Back Pain is epidemic in modern society. At least 80% of the population will suffer from it at some stage in their lives and for some poor unfortunates it will be chronic (i.e. ongoing for weeks, months or years.)

But what causes it? And if you do struggle with back pain what can you do about it? In today’s blog I am going to address the key causes of back pain and offer You Dear Reader some solutions to consider.

Just like you are a Multidimensional Being – Your back problem is a multidimensional issue. What do I mean by that? Well you are not just a lump of muscles and bones thrown together. You are a Physical, Mental, Emotional, Biochemical and   Neurological Being. If any parts of that being are out of harmony it can show up as Back Pain (or any number of other issues).

Physical:

Physically your Back issues are addressed under the term Biomechanics (the science of your bodies muscle and joint function). If you have tight muscles pulling you out of alignment or weak muscles not offering you support don’t be surprised if you have problems. One of the main functions of the Musculoskeletal System apart from movement is to dissipate stress away from the central nervous system (Brain and Spinal Cord). Think about it for a second. What are your survival rates like if you severed your spinal cord versus if you pulled a muscle in your lower back? The body will sometimes create injury in one area to protect another area it ranks more highly on the hierarchy of survival.  To heal your back problem we need to know all of your imbalances from a Flexibility perspective, from a Strength perspective and from a Movement Strategy perspective (what software programs is your body running to get you to move).

Mental: 

I often say to my clients that your Back is like the barometer of all of the stress in your life. If your mind is racing with worry, tension and anxiety you are no longer anchored in your physical structure. You become essentially a Mind. All of your energy flows upwards towards your upper trapezius muscles ( at the base of your neck) , your scalp muscles get tight ( massage your skull, can you find some sore spots? ), your jaw gets tight, you may even start grinding your teeth at night, your rib cage gets pulled out of alignment and you become an upper chest breather. These are all classic signs of a stress response gone into over drive.  If you don’t find a way to release this tension your body becomes lopsided energetically and this imbalance shows up as back pain. The solution here is to release mental stress through meditation or some mind body discipline that brings you back into your body.

Emotional:

I have spoken to you about this topic many times. Your Body is in the feeling world. If you try to avoid your feelings (most people do) you will never be fully present in your body. Again this lop-sidedness or lack of equilibrium manifests as back pain. From Ayurvedic Medicine we know that the lower back is located in Chakra II. This is the seat of the deepest feelings. One of our deepest feelings is that of vulnerability. 95% of all disc problems originate at L4/L5 or L5/ S1 regions of the spine. So therefore physically this region is also the most vulnerable to injury. I call chakra II a number of things but one of them is the “I’ve got your Back” chakra. One of the ways we get support in life is through the emotional support of friends. If we do not have this support we can falter. The only caveat is that we have to be willing to go into our vulnerability in order to ask for this support in the first place. The solution here is to start the process of entering your feeling world. I have already written many blogs on this topic.

Biochemical:

By Biochemical I mean all of the Hormones, Neurotransmitters and other Chemicals that the Body produces.  All Pain in the Body is caused by a process called Inflammation:

“Irrespective of the type of pain whether it is acute or chronic pain, peripheral or central pain, nociceptive or neuropathic pain, the underlying origin is inflammation and the inflammatory response. Activation of pain receptors, transmission and modulation of pain signals, neuro plasticity and central sensitization are all one continuum of inflammation and the inflammatory response.”  – Sota Omoigui, MD

These inflammatory compounds can be modified by appropriate nutritional intervention which would include a person’s day to day diet and the addition of anti-inflammatory natural agents like fish oil to the diet.

Neurological:

Part 1:

People can perceive pain due to the production of the inflammatory compounds mentioned above. They can also perceive pain due to nerves being pinched. The nervous system also comes into the equation in other ways. The Body is always working off of a hierarchy of survival. At the most basic level of function – that is its number one job. The nervous system that serves the muscles is the same nervous system that serves the internal organs of the body like the liver, kidneys and pancreas for example. How long would you survive if you lost your liver versus your leg? The answer is obvious. You could live a long life even if God forbid you lost a limb. You would not last a week without your liver. So what’s the point here? If any of your internal organs are suffering the nervous system “pays attention “ more to the organ in question than to the muscles in common with that nerve route. Stressed organs can rob the neurological input to a muscle. Some muscles are weak because your organs are not healthy.

Part II:

The nervous system is also a highly intelligent system. The muscles work based on software programs stored in the brain for millions of potential movement patterns. These patterns can only be changed by practicing a given movement pattern. That’s why the leading Spinal researcher in the World, Dr Stuart McGill uses Intelligent Exercise as his number 1 modality in treating back pain. When I attended one of his seminars I was expecting a ton of theory but we spent most of the day looking at movement patterns and corrective exercises. Why? You can’t treat an Intelligent Dynamic System in a Passive and Unconscious way. So while lying on a Table to get a massage or a Chiropractic adjustment may provide some palliative relief (you feel a little better) it will never retrain the intelligence of the system. Only exercise through all planes of motion progressing from basic supine positions (on your back) to upright and unsupported positions (e.g. a squat versus a machine based exercise) can train this intelligence.

Your exercise program needs to be designed based on the results of YOUR deficiencies. It needs to start working on these deficiencies moving from isolation exercises to integrated exercises covering all planes of motion in a progressive fashion. Generic exercise will not work. Group exercise classes may hardwire your own imbalances as they are not specific to your unique profile of imbalances.

To correct your back pain you need to address all of the aspects mentioned above or find a Trainer who can guide you through the process. The person you choose needs to understand all of the aspects I have discussed above. If you go to a Physiotherapist who is emotionally constipated then don’t be surprised if you get limited results. The person you choose to work with can only facilitate a level of Healing and Awareness that they have embodied themselves.

Choose wisely!