LOW BACK PAIN AND DYSFUNCTION

OVERVIEW, ASSESSMENT & TREATMENT

Clay Cox, Ph,D,

Board Certified in Diagnosis and Treatment of Soft Tissue Injuries Resulting from Motor Vehicle Accidents: American Academy of Craniofacial Pain American Academy of Pain Management: Fellow Clinical Practitioner American Back Society Fellow Certified Advanced Rolfer ã2002

“Beyond all doubt the use of the human hand, as a method of reducing human suffering, is the oldest remedy known to man…”  John McM. Mennel, MD

Preface

It will be assumed by this writer that the reader is well founded in functional anatomy and the involved in a practice of Manual Medicine.  I will present issues that I believe are not commonly covered in basic anatomy or training courses.  I offer this presentation as fodder, raw material for artistic creation.  Please do not take this as a manual on how to fix low backs. I am not sure that low back pain can be “fixed.”  Some heals itself with time.  Sometimes we can relieve symptoms and reduce suffering.  Sometimes all we can do is to help others help themselves.  

It is my hope that my efforts here will spurn you on to make your own inquisition starting where I have left off.  For those taking on the journey:  God speed and God bless you.  For the rest, I hope you find this informative and maybe even entertaining.

I defined a practice of Manual Medicine as being a forum through which a practitioner. utilizing a multimodality approach, assists others in relieving their discomfort, dysfunction, and pain.  The particular combination of modalities available for use will be dependent upon each individual practitioner, their skills, their interests and their training.  In many cases, it will also involve psychological, energetic, emotional and spiritual endeavors as well.

Overview

It is far beyond the scope of this paper to review all that has been written on low back pain since the mid-19th century. As of 1993 there were over 7000 publications discussing low back pain and the literature (1).

I would like to present an overview of low back pain and include a discussion on mechanisms, pain generators, assessment and treatment protocols that I have developed over the years.  It is my hope that with this information the reader might better understand the nature of low back pain and more efficiently facilitate the patient’s effort to ease or end their suffering.

Introduction

Back Pain Generalities

Nearly 80 percent of adults are affected by back pain at some point in their lives.  It is one of the most common reasons for hospitalization in the United States.  For many years, we assumed that back pain was usually the result of spinal degeneration or injury, especially damage to the intervertebral discs.

It is now believed that the leading cause of back pain is simple muscle strain.  Although symptoms may come on suddenly and can be acutely painful, this is actually a problem that develops over a long period of time.  When muscles contract, lactic acid and pyruvic acid are produced as byproducts of muscular activity.  It is the presence of lactic acid in the muscles that produces the familiar sensation of muscle fatigue following strenuous activity (2).

For a complete complementary copy of this article, please contact Clay Cox at: claycoxnaz@gmail.com or 520-323-0188