Back and neck pain

Back pain. We all get it from time to time and we all wish we didn’t. It can vary from mild discomfort

to significant pain and disability and can affect the way we feel, work and live. Back pain can happen for many reasons and part of our job is to work out why it is happening for you.

 

For example, injuring yourself lifting that huge load of firewood into the car (you knew you should have done it in 2 lots) has given you that special kind of back pain where it hurts to do anything, especially move breathe and sneeze! To help you get better we need to work out exactly which parts of you have been injured – it may be the spine itself or it may actually be the pelvis. It may be the muscles, ligaments or joints, or you may have managed to do all of the above. We also need to work out whether you were predisposed to this injury – say an old tight spot in your spine that overloads the lower back, slightly different leg lengths that means your spine is a little unevenly loaded, or whether those mysterious core abdominal muscles around the front are doing their job during lifting.

 

Part of getting you better is addressing all of the injured parts, as well as the contributing areas of the body that may have had a role in predisposing you towards this injury and anything that might prevent you from fully recovering. Getting the sore bit better is often only half the job. That’s why we often work around the site of pain and sometimes even quite distant to it; it’s with a view to helping you stay well and pain free and not having to keep coming back to see us.

 

It’s not always an injury or fall that gives you back pain, sometimes it can be more complex resulting from things such as abdominal or pelvic dysfunction, rheumatic conditions, workplace physical stresses, and back pain can even be caused by anxiety and depression. Many of these things can be helped with osteopathic treatments and when extra help is needed we will refer you on to the appropriate specialist or for x-rays and scans.

 

And as for necks. These can be the source of many pain struggles, from the long standing stiff neck to the brand new whiplash to the “I’ve just woken up and I can’t move my neck” kind of neck. Neck pain can also be a major cause of headaches, and some neck problems can cause things like pins and needles down your arms, feeling of tightness in your chest, face pain and even weak arms. All of these respond very well to osteopathic treatment and management, and osteopaths are well trained to use appropriate neurological and orthopaedic testing to know what’s going on. We are not just cowboys wanting to crack your neck. In fact, often the crack isn’t needed and if you’re one of those people who don’t want manipulation that’s ok, there are many different ways to resolve a restricted joint.