Back pain can present itself in different ways and varying severities but one constant remains that back pain can affect almost every aspect of daily life. Up to 84% of adults will have back pain during their lifetime, making it unsurprising then that back pain is the second-ranked cause of lost days at work.
There are different classifications of back pain, with the most common metrics being the duration of the pain and the cause of pain. Based on duration, back pain can be divided into acute (lasting less than 4 weeks), sub-acute (lasting between 4 and 12 weeks), and chronic (lasting more than 12 weeks). In terms of the cause, back pain is divided into specific and nonspecific pain.
The causes of back pain range from mechanical issues with the spine, muscles, or ligaments to inflammatory conditions like arthritis and medical problems such as cancer, infections, and osteoporosis. Diagnosing back pain involves assessing the duration of the pain, the patient’s medical history, physical examinations, and sometimes imaging tests.
Chiropractic has proven benefits in the holistic treatment of back pain. With the right techniques, advice, and therapies, chiropractors can help naturally treat back pain and reduce the severity and frequency of future episodes. With proper management, individuals can find significant relief from back pain, ultimately improving their quality of life.
In this article, we will consider more on the types, causes, diagnosis, and natural treatment of back pain.
What are the Types of Back Pain?
There are three main types of back pain, classified mainly by duration: acute, sub-acute, and chronic. Other parameters can be used to classify back pain, like the cause of the pain as well as the severity of the back pain.
Based on the duration of pain, the three types of back pain are listed below.
- Acute back pain occurs suddenly and typically lasts no more than four weeks.
- Sub-acute back pain may occur suddenly or over time and lasts between 4 and 12 weeks.
- Chronic back pain may occur quickly or slowly and usually lasts longer than twelve weeks.
Another classification mode is the cause of the pain. Under this metric, back pain can be specific or non-specific.
- Non-specific back pain occurs when there is no confident diagnosis of an underlying condition behind the experience of pain. 9 in 10 back pain cases are non-specific.
- Specific back pain refers to back pain caused by an underlying condition, tissue damage, or problems with other organs in the body.
The type of back pain a person experiences is essential in figuring out the right treatment pattern and the exact diagnosis.
What are the Causes of Back Pain?
Back pain can be caused by mechanical issues such as problems with the spine, intervertebral discs, and surrounding muscles or ligaments. Other contributors to back pain include chronic inflammation, particularly from arthritis, and various medical conditions, including cancer, infections, osteoporosis, and gastrointestinal issues.
Considering that most back pain cases are non-specific in nature (also called mechanical back pain), it is tricky to confidently identify the exact cause of back pain in an individual. Nonetheless, certain factors are frequently responsible for the occurrence of back pain.
These factors may occur individually or in their numbers, interacting to produce back pain. We will examine these factors below.
Mechanical Issues
Mechanical issues are problems with the structure of the back itself. Essentially, mechanical issues affect the musculoskeletal framework of the back. The spine, which is the skeletal component of the back, is the main source of back pain in all age groups. Pain can also be due to problems in other parts of the back, like the intervertebral discs, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Some of these issues are sprains, strains, fractures, whiplash, trauma injury, and degenerative conditions of the intervertebral discs.
Inflammation
Inflammation is part of the immune system’s defense mechanism to harmful and foreign stimuli, characterized by pain, redness, swelling, and loss of function. Acute inflammation occurs suddenly, lasts between 2 and 6 weeks, and is in direct response to an irritant, while chronic inflammation can last for months or years and may persist even without a direct immune system irritant.
Chronic inflammation is one of the primary causes of back pain. As you would imagine, the type of back pain resulting from chronic inflammation is chronic back pain and it typically lasts more than 12 weeks. Inflammatory conditions affect different body parts, and the back is no exception. Inflammatory back pain is not due to infections, with arthritis being the main culprit. There can also be pain referred to the back due to inflammation of other organs in the body.
Medical Conditions
Medical conditions like cancer, infections of the musculoskeletal structures of the back, osteoporosis (due to poor calcium metabolism), and even psychiatric problems can cause back pain. Problems with the gut, like gallstones, can also present as back pain.
Diagnosis of Back Pain
Diagnosing back pain involves determining if the pain is acute, sub-acute, or chronic, followed by a thorough assessment of the patient’s medical and occupational history. Healthcare providers, like chiropractors, then perform physical examinations, including specific exercises and pressure tests, to identify the source and nature of the pain.
Back pain diagnosis is critical to its treatment. If you have read up to this point, you will know that there are different types and potential causes of back pain. Before healthcare providers can embark on designing the appropriate treatment plan, they must first understand the type of back pain they are dealing with and what may be causing it.
The first step is determining if the pain is acute, sub-acute, or chronic. This is pretty straightforward. After this stage, the healthcare provider can assess medical and occupation history. Doing this may narrow the search for the cause and source of the pain. As useful as the assessment of the onset of pain and patient history are, they are rarely sufficient to reach an accurate diagnosis.
This is where healthcare providers like chiropractors who are experienced in diagnosing back pain prove their worth. These healthcare providers combine the history they have collected with physical examinations of the back. The individual may be asked to perform different exercises to try and pinpoint the source of the pain and the area it affects. Also, the chiropractor can apply varying degrees of pressure on different points to assess for tightness and other unnatural movements.
How is Back Pain Treated?
Back pain can be treated using functional medicine, which revolves around chiropractic care. Chiropractors employ chiropractic techniques like spinal manipulation and mobilization, as well as dietary and nutrition changes, to relieve pain and improve muscle function in the back. There are also conventional treatment options, centered around medications, used for back pain.
