Managing and Relieving Back Pain
Back injuries reportedy afflict eighty percent of the population
of the United States at some point in their life. Not all of
these problems will require extended treatment, but back
problems are invariably painful.
Managing and relieving back pain can be a complicated process.
The experience of pain is subjective. Health providers who treat
back pain find it challenging to obtain the objective or
measurable signs that verify and diagnose a patient's painful
back symptoms.
Additionally, everyone experiences pain differently. Pain
descriptors encompass numerous adjectives - dull, sharp,
throbbing, pulsating, stabbing and shock-like, just to name a
few. Individuals describe and experience pain with such wide
variation partly due to its differing and complex origins. Pain
actually originates from numerous places in the body, such as
muscles, bones, nerves, organs or blood vessels.
Pain is classified as acute or chronic. The word "acute" derives
from the Latin word for needles and is usually described as a
severe, sharp sensation. The initial stage of an injury is
called the acute phase.
The word "chronic", on the other hand, originated from the Greek
word for time. Chronic pain is pain that persists for a length
of time, often months to years. Many back injuries tend to
become chronic, especially when not treated properly during the
acute phase. Chronic pain is often experienced as a dull ache or
constant nagging irritant.
Acute and chronic pain sensations travel different nervous
system pathways inside the body. When you injure muscles or
ligaments in your back, nerve endings called pain receptors pick
up the pain impulses and transmit them to the spinal cord. From
here, the pain message ascends to the brain. This process takes
place at varying rates of speed depending on the size of the
nerve fiber involved.
Acute pain tends to travel on faster, larger diameter fibers,
while chronic pain prefers smaller, slower pain fibers. Experts
suggest that chronic pain affects the brain's limbic system,
which is associated with emotional states. Anyone who has ever
had a long-term painful injury knows that negative or
distressing emotions may accompany or perpetuate the initial
injury.
The best way to treat chronic back pain syndromes is to prevent
them. Although proficient early treatment does not always
prevent an acute injury from turning into a chronic problem, it
is a good insurance policy. Early treatment is especially
important when dealing with injuries to the soft tissues
(muscles, tendons and ligaments) to prevent them from becoming
weaker, less elastic and more pain-sensitive.
An excellent way to treat both acute and chronic soft tissue
injuries is a hands-on approach that works to repair the injured
tissues. Some examples are joint and soft tissue manipulation
and mobilization, typically performed by a doctor of
chiropractic or osteopath. Other good options are massage and
physical therapy. A formal rehabilitation program at a health
club or therapy clinic may also help to strengthen weakened and
damaged muscles, especially the core stabilizers of the back.