Archive for back pain
As a Santa Barbara Chiropractor I know the debilitating effects of back pain. Though some people try to “ignore” their back pain in the hopes that it will go away on its own, the majority of individuals know that back pain is difficult, if not impossible, to ignore. Back pain is a constant. It interferes with a person’s ability to work and to enjoy daily life, and it makes it impossible to get a good night’s sleep. In addition, many people know that untreated back pain can cause further musculoskeletal problems. But it will, no doubt, come as a surprise to almost everyone that unaddressed back pain that lingers six months or more has been linked with a loss of brain volume that’s equivalent to 10 to 20 years of normal aging. That’s right! According to new research at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, back pain can significantly age the brain! A. Vania Apkarian, Ph.D. and co-author of the study, said that the decline has to do with how the brain adapts to pain, and such decline can damage a person’s ability to assess emotional cues and control emotion.
If you are someone who needed one more reason to make an appointment with your chiropractor to get the treatment you need for your back pain, the possibility of significant brain decline might just be the “inspiration” you needed! Be smart (and stay smart) by calling your chiropractor today!
Your Santa Barbara Chiropractor is an expert when it comes to back pain relief. If you’ve chosen chiropractic treatment for your back pain, you are, no doubt, very satisfied with the results. In fact, a recent Consumer Reports survey of its readers found that the majority of chiropractic patients are “highly satisfied” with their chiropractic care. The survey, which included 14,000 Consumer Reports subscribers, found that “hands-on” therapies, led by chiropractic care, were the top-rated treatments for people suffering from back pain. In fact, chiropractors were given the highest “satisfaction with care” ratings, well above those given to medical doctors who administered various forms of care to back pain sufferers
The survey, reported in the publication’s May 2009 issue, found that more than half of the respondents had “pain (that) severely limited their daily routine for a week or longer, and 88 percent said it recurred throughout the year.” The report stated that while many go to a primary care physician first for diagnosis and treatment, the majority were disappointed with the results.
On the other hand, 59 percent reported that they were “highly satisfied” with the care they received from chiropractors. The next highest rated practitioners were physical therapists (55 percent) and acupuncturists (53 percent), followed by “specialized” physicians (44 percent) and primary care physicians (34 percent).
Respondents were also asked to rate the types of treatments they received. Again, chiropractic/spinal manipulation got top honors, with 58 percent rating it as “helping a lot.” Spinal injections were next highest, rated at 51 percent, followed by massage (48 percent) and physical therapy (46 percent). Other highly rated treatments included prescription medications (45 percent), yoga (44 percent), movement therapy and acupuncture (both 41 percent).
According to a Dynamic Chiropractic article on that report, “Chiropractic ranked first out of 11 treatments, including massage, acupuncture, and exercise, in its ability to treat back pain. More readers said that chiropractic ‘helped me feel much better’ than any of the other therapies.” Prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs ranked eighth and 10th, respectively.
So, if you’ve been “highly satisfied” with your chiropractic care, you’re not alone! In fact, more and more people are turning to chiropractic treatment not only for back pain relief, but for a wide variety of painful conditions from sports and repetitive stress injuries to arthritis. If you live in the Santa Barbara area, feel free to call our office at 805-882-1956. Thanks for reading!
A public version of the report can be found on the Consumer Reports Web site
Your Santa Barbara Chiropractor Can Help Your Low Back Pain
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’re feeling low back pain, you’re not the only one, and your Santa Barbara Chiropractic can help. Low back pain bothers many people, an amazing 80% in fact, making it second only to the common cold in its prevalence. However, unlike the common cold, waiting for your back pain to “run its course,” and taking prescription or over-the-counter remedies while you wait, is not the cure. Usually most back pain won’t go away by itself. Frequently, if your pain lessens, it is routinely because your body has compensated for the problem, thus producing new conditions. Low back pain is nothing to sneeze at! If you’d like to defeat your back pain for good (and who wouldn’t?), you need to seek the advice of a back pain expert, like your chiropractor.
In many instances back pain is a mystery to most people who are afflicted by it, and chiropractors are proficient at solving the puzzle. They want to know why it is that they have not experienced any trauma, accidents, or major injuries before the onset of their condition? The answer is that the cumulative effects of unsuitable sitting posture, bad work habits, incorrect lifting, lack of routine exercise, and other unhealthy lifestyle-related influences generate most back pain. These factors add up over time and produce stresses and imbalances on the spine producing subluxations that can turn into serious back conditions. The process is similar to the front end of your car being out of alignment. When you persist in driving anyway, there is unbalanced wear and tear on your tires. If you ignore the problem, the situation would, no doubt, get worse until you “blew” a tire. The stability of the spine is jeopardized when your spine is misaligned. It’s not only a problem waiting to happen, so to speak, it’s a problem waiting to get worse. And then, something as easy as bending over to pick up a piece of paper can be the “final factor” that causes back injury. The surrounding back muscles go into spasm when thisoccurs to stabilize the stressed or injured tissues of the back.
Chiropractors have more education, training, and experience than medical doctors when it comes to problems of the spine. They offer highly qualified diagnosis and experienced treatment for all muscular-skeletal problems. They not only provide welcomed relief to individuals suffering from back pain, but they are aware of what will assist you in avoiding further back pain. Your chiropractor not only will provide you with effectual adjustments and other productive chiropractic therapies but, in addition, will offer a personal exercise strategy and recommend other beneficial lifestyle changes that will help to keep you well-adjust and pain-free in the future.
