How Muscles Heal & Recover From Injury

Your muscles heal very differently than your bones. If you fracture a bone, as long as it is set and fixed in place properly, it will tend to heal so thoroughly that it will become stronger than it was before the fracture!

Bone tissue heals with calcium and other minerals, components of bone, in a process that creates a bond that is as strong or stronger than the original bone structure.

Lloyd, for example, breaks his leg and strains (pulls) several muscles in a skiing accident. The fractured bone is set, his leg is placed in a cast, and after the requisite amount of time, the cast is removed. It’s as good as new or even better—the bone anyway…

Your muscles however, do not actually heal with muscle tissue, but with “foreign” substances including collagen. The resulting scar tissue is weaker, less elastic, and highly prone to re-injury. Once a muscle is damaged, it can become the source of a great deal of pain.

Muscular Injuries Can Cause Severe Pain And Impairment, But Are Often Poorly Diagnosed And Managed

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons held a symposium in 1987, in which the attending experts examined the limitations of orthopedic medicine in treating soft tissue injuries.

Their conclusion was that not only do sprains and strains of the musculoskeletal (muscular) tissues cause considerable impairment and pain, but that these injuries are often poorly diagnosed and inadequately managed.¹

The standard medical response to muscular injuries is still mostly pain killers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and rest. The medication does little more than numb the pain and suppress the inflammation. The symptoms are effectively reduced, but these are the symptoms of the injury—not the injury itself.

Drugs can actually slow the healing process, and too much rest can be counterproductive as well, since muscle tissue needs a certain amount of movement as it heals, and will begin to atrophy (shrink) if not used.

Unfortunately for Lloyd, the casting and immobilization of his leg, which was crucial for the proper healing of the bone, was not exactly what his injured muscles needed. Now over a year has past, including several months of vigorous physical therapy sessions, and x-rays show that the bone has completely healed and there are no other complications. Lloyd however, notices that although his injured leg seems to be just as strong as it was before the accident, it is nowhere near as flexible, and he finds himself in pain whenever he runs or cycles, two activities he was able to perform painlessly before the skiing accident.

What Muscles Need In Order To Heal As Fully As Possible

In order for a car to go forward properly, all of its tires need to be aligned in the same direction (unless it’s turning). In a similar manner, for your muscles to function properly, all of their fibers need to be aligned in the same direction.

When you have a muscle that has been injured however, the initial repair process creates a “patch” of random scar tissue fibers.

Like a weak link in a chain, the random alignment of these new fibers becomes a “weak link” in your muscle, leaving it highly susceptible to re-injury

For an injured muscle to regain maximum strength and flexibility, the scar tissue needs to become aligned and integrated with the muscle fibers.

Oddly, our bodies do not have an efficient internal mechanism for accomplishing this. It’s somewhat haphazard, gradually improving over time but often not resolving completely, which can become quite a problem.

The problem is that the nervous system essentially “over reacts” to even microscopic areas of scar tissue, by keeping the muscle in a shortened, inflamed, and usually painful state.

The inflammation process is the first stage of healing and by keeping the muscle short, the nervous system is trying to protect it from further harm, these reactions however, can continue well past the point of being productive—in fact they can continue indefinitely.

Even a small muscular injury can lead to a chronic pain pattern which persists for months or even years, because the nervous “system stays on alert,” waiting for the scar tissue to heal completely and become aligned with the surrounding muscle tissue.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a good example. This potentially career-ending injury begins with the tiniest of muscular injuries from performing a simple repetitive task like using a computer keyboard and mouse.

Soft Tissue Release Breaks The Pain Cycle By Quickly Correcting The Scar Tissue “Weak Link”

By correcting (aligning and smoothing out) areas of scar tissue and other muscular irregularities, Soft Tissue Release breaks the muscular pain cycle at its root, accelerates the healing process, and restores muscular balance in a lasting way

What happens to Lloyd? Eventually his wife, tired of listening to his complaining, hears about a new therapy from a friend and encourages him to try it. Lloyd goes in for several sessions of Soft Tissue Release and shortly begins to regain the flexibility he had lost and is soon able to run, cycle, and even ski again without pain.

