“80% of the country will have back pain during their life, why would turn away all of that potential business?”
“If you don’t take care of the back, then what DO you take care of?”
In
my practice, I focus on Structural
Correction and
I deal exclusively with the alignment and mechanics of the spine. I’ve seen
hundreds, if not thousands of patients with low back pain looking for
someone to help them. So, how can a gentle approach to the neck help
with back problems?
I
can probably cite a complicated study, or explain this long and complex pathway like the infographic
shown below:
But
really, I’m sure you just want me to make sense of it all. So here
it goes:
1.
No matter where pain may be felt, it is always processed by the
brain. That’s why there are many Secondary Conditions occur where
there is nothing physically wrong to diagnose, but the pain is very
real to that person. A person with Fibromyalgia deeply understands
this concept.
Proper
structural alignment of the head and neck allow the brain stem to
transmit the messages from the spinal cord properly. It ensures that
there is no hypersensitivity to pain occurring at the level of the
central nervous system.
2.
Anterior head syndrome is a condition in which the head and neck has
shifted forward in front of the shoulders. While this may not seem
like much, but the
weight of a 12 lb head reaching beyond the shoulders forces the
muscles of the neck and back to pull harder than normal. This is
because for every inch forward the head moves, gravity pulls 10 extra
lbs onto the neck and back muscles. So a person with a 10 lb head can
suddenly have the mechanics of a 30 lb head with just 2 inches of
Anterior Head Syndrome.
An
interesting thing to note is that people with both neck pain and back
pain will see their back pain go away before their neck pain.
3.
According to a recent study in
the Journal of Neurosurgery, deformities in the neck affect the
alignment of the hips and pelvis. The two structures are linked
together through a complex muscular sling. In other words, where the
head goes, the neck goes and vice versa.
Whether
you’ve been told your SI joint or a herniated disc is
the problem, Structural Correction may still provide an answer.
Though not all cases of back pain are related to a Structural Shift in
the spine, it’s an important factor that is not usually looked at by
most doctors or Traditional Chiropractors. Rather than getting
pigeon-holed into a symptom-treatment model, it may benefit you to
have someone take a global look at the body, and how a structural shift can impact the spine and the central nervous
system.
