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Can Back Pain Be Controlled… And Should it be?

May 05, 2016 03:21PM ● By Press Release

Millions of people have back and neck pain. The vast majority of these complaints will resolve on their own, in time, without medical care or attention. The question is, should these conditions be ignored?

Most pain related complaints derive from stress to your body. Stress is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. These threats or demands to the body typically occur in a few different ways.  To simplify these threats, let’s separate them into categories: Physical, Emotional/Mental, and Chemical Stress.  

Physical Stress

Physical stress could be caused by an injury related to exercise or a sports related event, a fall, or a car accident, among other things. It can also be related to how you sit at your desk or in a car for hours at a time. There is even physical stress related to how you sleep at night. Day to day operations contribute to a sort of stress that is far more common in general back and neck pain. The body adapts to the pressure it is put under causing the framework of it to change. The weight of our body becomes unequally distributed, developing tight muscles on one side of the body and weakened ones on the opposite side.

Mental, Emotional and/or Chemical Stress

Everyone deals with varied degrees of mental stress from family or work related issues. The severity of emotional stress can be brought on by the death of a loved one, losing a job, or sending a child off to college, for example. If you have experienced these stress related issues, you have likely felt the muscle tension and spasms associated with this type of stress.

When our body is under emotional duress or fear, our body will take over and will enter into a state of what we call "fight or flight syndrome". This syndrome will trigger an array of hormone released in the body. These hormones include adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol release.

The release of adrenaline is your body's preparation for fight. If someone approaches you in a threatening manner, you may start to breathe faster, your heart may start to pound, and your muscles will become tense. Your body is getting ready to defend itself! Norepinephrine will trigger a similar response to that of adrenaline. This hormone will increase heart contractions and direct blood flow to certain muscles of the body rather than equally distributing the blood flow throughout the body. Once this reaction has been triggered, it may take hours to days before the body may return to a normal resting state. This will ultimately affect our body's ability to rest and recover.  

The release of cortisol involves a complex reaction between the brain and your adrenal glands.  Faced with a “life or death” situation, cortisol increases the flow of glucose (as well as protein and fat) from your tissues and into the bloodstream to increase energy and physical readiness to handle the stressful situation or threat. In small dosages this hormone can save a life, but with long term release of cortisol we may see factors such as elevated blood sugar, high blood pressure, and obesity.  

You are probably beginning to realize that each and every one of us in under stress on a day to day basis whether this stress is physical in nature or emotional/chemical in nature. This causes our body to age and has lifelong effects of how we handle day to day life.

As a doctor of Chiropractic Medicine, my vision is a society where health is a realization of optimal function throughout the body.Our goal is to advocate and help as many people as possible through natural care and to enhance their body to its optimal level so that they enjoy a higher quality of life for many years to come, focusing on wellness rather than symptom based care only.

This vision can be obtained partially through education.  Health is something that should be worked on and not just be accepted as good or bad. Your body is your temple and your spine is the framework and the foundation of the entire body.  More importantly, your spine holds the central nervous system—the lifeline of your body.  If we destroy this system it is inevitable that illness and even death will occur.  

You can protect your lifeline by first understanding that your body is something that should be protected all the time and not just when it is malfunctioning. This is the only body that you will ever have. Daily exercise, proper nutrition, meditation, and prayer are all ways of dealing with stress. Constant attention to our posture and framework is vitally important to reduce the type of daily stress that we have been discussing. Proactive healthcare, such as Chiropractic, is available!  

Dr. Brad A. Grizzaffi, D.C. has practiced Chiropractic Care for over 25 years and is the owner of Pinhook Chiropractic Clinic in Lafayette, LA.  337-237-2273 www.pinhookchiropractic.com