¹Symposium entitled “The Mechanisms of Injury and Repair of Musculoskeletal Soft Tissue.”

Five Things You Should Know About Computer-Related Pain And Injury

#1.  The Warning Signs

Are you experiencing any of these warning signs in your hands, wrists, arms, neck, or shoulders?

• Recurring or constant pain, or even mild soreness
• Reduced mobility/excessive stiffness
• Numbness or tingling sensations
• Decreasing grip strength or tendency to drop things

By the time you begin to notice the warning signs, you have probably already developed a pattern of muscular strain.

(These patterns can sneakily accumulate for months or even years before causing symptoms.)

#2.  How A Mouse & Keyboard Can Injure You

The cumulative strain from repeatedly performing the motions of typing and mousing, causes  some muscles to become so fatigued they’re weakened and partially shut down.

Other muscles are called upon to pick up the slack and to compensate for the weakened muscles. These compensation muscles tend to become progressively shortened (tight) and restricted.

Continued strain may lead to microscopic tearing in parts of these muscles, setting off a chain reaction of inflammation, swelling, scar tissue formation, pain, and even further shortening of the muscles.

It is an insidious process that begins completely unnoticed, gradually increases to the level of an annoyance, and then eventually becomes a major disruption.

When these muscular strain patterns continue to the point of injury, they are generally known as Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI’s), and they can be just as debilitating as sudden, forcefully traumatic injuries (like sprains or fractures), in fact, they can be even worse.

#3.  The Shortcomings Of The Standard Medical Approach

Should you see your Doctor if you are experiencing some of the warning signs listed above?

Yes, but you may want take into consideration, that although Allopathic Medicine is performing brilliantly in many areas, these types of injuries (RSI’s) are not among them.

Take Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, for instance. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the most common computer-related injury.

Government statistics tell us that the typical Carpal Tunnel Syndrome injury results in six lost work weeks¹ (longer even, than the recovery time for an amputation¹), costs $30,000 in medical treatments and lost wages,¹ and here in California, more than half the time ends in some degree of permanent disability.²

Pain and anti-inflammatory medications: Pain, inflammation, and swelling are all symptoms of an injury. Drugs only suppress these symptoms; they do not actually help to heal the injury.

In fact, by interfering with the body’s natural responses, and inhibiting circulation to the injured area, drugs can actually slow down the healing process.

#4.  Why Ergonomics Are Only Part Of The Answer

Proper ergonomics can minimize the strain of computer use on your muscles, but ergonomics alone cannot completely eliminate it—any more than proper maintenance will eliminate wear and tear on your car.

Yes, ergonomics are certainly important, and if you haven’t optimized yours yet, by all means do so, just don’t stop there if you are already having problems.

#5.  Why The Complete Solution Should Include Neuromuscular Therapy

Your muscles need help.

Muscles do not self-correct very well, (See also: How muscles heal) they usually need help recovering from injury or chronic strain—Neuromuscular Therapy  is a direct, efficient way of restoring muscle balance.

Neuromuscular Therapy can correct your muscular strain patterns and help prevent them from recurring, even if the factors that caused the problem remain unchanged.

More frequent maintenance sessions may be necessary if you have a very stressful work environment that can’t be improved, naturally.

Get The Therapy You Need To Correct Your Muscular Imbalances—Here At Body In Balance

You will receive two leading-edge Neuromuscular Therapies:

Soft Tissue Release and
Neuromuscular Retraining
Here’s an overview of both

And we’ll immediately begin to lead your muscles back to their normal, resilient, pain-free state.

You’ll learn targeted stretches and unique self-care techniques that you can do on your own to accelerate and maintain your progress, and to prevent future problems.

