in the background due to never being addressed. It must be assessed, understood and given assistance to get back to its normal function. It takes a clear understanding from the patient and the professional to come up with a treatment. The professional gives the right treatment and the patient follows through giving it the necessary time to heal, even when it’s not on their schedule. We must start at the electrical source of the body that acts as a conduit for everything we do in life (nervous system), enhance its efficiency for ongoing resiliency against future challenges, and then maintain that vitality through basic essentials of daily life. This is all so your body can be built for a productive and positive quality of life for years to come. Don’t let low back pain take a stranglehold on your life and don’t let your body be dependent on something it can’t naturally do/make. Your age does not give you a stamp of low back pain. Your approach towards your health and appreciation of your god given body does. Live your best, Live Primal 🙏