Back Pain and Osteopathy

spinal stenosis

Back pain has become a very common complaint the world over and is blamed on the modern lifestyle. It's a pain that causes disability in both active and inactive people, especially those who are past middle age. The costs of health system expenditure have been rising and back problems are the leading cause of this rise.

Your back is the part of your body that starts from the back of your neck and shoulders down to the top of your buttocks. Your spinal canal is located down the centre of the spine where your nerves are attached. These nerves are the transmitters of pain signals to your brain. Back pain is a symptom ranging from a dull, annoying ache to debilitating pain that may be caused by many things, including simple stress on the muscles and ligaments or some underlying medical condition. The pain can sometimes be acute, swiftly coming and going. Alternatively your pains may be termed as chronic, lingering for an extended period of time. This pain can be focused in either your upper back or the lower back.

Lower back pain is localised to your lower back, typically beginning from the lumbar or spinal region, down the flank, the buttocks, the hips or the groin. Radiating pain down the legs into the feet can also be traced to lower back problems. It can bring a feeling of numbness or "pins and needles" or what is known as "falling asleep of the limbs" in your lower leg or foot. Your pains may also be associated with changes in bowel motions.

Other sources of back pain can be an injury either inflicted or from an accident, a herniated disc or other spinal disc injury from degeneration and aging that may have caused rupture to the disc sac or a bulging disc. Medical conditions like urinary tract infections, gynaecological or prostatic disorders can also be the root cause of your pain. Another reason why a person will experience these pains is a condition called pelvic imbalance. Frequent poor posture causes one side of the body, its muscles and ligaments to develop more than the other side. This imbalance sometimes results in muscle spasm or nerve irritation which causes pain.

Upper back pain, on the other hand is pain on the upper part of the torso, including the shoulder blades and lower neck. This is also associated with the "pins and needles" symptoms and numbness in the upper limbs, arms down to the fingers. Headaches, migraines, chest pains, reflux or shortness of breath are some of the other symptoms associated with back problems. Poor posture and pelvic imbalance may also cause upper pain. In some cases, underlying medical conditions such as heart disease may also contribute. This can also combine with blackouts, tingling down the left arm, jaw pain and dizziness. A General Practitioner should be immediately consulted when a patient is having these symptoms.

For your back pain and back related problems, osteopaths are there to address your pelvic imbalance and disc injuries. Osteopathy can help you by re-aligning your pelvis, hips and lower back. This process stimulates the nervous system and thus may also help urinary tract infections, bowel disorders, gynaecological and prostate problems.

Osteopathy considers your physical needs to treat your upper back directly but also looks at the lower back and neck to make sure that the problem is not originating from there. They will take a look at your thoracic spine, rib alignment and your lower back alignment in a holistic approach to treating back pain.

Osteopaths also prescribe stretching and other exercises designed to prevent further pain. One of the fastest growing specialties in Australia addressing allied health problems is the practice of Osteopathy.