Many of my patients come in with an acute, active back issue, and many more present with a more chronic condition which flares up periodically. Granted, my patient population is fairly self-selecting, and perhaps 2/3 of them are physically active and take relatively good care of themselves. But even with this “enlightened” population, I find that when back pain is an issue, patients often avoid exercises or certain movements due to the fear of pain and further damage to their backs. It becomes the job of the health practitioner as coach to help them shift their motivations from being a pain avoider to a pain manager.
Taxes, Stress, Posture & Breath
Money and politics, budgets and finances. All of this can easily lead to a downward spiral where stress affects your health and well-being. What’s a body to do? How do you manage the stresses around you? When we are stressed out we tend to chest breathe. This is generally a shallow breath, one related to a fight-or-flight response.
Working with high school students
I see a good number of high school students in my practice. I find that teenagers as a general rule are much more resilient to physical stressors and respond faster to care than parent-age patients (including myself!). But also as a rule, I find that most have poor posture! It may be due to recent growth spurts and feeling awkward and alien in their changing physiology and new height. Most teenagers that I treat walk into my office with shoulders rolled forward and heads jutting forward. Perhaps we can agree to call this the iPhone posture? Sitting is definitely a huge culprit, which I attempt to tactfully address in ways that social norms won’t obliterate in a classroom setting (sitting upright with a straight back isn’t cool)! Most teens sit on their Sacrum and not on their “sit” bones (Ischial Tuberosities).
Low Back Pain – An Acupuncturist’s Perspective
Often when I am assessing and treating a patient for back pain and dysfunction, I take into account the role of not just the Fascia and Fascial Trains that run throughout the body (a future Blog for sure), but also the Acupuncture meridians that run in those parts of the body. Much work has been done on understanding meridians, showing that they are low resistance pathways for the flow of electricity (Reichmanis et al 1975). Meridians have been conceptualized to be a primitive regulatory system that likely evolved long before the nervous system did (Manaka et al 1995). In fact, Meridians are the main channels of transmission in the continuous molecular fabric of the body. In fact, the molecular web is not just a mechanical structure but rather a vibratory body network. As such, it presents possibilities of “profound biological and clinical significance” (Oschman, Energy Medicine). But I digress. This week I have invited my colleague Claudia Weitkamper to talk about how acupuncture plays a role in helping low back pain. Claudia is a German-trained Naturopath and Nurse who practices as an Acupuncturist in the United States.
How and why Acupuncture helps Lower Back Pain:
Low Back Pain – A Nutritionist’s Perspective
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.