Why does my Back pain keep coming back ?  

What ailment has been estimated to affect over 80% of all people on this planet. It has been classified as the number one cause of disability and one of the costliest causes of care in the United States. The answer is of course low back pain.  There is no doubt that many people experience back pain as a recurring problem. I guess the real question is WHY?

Experts have been posing this  question for years . Many studies , theories and entire industries (pharmacological, technology, health care groups, etc., ) have been addressing the issue for years . More studies of this problem have been initiated that can be counted.Lets talk about one interesting one.

One group of crazy researchers at the University of Queensland were interested in learning why some people experienced a recurrence of their back pain while others did not. Their investigation found an association between recurrence of low back pain and altered muscle activity in the deep muscle fibers of the lumbar spine. These muscles are also referred to as your “core” muscles, the ones that are most targeted in Pilates or stability training. Your core muscles give strength, balance and stability to the back, and consist of muscles in the lower back, abdomen and pelvis.

The most important of the core muscles for the stability of your back are the multifidus. These run along the length of the spine and help to take some of the pressure off the vertebral discs  and support the bony segments so that weight is more evenly distributed along the length of the back. When working properly, the multifidus muscles are activated even before any movement takes place, so as to protect the spine against injury from a sudden load of weight (like bending over to lift a box or bending over to tie your shoes).

These researchers found that the multifidus muscles showed later activation in those patients with recurrent low back pain . They showed that these muscles were not “bracing” or protecting the spine as early as the healthy spine. This delay in muscle “bracing” can be a potential problem, as a sudden loading of weight on the spine when it is unprepared can lead to an increased the risk of injury. Think about a football player getting hit without bracing himself…sounds pretty rough right? This unprotected loading may be what is going on every time you bend, twist, lift etc. Tens to hundreds of “micro-traumas” on a daily basis accumulating damage and potential harm.

Possessing strong multifidus muscles is one of the obvious solutions to preventing the occurrence of low back pain. However, part of the problem is that once this set of muscles has been injured, the multifidus tends to atrophy due to disuse while the patient is healing. Prolonged bed rest is one of the worst ways to recover from low back pain because it encourages the multifidus to atrophy even further.

Chiropractic care that includes rehabilitation exercises and spinal adjustments has been shown to improve the function of the multifidus muscles. Your chiropractor can and should suggest exercises you can do at home that will strengthen your core muscles   The adjustments themselves will align your spine so that it functions properly and will not put excess strain on the supporting multifidus, thus reducing the likelihood of a recurrence of low back pain.

If you have further questions about your back pain, please contact me,

Dr. Raymond B. Gaskey  NASM-CES,PES , FAKTR

at Bradford Family Chiropractic. We are located in Marietta, Ga.