A Sensible, Non-Surgical View on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment, Marin

The current medical/surgical/pharmacological approach to this epidemic problem is largely failing us, demonstrated by the fact that the typical Carpal Tunnel Syndrome injury results in 30 lost workdays¹ (longer even, than the recovery time for an amputation,¹ amazingly), costs $30,000 in medical treatments and lost wages,¹ and more than half the time ends in some degree of permanent disability.²

Essentially, the average person diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome will be out of work for 6 weeks¹, and will face a worse than 50/50 chance of becoming permanently disabled to some extent.² These are disconcerting statistics.

Treating The Symptoms — Ignoring The Cause — Medical Business As Usual

If you were awakened in the middle of the night by your fire alarm, and found your house very hot and full of smoke, you would naturally call the fire department, and would expect them to find and extinguish the fire…

But what if all the fire firefighters did when they arrived was to disconnect the alarm, open all the windows, and blow all the heat and smoke out of the house?

What if they left you with a fire still smoldering in your basement, content that they had solved the problem by removing all the external signs of it?

In dealing with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, that is unfortunately how the allopathic medical system typically functions—by numbing the pain with painkillers (disconnecting the alarm), suppressing the inflammation process with anti-inflammatory drugs (blowing away the heat and smoke), and overlooking the real problem, the injury itself (the fire).

The Standard Medical Options—And Their Shortcomings

Bracing or “splinting”:

The reasoning behind the use of these devices appears to be sound at first: to stabilize the injured area as it heals. This logical sounding argument is flawed, however, for several reasons.

First of all, although fixation is essential to the proper repair of broken bones, it detrimental to muscular healing. Muscles need movement, without it they atrophy or “shrink.”

Secondly, braces also restrict the flow of blood to the area, blood which is carrying oxygen, and nutrients necessary for the repair of the injured tissues.

Lastly, by completely restricting movement in one area, these devices tend to overwork the muscles in the adjoining areas; a problem in the wrist becomes a problem in the elbow or the shoulder.

Pain and anti-inflammatory medications:

Pain, inflammation, and swelling are all symptoms of an injury. Drugs only suppress the symptoms, they do not actually help to heal the injury.

In fact, by interfering with the body’s natural responses, and inhibiting circulation to the injured area, drugs actually slow down the healing process.

Some of the stronger anti-inflammatories are also notorious for serious gastro-intestinal side effects including nausea, stomach pain, and even ulcers

Surgery:

The surgical procedure involves making a small incision in the wrist, to relieve the pressure in the Carpal Tunnel.

How can this be anything more than a temporary fix, considering that it doesn’t address the causative factors that lead to the swelling and pressure in the first place?

The swelling is just as likely to reoccur, and all too often does—One’s pants become uncomfortably tight. Does buying a bigger pair of pants permanently solve the problem if one continues to gain weight?

Surgery, as an option to relieve pain caused by muscular inflammation and swelling, begs for serious reconsideration.

Looking Beyond The Obvious—It’s Not “All In The Wrist”

The Carpal Tunnel is the obvious site of the most distress, and where most approaches fixate their attention, but we need to look beyond the obvious to the deeper causes of the problem.

The injury actually begins in the powerful muscles of the forearm that control the motions of the wrist and hand.

The strain from repeatedly performing a task, like typing, using a mouse, or scanning groceries, causes tiny tears in these muscles. It’s a form of “micro-trauma” that happens insidiously over a long period of time.

On the surface, this type of injury seems very different from a sudden violent injury like a sprain or fracture—the nervous system however, makes no distinction.

The nervous system reacts to the tiny tears in the muscle tissues the same way it reacts to a severe injury, it initiates the inflammation process and shortens the length of the injured muscles.

This is the typically overlooked, true cause of the chain reaction leading to swelling in the carpal tunnel, and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

The Carpal Tunnel is a passageway in the palm side of the wrist, through which nine tendons and a nerve, (the median) pass from the forearm to the hand.

The situation turns very serious there, when the tendons (and their synovial sheaths or “casings”) start to become inflamed and swell.

Normally these tendons glide easily in their protective sheaths, but this delicate balance is easily upset by the increased tension from the injured muscles, to which they are attached.

Eventually, the pressure from the swelling tendon sheaths builds up in the limited space of the Carpal Tunnel to the point where it affects the median nerve.