Considering the discomfort associated with back pain, both to the individual and the economy, it makes sense that several studies have been conducted on effective treatment options. Examining the different treatment options, it remains pretty clear that conservative treatment options are the most desirable. We will consider them below.
Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a branch of functional medicine that is concerned with diagnosing, preventing, and treating disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system. The image many have of chiropractors is them performing different techniques on the back, so it may not come as too much of a shock that chiropractic is an excellent treatment option for back pain. However, to clear all doubts, numerous researchers have looked into chiropractic care for back pain, and the findings have been – to say the least – splendid.
According to national health guidelines, chiropractic treatment for back pain provides better short-term improvement in pain and activity levels than other common treatments. The reason behind the effectiveness of chiropractic in treating back pain is that this branch of medicine understands better than anyone how the spine interacts with the rest of the body.
How Does Chiropractic Help the Back?
Chiropractic helps the back through spinal manipulation and mobilization techniques, which restore balance, flexibility, and stability to the musculoskeletal structures of the back. Chiropractors also address inflammation with functional medicine strategies, including nutritional changes and education on back health practices and back strengthening exercises.
Considering that the spine is the main source of back pain, techniques like spinal manipulation therapy and other mobilization techniques that chiropractors perform are essential in managing it. Studies also back this assertion.
In spinal manipulation, chiropractors apply quick, short thrusts to the relevant areas of the spine and try to restore balance, which then promotes natural healing by the body. Mobilization techniques, which are low-velocity manual physical therapy techniques, can also help restore flexibility and stability to the back.
Since inflammation is also a culprit in back pain, particularly chronic back pain, chiropractors can rely on functional approaches to reducing inflammation and, by extension, addressing the root cause of back pain. This includes devising nutrition plans and necessary patient education. This education usually revolves around best practices for protecting your back health, avoiding events that trigger the pain, and the different exercises that can help strengthen the back.
Why Should You Choose Chiropractic?
You should choose chiropractic for the management of your back pain as it is safer, more effective in guaranteeing long-term healing, and cheaper than other alternative treatments, including medication use and physical therapy options and exercise.
Chiropractic care is also cheaper than physical therapy and other visits to hospital emergency departments. So, in simple words, you get better for cheaper. What’s more, spinal mobilization and manipulation techniques are safe and carry little to no long-term risk.
Chiropractic also considers addressing the condition from the root, you can be sure that treatment will be comprehensive and that there will be a reduced risk of recurrence. This is a benefit of chiropractic over many other treatment options that just seek to address the symptoms and not necessarily solve the problem.
Medications
Regular pain medications that can be purchased over the counter in pharmacies may provide back pain relief, especially acute back pain. These include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil). For stronger pain, in line with the WHO analgesic ladder, weak opioids may be considered, but this requires a prescription.
Note that pain medications are not a sustainable option in the treatment of back pain as they do not address the root cause. These medications typically block the brain’s perception of the pain. So, the source pain is still there; you just can’t feel the pain. Since the relief does not last, people on these medications often have to use multiple doses for extended periods, which may cause several other issues, especially to the gut and the kidneys.
While medication use for back pain, especially chronic back pain, is not viewed as a sustainable fix, it is different if you have underlying conditions you are managing with these medications. Here, you need to communicate with your healthcare provider before making any change to your normal treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Chiropractic Prevent Back Pain?
Aside from its scientifically proven ability to treat back pain, chiropractic may have some benefits in preventing them as well. This is because of the deep knowledge of chiropractors in the factors that cause and trigger back pain. Taking advantage of this knowledge, chiropractors can offer the right guidance and approach to reducing the risk of having back pain in the future,
How Long Does It Take Chiropractic to Treat Back Pain?
This depends on the type of back pain and its possible underlying cause. For most people, positive improvement results can be seen after a few days, with healing progressing for a few weeks. In some instances, it may take months to recover fully or, at the very least, significantly reduce any pain and similar symptoms.
Do You Need Surgery for Back Pain?
Surgery is very rarely a required treatment option for back pain. For more than 90% of back pain cases, chiropractic and other conservative treatments will be more than enough for proper healing and management. The group of people who may benefit from surgery are people with disabling, extreme back pain that has lasted longer than a year and has not responded to other conservative treatment options.
When Should You See a Chiropractor for Your Back Pain?
You should see a chiropractor for your back pain if the pain is recurring, chronic, severely impacting your daily routine, or a result of injuries to other parts of the body. A chiropractor will consider all of the factors surrounding the back pain and develop a suitable treatment plan for managing the condition.
Can Your Back Pain Go Away Without Treatment?
Back pain may sometimes go away without any treatment, especially if there is a specific cause behind the pain. However, to prevent the risk of the back pain getting chronic, it is recommended to always seek medical advice for any back pain that lasts for even a few days.
Conclusion
Back pain is a prevalent and debilitating issue that affects many individuals daily. Understanding the various types, causes, and treatment options for back pain is crucial in managing and alleviating symptoms. Chiropractic care can play a significant role in relieving back pain and improving overall quality of life. Individuals can take proactive steps to address their back pain and find holistic relief by seeking proper diagnosis and treatment from experienced chiropractic facilities, like The Bay Clinic of Chiropractic in Panama City, FL. Dr. Tony Salameh is the lead chiropractor in the clinic, and has decades of experience in the management of different musculoskeletal disorders, including back pain. Contact us at (850) 785-9372 or email info@thebaydoctor.com for accurate testing, diagnosis, and collaborative efforts to a personalized treatment plan.
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