Back pain is common, and it hurts. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, an estimated 540 million people suffer from lower back pain around the world and 80% of people in the United States will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Despite this, it still goes untreated as people suffer through pain and stiffness in their work and home lives.
Ignoring back pain is never a long-term solution. Toughing it out might get you through the day, but there is always tomorrow and a tomorrow after that. Even worse, you could be creating future back problems for yourself by repeatedly injuring the same muscles or joints. Pain is a signal from the body to stop. If you keep lifting boxes with your lower back, there is a good chance you are creating a future lower back problem.
The good news is that there are remedies for back pain. You can search for “back injury treatment near me” if you have an injury, or just “back help near me” if you are suffering from chronic pain that developed slowly. Chiropractors, yoga teachers, and personal trainers can help you reduce your pain and strengthen the muscles that support you, for a realistic and long-term solution to future back problems.
The human skeleton is unique in the animal kingdom, as it is shaped for a lifetime of bipedal movement. Human ancestors long since learned to walk upright to hunt game across the plains of Africa, and this results in a skeleton featuring long and strong legs, shortened arms, an S-shaped spine, and a bowl-shaped pelvis. This offered all sorts of evolutionary advantages, though a lifetime of upright walking will sometimes put wear and tear on the spine. Even today, many millions of people around the world contend with chronic back pain, among other types of chronic pain. Fortunately, someone who suffers from back pain may have access to all sorts of medical treatments, ranging from surgery for serious cases to chiropractors and yoga lessons for lesser cases. A patient in a hospital may get access to physical therapy equipment for muscle testing, and modern physical assessment software can help track the patient’s progress. Meanwhile, chiropractic adjustment tools can help a chiropractor set a patient on the road to recovery. These chiropractic adjustment tools are non invasive, unlike surgery, which many patients may appreciate.
Americans and Back Pain
How often do American adults experience back pain, and what might cause it? Statistics show that at any time, around 31 million Americans are contending with back pain, and nearly half of all working adults admit to having back pain symptoms to some degree or other. One in three women and one in four men may experience back pain, and experts have estimated that as much as 80% of the American population will experience back pain at some point in their lives.
What causes this back pain? Suffering an injury, such as a sports injury, can certainly cause serious stress on the spine and back muscles, or similar physical trauma. Such a victim may need rehab tools and range of motion testing done at the hospital before they can be released. Meanwhile, many surveyed Americans blame their back pain on frequent and high stress levels, and pregnant women may get stress on their spines late in their pregnancy. Another common cause of all this back pain is simply years of hard manual labor, as many jobs even in the developed world call for physical labor (such as construction). Simple old age may also cause this back pain, as many decades of upright walking will put stress on a person’s spine. This may cause some compression, which in turn pinches nerves, strains joints, and stresses muscles. Fortunately, a lot can be done to fix this, even without surgery.
The Road to Recovery
Someone who is suffering from chronic back pain, such as spinal distress or lower back pain, may have many options ahead of them. This patient may visit their private physician and explain their problem, and their doctor may refer them to a yoga expert or to a chiropractor. In the latter case, a chiropractor’s office is where a doctor may use chiropractic adjustment tools and even their bare hands to realign the bones and muscles in a patient’s body. These chiropractic adjustment tools are non invasive, not needing to penetrate or break the skin to operate. Many surveyed Americans say that a chiropractor’s work eased all of their pain, and they would undergo that procedure again if they needed to. Chiropractic work can ease strain on joints and muscles, and relieve pressure on pinched nerves once bones and their muscles are realigned.
Something similar might be done with a yoga expert. A patient may get referred to a local yoga studio or simply find one online, and sign up for private sessions. This patient may be guided on how to bend and stretch their body in rigorous but natural ways to relieve pressure on joints, muscles, and nerves to relieve pain. Someone recovering from a sports injury, or an elderly patient with a bad back, may find their pain relieved after several sessions like this. And finally, a hospital patient may have their strength and arcs of motion tested with stretch test devices, which can measure the results. This helps the therapists track the patient’s recovery and determine when that patient can be released. This might also be done to measure pain thresholds, if need be.