Have you ever had low back pain and thought, ‘Ergh not again’, and like many times before you reach for the medicine cabinet? You take an over the counter pain medication or maybe a prescribed medication and a half hour later you are in the clear. Your low back pain is now gone and you don’t think much about the actions taken to get rid of the pain itself until the next time you are afflicted with back pain. What exactly is that pill working on to get rid of your pain? I remember thinking this exact thought when I was a kid, I figured it was just a really smart pill that could target the exact place my pain was. This is a nice thought but it is completely wrong, pills work on a more global level in the body. Depending on the drug used, the chemical reaction dulls or masks whatever pain receptor that are not only expressing pain but every pain receptor like it through out the body.
The effect of the pain is now eliminated thanks to your pain medication, but what about the cause? Pain is your body’s only way to let you know that something is not functioning properly in the body. There is a lack of ease in the way your natural body systems flow. Everyone looks at pain as the enemy trying to combat it as quickly as possible, but what is the pain telling you. For example: You listen to your body when you accidentally pick up a hot pan and immediately drop it. This is due to the pain message sent to your central nervous system which sends the message back to your hand to let it go before more damage is done. Now lets think of low back pain again and the choice to take a pain medication. The pain is gone but what was your body warning you of the further damage that will continue when you are unable to feel the distress signals your body is sending you.
So now your back is “acting up again” and you know you should listen to your body now, because if you’re not mistaken this pain seems worse than the last time you had an issue. What can you do? How can you treat the cause and not the effect of the pain. Chiropractic corrects misalignment of the spinal vertebra that cause dysfunction. These vertebrae along with the skull are the protective casing for your central nervous system. Your central nervous system controls every action in the body, many times with out instruction. Through Chiropractic care correcting dysfunctions in the nervous system allows your body to heal the causes of pain on its own with out drugs.
In Health,
Dr. Loni