A chiropractor can help to alleviate those nagging back pains and provide relief Photo Pexels
South Africa – There is a saying in the chiropractic world that ‘motion is lotion’. Just like how we put lotion on our skin, our joints also need it. Not enough of it and our back pain will make us feel 70 when we only 30. If not enough lotion is applied to the joints, a chiropractor may be the best person to give you a solution and offer relief.
Chiropractic care is a form of alternative or complementary health care that is drug free. Chiropractors tackle the root of the problem head on. Dr. Kavish Dulabh, chiropractor, explained what being a chiropractor is all about.
“Chiropractic is basically a healthcare profession that specialises in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of neuromuscular skeletal conditions. That simply means conditions associated with the muscles, joints, nerves, bones, tendons, and ligaments as well as the discs of our backs. In simple terms soft tissues.”
The causes of back pains
The ageing process is a scary one for many. Just like your hair turns white and your skin gets loose, your joints also go through change, said Dulabh. The degradation to the joints and bones can bring about severe pain in the upper and lower back. The impact can be further worsened by other conditions.
“Certain conditions can increase the risk and can speed this up even quicker. If we have a poor diet or excessive weight or if we’ve been involved in a motor vehicle accident or had any previous trauma. These are certain things that can speed this up. Apart from osteoarthritis other conditions include things like our disk herniations also known as pinched nerves.”
Pinched nerves usually happen because of picking up something incorrectly or sitting for prolonged hours at a time. This can cause “a weakening of discs that can eventually put pressure on the nerves”, said Dulabh. This causes an excruciating pain running down the back and into the leg.
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Ways to alleviate the back pain
There are certain things an individual can do to try and alleviate the back pains. These may help to cure the back pain, but it will definitely ensure it doesn’t get worse. One of the key things is watching our posture. The most common pains are caused by having a bad posture, said Dulabh.
“A lot of it boils down to having a healthy, good posture. Good posture results in prevention and management of these aches and pains … If we can make changes to our posture, doing certain things the right way it makes a huge difference in alleviating whatever aches and pains we do have and also preventing it from progressing or becoming worse in the future.”
Our posture when we walk, sit, use our phones and even drive is important to manage to ensure we don’t have back pains. Another important part is being active. This is all about getting fit but it doesn’t mean one has to go to the gym, said Dulabh.
“I like to follow the motto ‘motion is lotion’ or ‘movement is medicine’. That simply means the more we move the more we’re getting our joints lubricated, the more we engage in our muscles, making our bones stronger. That makes a big difference. Whether it’s doing pilates or doing yoga or kickboxing or aqua aerobics or even a little bit of strength training. That makes a huge difference in alleviating this and giving you a good prognosis in the long run.”
Fixing your back posture
There are many ways one can fix their back posture, but it is not something that can happen overnight. It is all about taking baby steps and following the checklist, explained Dulabh. For instance, one can get an ergonomics chair which is perfect for good posture. However, Dulabh knows it is not feasible for everyone. There are ways to use a normal chair and still help your back.
“Placing a little pillow behind the back so it tends to push our body up. That makes a big difference in getting our posture nice and upright. Also pushing our shoulders back. If we do find ourselves in front of a computer or in front of a desk, it’s best to have the device more or less at eye level. In that way we aren’t popping our head forward and looking into the device which causes us to have this hunched position.”
It is important to have any device at eye level so one is moving their eyes as opposed to moving their entire neck. The same applies to driving. It is best to have your seat straight and closer to the steering wheel, said Dulabh.
Our sleeping posture is also very important. People tend to either sleep on their side, stomach or back. Dulabh expressed that the best method is to sleep on the side while to worst is to sleep on one’s stomach.
“It’s recommended that we sleep on our side with a good supportive pillow under our head and our neck and a pillow between our knees. It keeps the spine in that neutral position. If we are sleeping on our back, it’s always good to have a little pillow underneath the knees. It also keeps the spine in that neutral position. With our stomach sleepers, it is generally regarded as the most unhealthy position for sleeping. This tends to throw our neck in a certain position for a long period of time. The arch of our lower back tends to be very compressed during this movement as well. I would advise all our stomach sleepers to try shifting to their back or their side. In the long run it’s going to be healthier for the spine.”
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Chiropractic measures treat back pain
There are different methods chiropractors use to alleviate back pain. Different massage techniques or electro therapy or ultrasound therapy or shockwave therapy is used to treat soft tissue problems, said Dulabh. Dry needling is also used which is different from acupuncture. It helps to “release muscle tension”, explained Dulabh. One of the more important techniques used is called spinal adjustment or previously called alignment.
“Spinal adjustment is a technique that chiropractors use to restore joint function … whereby we as chiropractors use our hands, we use a certain technique to apply pressure and force on the joints. That force that we apply increases movement in the joint … that joint isn’t moving as nicely. When we chiropractors do the spinal manipulation, we induce movement in that joint and that increases the circulation in that area. It also dampens that pain signal from the joint to our brain and that’s what gives relief.”
During the manipulation one may hear a popping sound. That just simply “the air bubble within the joint is being released” and that is called cavitation, explained Dulabh. The loudness of the popping sound is not an indicator of how well the manipulation was done.
It is important to stretch regularly and maintain a good posture to avoid back problems and other muscular problems. Keeping active is also essential to ensuring one doesn’t have back pain or it doesn’t get any worse. In the end, if one has excruciating back pain, seeing a chiropractor is the best option to getting it sorted out and living life the way one is supposed to.
