Chronic LOW BACK PAIN? Is there a link with the lumbar curve?
Low back pain sufferers often suffer quietly. They look fine on the outside, but often struggle from the moment they get up to the time they go to bed. And sometimes in bed too! Back pain can mean having trouble with getting out of bed, getting dressed, concentrating at work, performing optimally at work and the list goes on and on.
As a Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) office we often get the ‘hard’ low back cases. People that are not surgery cases but are finding it hard to cope day to day. They have often exhausted all other avenues of care, trying many chiropractors, osteopaths, physiotherapists and different forms of exercise. All helping, but not always getting down to the root cause of the problem.
The low back, what we refer to as the lumbar spine, needs to be a certain angle, when looking at the spine side on. This angle is known as the lumbar lordosis or the sagittal curve -the hollow in your low back. The lumber lordosis should sit at 40 degrees, ideally. Research (1) has shown that there is strong link between chronic low back pain and a loss of lordosis. The side curve acts as a shock absorber, and if the curve is less than ideal, then the weight of your body, plus any activity will stress the joints, nerves and other tissues around that low back.
People with low back degeneration, or otherwise known as ARTHRITIS, the research states, rarely have normal curves! The extra loading on the low back because of the loss of curve and reduced shock absorption will, over time cause degeneration. Degeneration will reduce disc height and compromise nerve integrity.
It is important to have well functioning spinal joints, but spinal alignment is just as important.
Until the curve is corrected with CBP, to be as close as possible to the 40 degrees, then those stressors will remain. The shock absorbing properties of the curve will be lost or at least diminished. This is why things like massage, exercise and even manipulation will all help, but are not getting changes with the curve. Chiro BioPhysics helps to restore normal spinal alignment with its multimodal rehabilitation system. Treatment will include traction, in house and at home (with a Denneroll) mirror image corrective exercises, and mirror image adjusting.
So if you are not getting the results you hope for with your current form of low back treatment, you may wish to think about getting a CBP evaluation.
1.Chun et al, The relationship between lower back pain and lumbar lordosis: a systematic review and meta analysis. The Spine Journal Aug 2017 Vol17 Issue 8: 1180-1191
To find out more about CBP go to our CBP website page, www.errolstchiro.com.au