The nerve suffers from a lack of oxygen, and the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome begin: pain, tingling, numbness, and loss of hand strength.

A certain amount of local friction and irritation in the Carpal Tunnel is certainly involved, and this is where most conventional efforts are focused, but it is the constant irritation from the shortened, injured forearm muscles that prevents those efforts from being largely successful.

Soft Tissue Release: A Non-Surgical Alternative

Soft Tissue Release addresses the cause of the problem at its root, by normalizing the muscles of the forearm.

Once again, it is the microscopic injury to these muscles that sets off the chain reaction leading to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

In truth, Soft Tissue Release is not a treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, it is a treatment for muscular injuries and imbalances.

With a large emphasis on releasing the muscles—that become the tendons—which pass through the Carpal Tunnel.

You can read more about it here: Soft Tissue Release

Why Muscular Therapy Is An Essential Part Of The Healing Process For Sprains And Strains, The Most Common Injuries From Car Accidents

The whiplash injury to the neck, or cervical sprain/strain, is by far the most common injury that results from a car accident.

Sprains and strains are referred to as soft tissue injuries (soft tissue includes muscles, tendons, and ligaments), but for simplicities sake, you can think of “soft tissue” as muscle.

Soft tissue injuries, invisible on x-rays and often overlooked, can cause severe debilitating pain after a car accident.

Worse yet, if a soft tissue injury is not directly addressed with soft tissue therapy, and left untreated and unresolved, the injured muscles and other soft tissues can end up causing chronic pain for months, years—even decades after the accident.

Unfortunately, the standard medical approach to these injuries often amounts to nothing more than suppressing the symptoms with pain-killers and anti-inflammatory drugs, leaving the injured muscles to hopefully heal on their own.

Injured muscles heal with scar tissue in a way that leaves them weaker, less elastic, and prone to re-injury and pain. Muscular therapy approaches like Soft Tissue Release help to restore muscular strength, flexibility, and normal function by correcting or “aligning” the scar tissue.

This can be crucial for full muscular recovery. Muscles tend not to recover fully when given only time in which to heal.

To learn more about how muscles heal, and why they need this assistance, visit the How muscles heal page.

And here are some car accident injury treatment success stories

Why Do Some Sports Injuries Take So Long To Heal Or Keep Recurring, Despite All Attempts At Rehabilitation?

Is getting injured, being in pain and struggling for months or even years to recover just the price we pay for being highly active, pushing ourselves in competition or just having a good time? It doesn’t have to be!

1- Although some of these injuries are inevitable, many are not—some, especially cumulative types like Tendonitis, are entirely preventable, (but not necessarily just by stretching and warming up properly.)

2- Many athletes and active people have in common certain “neuromuscular imbalances”—that can be easily reversed—but which will, if not corrected, tend to become more extreme as the years go by, causing the same aches, pains, limitations and injuries with frustrating predictability.

3- Faster, easier, new ways  to speed the healing process and ensure a fuller recovery are now available when one is injured—It doesn’t have to be such a lengthy, painful struggle.

If you want to be more empowered in your recovery process, gaining a better understanding of how your muscles heal is the place to start, because:

• Muscular healing is much more complicated than commonly thought…
• Muscles need a lot more help to fully recover than commonly thought…
• And every sports injury is a muscular injury…

Meaning that, for the most part, you can’t break a bone or sprain a ligament without injuring muscle too. Your muscular system will tend to fail first—and even if it doesn’t, your muscular system will quickly become imbalanced in compensating for the injury.

Why Your Muscles Have To Heal Differently Than Your Bones, And Why Your Muscles Are More Prone To Healing Problems

If you fracture a bone, as long as it is set and held in place properly, it will tend to heal without further assistance, in such a way that it ends up stronger where it broke than it was before the fracture.

Bone tissue heals with calcium and other minerals, components of bone, in a process that creates a bond that is denser and harder than the original bone structure.

Denser and harder equals stronger, since that is the very definition of strength when it comes to bones. You want your bones to be dense, hard and relatively inflexible.

