Figuring Out the Puzzling Puzzle of Back Pain

Approximately eight out of ten people in the United States will injure their back at some point during their lives. Few of these problems will call for extended coarse of action, but low back problems are invariably painful.

Managing and relieving low back pain is not an uncomplicated process. The experience of pain is subjective; it can't be measured from the outside. Health providers who address low back pain find it challenging to acquire the objective or measurable signs that verify and diagnose a patient's painful back illness.

As well, everyone's case of trouble is different. Pain descriptors encompass numerous adjectives - dull, sharp, throbbing, pulsating, stabbing and shock-like, simply to moniker a couple.

People experience and describe pain so differently partly required to its varied and complex origins. In fact, pain originates from many places in the body, such as muscles, bones, nerves, organs or blood vessels.

Pain is as well described as acute or chronic. The word "acute" derives from the Latin word for needles and is usually described as a severe, sharp sensation. The first stage of an injury is known as the acute phase.

The word 'chronic', of course, originated from the Greek word for time. Chronic pain is painful sensation that persists after a length of time, typically months to years. Several back injuries tend to turn into long lasting injury, especially when not treated properly in the period of the acute phase. Chronic pain is typically experienced as a dull ache or constant nagging irritant.

Acute and chronic pain sensations also travel different nervous system pathways within the body. When you injure muscles or ligaments in your low back, nerve endings known as pain receptors pick up the pain impulses and transmit them to the spinal column. From here, the pain message ascends to the brain. This process takes place at varying rates of speed depending on the size of the nerve fiber involved. Acute pain tends to travel on faster, larger diameter fibers, while chronic pain prefers smaller, slower pain fibers. Experts suggest that chronic pain affects the brain's limbic system, which is associated with emotional states. Anyone who has ever had a long-term painful injury knows that negative or distressing emotions may accompany or perpetuate the initial injury.

The best way to address chronic low back pain syndromes is to prevent them. Although proficient early treatment does not always prevent an acute injury from turning into a chronic problem, it is a good insurance policy. Early professional assistance is especially important with injuries to the soft tissues (muscles, tendons and ligaments) to prevent them from becoming weaker, less elastic and more pain-sensitive.

One of the best ways to deal with both acute and chronic soft tissue injuries is a hands-on approach that works to repair the wounded tissues. A select few examples are joint and soft tissue manipulation and mobilization, typically performed by a doctor of chiropractic or osteopath. Other effective options are massage and physical therapy. A formal rehabilitation program at a health club or therapy clinic may also assist to strengthen weakened and damaged muscles, especially the core stabilizers of the low back.

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