Loosening up your pain in the back

If you are not giving yourself enough of that stretch, you could be in for a stab in the back.

Lower back pain spares no one. Mostly it is because of the improper way we carry our posture, how we stand, how we walk, how we sit and even how we exercise. When we lift something abruptly and or when we sit for long hours in the office or in school, when we exercise without a good stretch or students who are forced to have abrupt legs and arms raises, that lower back is bound to hurt. Yes, like a stab in the back.

Reason why our lumbar area or those vertebrae in the back needs a little stretch before starting the day is because this carries the most amount of body weight and is subject to the largest forces and stresses along the spine. The iliolumbar syndrome usually involves pain in the low back, hip and groin or pelvic area often described as muscle strain and would be treated with ice and rest.

Massage therapist Melche “Boy” Caudor said that iliolumbar injury or low back pain that radiates to the legs is often caused by improper, overuse or abuse of lumbar ligaments. “When you lift something without stretching, tendency for those muscles, tendons and ligaments in the lumbar area is for it to snap.”  Patients mistake or confuse the pain to be in their thighs or legs when actually the pain originates in the lumbar area.

While these muscles, tendons and ligaments might have been created to withstand strain and stress, how much pain and stress these can withstand depends on the make up of a person, age, lifestyle and a host of other factors many of us may not be aware of.

Unfortunately, live with it.

Because the materialistic world has conjured up a culture to ignore the recuperative abilities of our body, the tendency for most patients who experience chronic back pain is for them to be given the pill or are referred to a surgeon. Research studies have shown surgery often makes the problem worse “unfortunately.” Surgeons use x-ray technology as a diagnostic tool, which through practice does not always properly diagnose the pain source. “In the case of iliolumbar syndrome, surgery will do absolutely nothing to remedy the pain.”

What this “unfortunate” treatment really means is that patients who undergo surgery to relieve chronic pain in these areas are often told they will have to “live with it” when the pain does not abate. Prescription drugs or surgery actually inhibits healing. This treatment method does nothing to repair the weak and injured ligaments and thus does not alleviate the chronic pain that people with iliolumbar syndrome experience.

Caudor said that one does not have to be enslaved with the pill or be restless about the thought of going through surgery, it only needs “loosening” and “unfolding” of muscles to get it back to form.

Caudor suggests that for lower back pain, patients should first let their bodies do the healing by going through massage therapy or muscle and bone alignment. In avoiding back pain, he suggests stretching before starting the day.

The human body is not a mean machine that can be driven to withstand abuse and misuse all the time.

If you have difficulty standing up from a sitting position, if you feel something cracks or snaps in your back when you lift something or when you feel your back can’t take it anymore, get a rehabilitation protocol with a massage therapist. (Next Week: Chiropractic physician James Pardis gets to the bone about spine care)