Denver Back Pain Health Center

In our Denver Back Pain Health Center we see a lot of patients with chronic low back pain which develops over time, and therefore may take a significant time to resolve entirely. In recent research, chronic low back pain has been redefined as a problem with intermittent exacerbations, rather than an acute disease that can be cured. One of the reasons for this is that when you start to develop pain, there are already structural and functional changes that have taken place in your spine, both mechanically and neurologically. Your pain symptoms are usually the last things to show up as a way of your body telling you it is time to make a change. The structural changes in your spine can include bony remodeling, degeneration of your joints, and decreased space in your spinal canal, where your spinal cord sits. These changes are all in response to physical stress, like a misalignment of your vertebrae and happen over time. Functional changes can include adaptations to new postures, muscle firing imbalances, or muscle spasms.

Structural and functional changes in your spine can have a large impact on your overall health and even your mental stress level. However, there is a way to prevent these changes from happening or improving function if they already have.

Healing back paintakes time

Chiropractic care takes added physical stress off of the spinal vertebrae by increasing motion, decreasing scar tissue, and re-establishing proper muscle firing through a functioning nervous system. However, this process can take time. If you have had a spinal misalignment for 20 years from a trauma that happened in your childhood, it is probably going to take more than one chiropractic visit to turn your condition around. However, the good news is that pain is typically the last thing to show up, but also the first thing to go away. A lot of patients think their low back pain has been cured when the pain is gone, but the body still has a lot of reorganizing and healing to do in order to get back to a stable place.

Here are some things that you can do to recover as quickly as possible:

1. As soon as you can comfortably, start walking to increase your movement, endorphins, and circulation.
2. Clean up your diet – Cut down on sugar, caffeine, and alcohol. Increase your fresh fruits and vegetables.
3. Ask your chiropractor about any core strengthening exercises they might recommend to prevent re-injury.
4. Do not be scared! Do not limit your recovery by restricting yourself of what you are capable of doing. When you start to get out of pain, take every “good” day and continue to improve by following these simple ideas.

Overall, be patient and know that your recovery and management of your low back pain is possible. Work with your chiropractor and start feeling better today!

Legal Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is intended for your general knowledge. It is not to be used as a substitute for professional advice, or for treatment for a specific condition. Always seek the advice of a professional Chiropractor or other qualified health care provider with questions you may have regarding any condition.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 11:39 pm and is filed under Chiropractic Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.