The definition of strength when it comes to your muscles, however, has to include flexibility and mobility.

Anything that would make your muscles too dense and inflexible would be a liability—and yet, that is essentially what happens in the initial phases of muscular repair.

Your muscles do not actually heal with just muscle tissue, but with “denser” substances including collagen. The resulting scar tissue is initially much less elastic, and consequently weaker and prone to re-injury.

Imagine a broken rubber band that has been glued and taped back together: The rubber band is whole again, but now it has a small area that is much less flexible (the repair.)

What if the rubber band broke repeatedly and was repaired in multiple places… How much of its original flexibility would remain?
This is one of the dilemmas of muscular healing.

Your body needs to repair your muscles without compromising their flexibility. This is a more complicated and delicate process than bone repair, where flexibility is not really an issue.

Your muscles, therefore, are more prone to having difficulties with healing: incomplete healing, loss of strength and/or recurring injury.

What Your Muscles Need In Order To Recover As Completely As Possible

In order for your muscles to function properly, all of their fibers need to be aligned in the same direction.

In the same way that your car wouldn’t be drivable if its tires were all aligned in different directions, your muscles wouldn’t work if their fibers were all pulling in different directions at once. The fibers have to be parallel.

When you have a muscle that has been injured however, the initial repair process creates a “patch” of random scar tissue fibers, and like a weak link in a chain, the random alignment and reduced flexibility of these new fibers becomes a “weak link” in your muscle.

If the healing process does not progress far enough beyond this point, the injury will leave your muscle in a perpetually under functioning, weaker, less-flexible state that is highly susceptible to re-injury.

In order for your injured muscle to fully recover, the scar tissue needs to become aligned and integrated with the muscle fibers.

This doesn’t just happen by itself though—it requires movement and a certain amount of stretching (just the opposite of what bones need to heal.)

The right amount of movement, (which varies according to the injury) at the right time and intervals, repeatedly breaks up the scar tissue fibers in a beneficial way, and they gradually become realigned in the same direction as the rest of your muscle…

But even with all the best rehab. exercises and stretches, it can be a slow and painful process that remains incomplete after weeks or months of hard work.

Here’s how I help speed the process up as fast as possible:

Soft Tissue Release – An advanced form of Deep Tissue Sports Massage

And now let’s look at another issue that needs to be understood and addressed, if you want to be assured of the fullest possible recovery.

The reality is that, even when the scar tissue “integration process” is complete, your problems can continue, because…

Your Muscle Isn’t The Only Thing That Gets “Damaged”

Traditional forms of rehabilitation often fail to restore full function, because they tend to fixate on the individual muscles (and other tissues) that have been injured. (The “hardware,” so to speak.)

It’s not enough to focus solely on trying to stretch, strengthen or otherwise rehabilitate your injured muscles—because the “damage,” or disruption, is also to your “software,” the movement programs in your brain’s Motor Control Center.

(Your “Motor Control Center” is simply the part of your brain that coordinates all your body’s movements, as well as your alignment and balance—Think of it as your “Movement Command Center” if that helps—MCC for short, either way.)

When you injure a muscle, it gets reflexively “shut down” to protect it from further harm and your MCC begins to adapt your movements to avoid overusing that muscle. This is the beginning of a distorted movement program.

And distorted movement programs are like bad habits—once you develop one, they can be very hard to “break out of.”

One consequence is that you lose full conscious control of your injured muscle—not totally, of course, you can still move it, but you don’t have your full strength or flexibility – And you’re compensating like crazy! (Sound familiar?)

And although movement is essential in realigning the scar tissue, (which we talked about earlier) trying to get your full power and mobility back by way of strength-building exercise can easily become an exercise in futility.

Unless the distorted movement programs in your brain (the “software glitches”) are corrected too, any progress gained by treating your muscles alone will often continue to be temporary or incomplete.

It tends to feel like an invisible wall you just can’t seem to get past in your rehab efforts.

