This week, I invited our resident nutritionist and acupuncturist Srinika Narayan to give her perspective on the causes of low back pain:
Many people live with chronic low back pain. They have tried manual therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy, or massage, but nothing has helped for any prolonged amount of time. Sometimes the back pain never even started with a significant injury. Could there be another reason for their pain besides physical misalignment, muscular tension, or strain?
The answer is yes. I have been discovering, through Nutritional Analysis, that many of these cases have underlying causes other than just musculoskeletal. If a person does not respond to acupuncture, or other types of bodywork, I know to look a bit deeper to find the root cause. The possibilities are numerous: from chemical or heavy metal burdens in the body, to active or past infections, or even from unhealed scars elsewhere on the body. Once these challenges are dealt with, the pain goes away. Let’s look at some of these possible culprits.
Chemicals and Heavy Metals
I have seen many cases of pain, especially sciatic pain that has been a direct result of chemical exposure. Many chemicals latch on to the nervous system receptors and create havoc. Artificial sweeteners are a huge cause of musculoskeletal pain. I have treated a large amount of people whose pain was directly related to chewing gum or mints, or drinking diet soda. Usually the pain goes away a few weeks after completely cutting out these items. Beware, even regular sodas and beverages often contain unlabeled artificial sweeteners. If you have any pain in your body, stop all sweet beverages, gum, and mints.
Pesticides are another group of chemicals that attach to the nervous system. I have treated people with severe inexplicable nerve pain that turn out to be caused by pesticides. This is not from eating non organic food,s many might think, but more from exposure from the air. This could be in houses that have been sprayed for fleas, ants, termites, bed bugs, roaches, etc. Or around commercial plazas or office buildings whose grounds are periodically landscaped. Or in rural farmland areas after crops have been sprayed. If you are ever in an area where you can smell a pesticide has been sprayed, cover your nose and run far away. These chemicals are very dangerous.
Toxic metals can also create pain in the body. Mercury can easily lodge in the spinal cord. Mercury can leak from dental amalgams into the bloodstream. It can also be introduced into the body from fish such as tuna, cod, red snapper, and sea bass. Chronic low back pain is very often due to mercury toxicity. Aluminum is the second most common heavy metal burden, again with an affinity for the nerves and joints. Aluminum can enter the body through cooking with aluminum foil or pans.. It is also prevalent in anti-perspirants, and medications such as buffered aspirin and antacids. Arsenic, a common ingredient in insecticides, as well as a naturally occurring element in some groundwater, is another metal that can create joint and ligament pain in the back.
Chemical or heavy metal toxicity respond well to detoxification herbs and nutritional or homeopathic supplements that can pull the chemical out of the body’s receptor sites, and into the elimination pathways. Nutritional Analysis can identify these factors, as well as test for what supplements will actually work to pull out these substances. Acupuncture, biomagnetic therapy, as well as bodywork are excellent adjuncts in circulating the blood and qi to aid in detoxification.
Infections and their Aftermath
Many people can have an latent infection without having a fever or typical signs of an infection. Bacteria, parasites, and viruses can sometimes lodge in musculoskeletal tissue and create local pain. Another common problem occurs after antibiotics. The antibiotics kill off bacteria, but then leave in its wake a plethora of dead bacterial residue, which is toxic for the body. The body then responds with inflammation, often in the form of pain. I have seen several cases of joint or limb pain that occurred soon after a bacterial infection was treated with antibiotics.
Nutritional Analysis can handle these challenges that are causing pain through herbs or nutritional supplements that strengthen the immune system, and clear out any residues. Biomagnetic therapy is also an excellent approach to dealing with latent infections. Acupuncture, as an adjunct therapy, can help immensely with increasing immunity and eliminating toxic residues.
Conclusion
These are a few examples of the hidden causes of back pain. Exacerbating factors exist as well, such as excess sugar, food sensitivities, stress, alcohol, cigarettes, and coffee. All increase inflammation in the body, so if you suffer from chronic back pain, reduce as many of these factors as possible. But first and foremost, come in for Nutritional Analysis so the main underlying cause can be revealed. I have seen people spend so much time and money being shuffled from one specialist to another all of whom are barking up the wrong tree, recommending useless painkillers and unnecessary surgeries. All this can be avoided by simply identifying the real cause of the problem, and handling them through natural means.