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10 Jun

Townsville Bowen Therapy – What goes up must come down

Hurting your back can happen suddenly, unexpectedly and usually at the least opportune time – as if there ever is a good time to injure yourself. The most likely cause of back pain is a muscle and ligament strain from lifting something too heavy; the wrong way; or too often. It’s the same kind of strain injury you can get in any of your muscles from overexertion or unusual exertion – and like most muscle strains should pass in a few days or maybe a week or two. This is what could be called the best case scenario.

If you’re less lucky, a lifting or exertion injury may result in a ruptured disc. This ring of rubberised gel between each vertabrae can only handle so much, push it too far and the disk can split or be squeezed out of place – into a hernia. Once a disc is pushed out of shape or becomes inflamed from being split open, it can then place pressure on the spinal cord, which can cause sciatic pain amongst other things, while also exposing the adjoining vertabrae to rubbing against each other rather than the disc. Despite all this damage a disc injury doesn’t have to be permanent and should heal within six months with the proper care and treatment. Walking thirty minutes a day to keep the adominals flexed should improve blood flow to the affected disc and speed the recovery.

A somewhat more permanent affect on the spine can come from Osteoarthritis – producing the same arthritic pain in the back as you might find in the knees and other joints. This usually means feeling stiff when getting out of bed, and hurting when standing and walking. Osteoarthritis can also cause Spinal Stenosis, where the cavity for the spinal cord in each vertabrae becomes constricted placing pressure on the nerves and producing yet more pain. Omega 3 fish oils may provide some relief, but osteoarthritis is likely to be with you for the long term once you start feeling it. Similarly Osteoporosis can cause permanent injury and pain to the spine as the vertabrae weaken from bone density loss and become more susceptible to fracturing.