Fortunately, you don’t have to go on struggling this way…

Here’s a detailed, interesting article about how that works and the therapy I use to help you get through it faster:

Neuromuscular Retraining – Overcome Your Invisible Rehab Barrier

The Solution, Not Only To Your Injury Or Pain Pattern…

By treating according to these newly-discovered principles, not only can stubborn, difficult-to-heal injuries and pain patterns finally be laid to rest, but…

The underlying imbalances that allow many of these problems to occur in the first place can be corrected as well.

And as an athlete or highly active person, this means you can look forward to:

• More evenness is your stride,

• More power in your swing,

• Less risk of future pain and injury,

• A greater sense of balance, flexibility and coordination in all your movements…

AND the increased confidence that comes with all of this.

Also, if you have been protecting, favoring or otherwise not fully trusting part of your body, because of repeated injury or chronic pain, you may be surprised to find yourself liberated of the need to guard that area.

To sum up, the key to a swift, lasting recovery from muscular injury is in:

Helping your muscle’s scar tissue integration process so you regain full muscular flexibility and the scar tissue is prevented from becoming a weak link in the chain – More on that at:

Soft Tissue Release

And “re-coordinating” your brain (your Motor Control Center) with your muscular system so your injured muscle gets “turned back on” again and you regain full power and conscious control – More at:

Neuromuscular Retraining

Are You SURE You Know What’s Causing Your Sciatica Pain?

Here are two little-known Sciatica facts that could help you put an end to your Sciatica Pain much easier than you thought—Not to mention hopefully saving you a mountain of frustration, time and wasted treatment effort…

1—”Sciatica” pain is often completely UNRELATED to the Sciatic Nerve, because,

2—Several hidden muscular problems frequently cause IDENTICAL symptoms

Vast numbers of Sciatica sufferers are not finding lasting relief from drugs, physical therapy or other conventional treatments. Many have been told the reason for their pain is some type of spinal problem, most often a herniated disc.

Nevertheless, even if the same is true for you—the good news is that…

Your Sciatica Pain May Not Be Coming From Your Sciatic Nerve

Yes—Despite what X-rays or MRIs SEEM to show—Your pain may have no connection to that or your Sciatic Nerve at all.

As outrageous as that may sound at first, it would be very good news to you, wouldn’t it?

Well, the truth is, despite medical theory and popular belief, Sciatica pain is not necessarily caused by abnormalities of the lower spine (like herniated or bulging disks) that affect the origins of the Sciatic Nerve…

Or even Sciatic Nerve inflammation!

WAIT! You may be thinking—That totally contradicts everything I’ve ever heard about Sciatica—Including what my doctor says!

Even the diagnosis itself, “Sciatica” suggests the pain must have something to do with the Sciatic NERVE—Doesn’t it?

What Every Sciatica Sufferer Has A Right To Know

This is an MRI image of a lumbar spine (low back), clearly showing bulging and herniated disks…

Yet the person this image was taken of was completely PAIN FREE—No back pain—No Sciatica.

Is this just a rare case perhaps? No—Practically the opposite…

Countless people are walking around pain-free, in spite of bulging or degenerated discs, spinal stenosis, and a host of other spinal conditions.

These abnormalities do not necessarily cause pain.

Put another way, if these problems did always cause Sciatica (or low-back pain) everyone over the age of 50 would be in constant pain, since virtually everyone has some form of spinal degeneration by then.

You’re undoubtedly familiar already with Sciatica’s annoying symptoms:

Pain or irritation through the buttock and/or down the back of the leg, (possibly with weakness, tingling or pins and needles etc.)…BUT,

Here’s What Your Doctor Probably Hasn’t Told You:

Several muscles in the hip and buttock area frequently cause or “mimic” exactly the same symptoms! (Possibly by pressing on the Sciatic Nerve, but just as likely not.)

The main one is called the Piriformis, and is has a special, scary-sounding condition sometimes associated with it known as ‘Piriformis Syndrome’

Don’t be scared by that if that’s your diagnosis though – It’s only a muscle, and muscles can be treated.

