Human beings are unique in that we maintain a upright posture for most of our waken life. The evolution of the human body to upright walking creates pressure loading of the spinal discs and joints. Simple day to day walking can result pressure that is equal to more than 100% of the weight of a persons body above the disc and joint level.
More than a 100% you may ask?
Well, yes, a number of factors are involved.
Your spinal muscular is contracting to effectively hold you up, most of that tension increases the loading of the spinal segments. When we are upright, activities such as walking, running, lifting, shoveling, pulling, pushing. All of these forces almost always end up within the spinal column. It’s possible to have your spinal discs and joints handling hundred of pounds per square inch of surface area in normal activities.
Full and proper alignment and mobility is what allows the spinal column to handle all those forces. The discs allow the spinal column to flex and extend, allowing the musculature to handle some of the forces. The joints keep the movement within limits that ensure a long, long “working life”.
A big part of what is fun about being “young” is really just the full, pain free spinal mobility most of us had back then.
Postural stresses, and especially accidents, traumas, mental/emotional stressors can alter the normal alignment and mobility. This is unfortunately almost always a part of a normal life as we get older.
The pain can be localized to the lower back or may radiate down the leg. Conditions may be acute or lasting over decades. Pain medications may alleviate symptoms but often have adverse effects and fail to address the degeneration or imbalance in alignment. Manual therapies and manipulations may be difficult for older adults, those with limited mobility and may irritate the very pain we are treating.
At Brio, we have found Acupuncture and Low Level Laser Therapy to be a winning combination for degenerative discs and back pain.
Acupuncture helps to relieve pain by relieving deep tension in muscle and connective tissue. Patients often experience significantly less pain in only a few treatments.
Low Level Laser Therapy decreases inflammation, stimulates tissue repair and reduces pain at the site of arthritis. In addition, treatments do not elicit pain so patients can relax and read a book during treatments!
Don’t “live with” the pain any longer. Brio’s Pain-Free Living Program provides a safe, effective and comfortable solution to get your back out of pain and back into enjoying life.
If Back Pain is holding you back from
Brio Living, give us a call us and find out how we can help!
In health, Dr. Jeff Braun, DC
Human beings are unique in that we maintain a upright posture for most of our waken life. The evolution of the human body to upright walking creates pressure loading of the spinal discs and joints. Simple day to day walking can result pressure that is equal to more than 100% of the weight of a persons body above the disc and joint level.