Back Pain Toowoomba: Common Causes
With roughly 21,000 articles, clinical trials and other western research available, its evident back pain affects a large amount of patients. In fact it is so severe in some cases, that patients resort to drastic measures to relieve their back pain in the form of stimulator implants. The implants send electrical pulses which interfere with nerve signals, dulling the pain. Spinal fusion surgery is also a common intervention, where vertebrae are fused or linked together.
So medically, what causes back pain? Well, a variety of issues according to western medicine.
The most obvious cause of back pain Toowoomba is excessive load. This has been supported and demonstrated by numerous studies. It’s worth noting that the Chinese already knew this some 2000 years ago. Common sense prevails! But what if you’re mainly the office type who sits ‘upright’ in a chair all day? Well consider this. Lets say for arguments sake the average female and male weigh 70 and 86kg respectively (according to the bureau of statistics). Take half your body weight, apply the law of gravity whilst sitting awkwardly. Your poor back won’t appreciate hunched shoulders, and a mild slump whilst typing all day long.
Without getting too scientifically involved, pain mechanisms generally involve nociceptors, which are nerve cells that send signals to the brain and spinal cord essentially sending ‘pain’ signals. What causes them to send the signals? A variety of stimuli including temperature, pressure, and injury-related chemicals. Essentially these cells are sending electrical signals back to higher brain centers. Many back pain Toowoomba clients prove to be reliant on pain killer drugs such as ibuprofen and aspirin, which seek to inhibit prostaglandins (lipids formed around the site of pain as part of the normal inflammatory response). However they do not target the source of the pain, so only provide relief. Furthermore, long term use can lead to complications such as gastric ulcers, bleeding and perforation, to name just a few. Unfortunately one of the prostaglandin types it prohibits actually protects the stomach lining from stomach acid. Ultimately gastrointestinal complications like this arise because the stomach/intestines are essentially losing their natural protection layer.
Effective Treatment for Back Pain Toowoomba
So how can acupuncture help back pain Toowoomba sufferers? Simply put, acupuncture can act as an analgesic, a natural way of blocking the back pain signals to the brain.
Scientific jargon aside, we work holistically too, because we would rather treat the source. Apart from constitutional, physical and energetic differences we all have, we can also explore emotional connections to back pain. Upper back and Toowoomba shoulder pain could be a phase where it feels like a weight is on your shoulders. Mid back pain may be refer to something or someone squeezing the life out of you. Lower back pain often correlates with finance or support issues. We’d like to think that surgery would be the last port of call for patients, so we feel that it’s important to look at back pain holistically.
If you experience back pain, contact us to discuss your treatment options or book an appointment.