Getting Frequent Treatments for Back Pain? Here’s the Fix.
The advancement of science and technology has allowed us to treat spinal injuries and disease far better now than just even 10 years ago.
Certain spinal surgeries that would require a lengthy hospital stay and painful post-operation recovery now are minimally invasive and are conducted in same day out-patient facilities.
As these advancements in science continue to evolve, we must take a wider lens look as what has NOT changed – our physical anatomy.
If a skeletal deformity or vertebral disk compression is not present, your back pain is more likely due to muscular inefficiency.
There are 4 main options to treat back pain: pharmaceutical, surgical, therapeutic, and strength training. Therapeutic modalities come in the form of massage therapy, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, and vertebrae adjustments, just to name a few.
These modalities provide short-term relief but will not resolve the root cause of your back pain.
Strength training for back care involves targeting specific posterior muscles such as the erector spinae, as well as other hip and core muscles, to increase stability and mobility in numerous daily movements.
To drastically reduce your back pain, it helps to understand how muscles are involved, and to learn safe, effective ways to activate and coordinate them during strength training exercises.
Note that there is not a “quick fix” in eliminating it but with proper education from a trained professional and some consistent work put in on your part, you can make significant progress to rid back pain for good.
Back Pain: The Rubber Band Effect
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If you take a rubber band and stretch it out you are creating tension. Tension is equal to the force applied to the rubber band. The stress is the tension divided by the cross-sectional area of that rubber band.
Relating this to back pain, our back pain manifests itself in the area where the stress is the highest.
When you have multiple weak muscular areas in the mid/upper back, tight chest/shoulders, and combine that with weak gluteal and hamstring muscles, the result is dull to severe pain that manifests itself typically in the mid/lower back.
At times, the back muscles actively pull the vertebral facets out of place, may even pinch nerves, and often results in radiating pain.
So now we pose this question for you to consider:
If you have not been diagnosed with a non-muscular spinal disorder or deformity outside of your control, would it make sense to find a solution that primarily focuses on the cause of your back pain?
Back Adjustments & Physical Therapy
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Spinal adjustments have their place in providing short-term back pain relief. Adjustments will anatomically put your vertebral facet joints back in place. Some facilities offer muscle stimulation, infrared treatment, and massage as well.
However, if the strength of the muscular system is not addressed you will need to continue to obtain multiple adjustments/treatments a month which can be quite costly.
The cost of an adjustment ranges between $40-75/each. 4 adjustments/month will run you $160-300/month or $2,000-$4,000/year.
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Physical therapy will provide mobility and increase your range of motion and depending on the treatment plan, you will need to commit to live appointments at least 1-2x/week plus learn exercises to do at home.
The Fix
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When you have multiple weak muscular areas in the mid/upper back and combine that with weak gluteal (aka butt muscle) and hamstring muscles, this ultimately leads to chronic mid/lower back pain.
These muscles are super tight, constantly stressed, and at times pull your vertebral column out of alignment.
Remember the Rubber Band Analogy?
As we stated from the beginning, if you do not have a diagnosed skeletal deformity or vertebral disk compression issue, your back pain is more likely due to a lack of posterior muscular strength.
Your “fix” is to find a professional who will be able to systematically incorporate your posterior (i.e. back) muscles into specific workouts that will stabilize and strengthen your core.
Focusing on specific exercises that target the gluteal muscles is highly recommended, for example locking down proper techniques in a step-up/step-down exercise.
It is recommended to avoid any heavy lifting such a squats and deadlifts until you have established moderate core stability and strength.
Need assistance with finding a real solution to your back pain? Reach out to ExPo LIFE FITNESS and find out the programs available to reduce body aches and back pain for good!