Here’s an overview of my muscular therapy approach: Overview of the Neuromuscular Therapies

And here are some of the many success stories of those who were once in a lot of pain like you are: Treatment Success Stories

The latest research demonstrates that most low-back pain is not caused by the conditions doctors usually blame – Surgery is rarely called for – And the solution might be easier than you think…

What would you say is the worst thing about your back pain?  The physical pain itself? – Or the way it disrupts your life, causing you to struggle with or lose pleasure in the things you love to do? Perhaps both are equally challenging.

The point is, that if you are experiencing back pain, you are probably not living life to it’s fullest. Your job performance may also be suffering and simple tasks like putting on a pair of shoes, driving a car and prolonged sitting or standing may have become very difficult.

Have you been forced to limit, or even give up some of your favorite leisure activities?… Running?… Golf?… Working out at the gym?… Traveling?… Giving your kids piggyback rides?

Are you fed up with treatments, pills, and so-called “solutions” that don’t work, or which make things even worse?… Or feeling so skeptical, with all the conflicting information and so-called expert opinions floating around out there, that you haven’t done anything at all about your back pain yet?

If any of your replies are yes, this article is for you. It will help you to answer, in a common sense sort of way, a very frustrating question:

What Causes Low-Back Pain, And What Can I Do About It?

There is a lot of confusion among health care providers as to what the best treatment is for low-back pain, and a great deal of disagreement about what the actual causes are. Depending on which specialist you ask, you may hear any of the following:

Herniated or bulging discs: The favorite of Neurosurgeons. (Who are twice as likely as other doctors to order tests to search for these abnormalities.

Arthritis: Rheumatologists (Twice as likely to order lab tests to look for arthritic conditions.)

Pinched nerves, misaligned vertebrae: Chiropractors (Who nearly always take x-rays to search for these problems.)

These doctors and other specialists, also claim a host of other conditions are the usual causes of low-back pain, including: Spinal instability, facet joint syndrome, spinal stenosis, sacroiliac syndrome, spondyolisthesis, etc, etc…

But are these conditions really at the root of most back pain sufferer’s problems? A new wave of medical researchers strongly disagree, and are actually claiming just the opposite…

What Your Doctor Will Probably Not Tell You:

A few bold medical researchers are bringing new evidence to light that threatens the sacred cows of back pain theory. Long-held beliefs are being challenged, especially that most chronic low-back pain is caused by serious structural disorders that require surgery.

“The rate of back surgery in the United States has continued to increase, and is about 5 times that of other developed countries. In spite of the increasing surgical rates, there has been no evidence of a corresponding decrease in the rates of disability due to low back problems.” (Taylor, 1994; Cherkin, 1994)

“Less than 5% of back pain is caused by anatomical problems that require surgery.” (Deyo, 1992)

“Most herniated discs resolve without surgery and have been found to be surprisingly common even in asymptomatic (symptom free) adults.” (Wiesel, 1984; Boden, 1990)

“Some patients might have degenerative changes found on imaging studies (X-rays, MRIs, CAT scans, etc.), but such changes are common even in asymptomatic (symptom free) adults and are therefore of questionable diagnostic value.” (Turner, 1992)

The Four Biggest Myths About Chronic Low-Back Pain

1. High-tech imaging tests like MRIs and CAT scans can always identify the cause of pain. Several recent studies, including one appearing in the July 1994 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, have shown that MRIs can signal a lot of false alarms. This particular study revealed that many people have signs of back injury in MRI tests, even though they are not in any pain. (Surgery is often recommended on the basis of these tests alone.)

2. Everyone who has back pain should at least have their spine X-rayed. Once again, multiple studies have concluded that a large percentage of the population will test positive for “surgically correctable” injuries or spinal abnormalities—even though they are in no pain what so ever.

3. If a herniated (slipped) or bulging disk is found, it’s obviously the reason why you are in pain, so you must have surgery. Herniated disks are one of the most common conditions blamed for low-back pain, (and routinely operated on) Yet again, multiple studies by top-notch medical researchers have revealed that as much as HALF the population is currently walking around pain free in spite of bulging or herniated disks.

4. Back pain is mostly caused by injuries or heavy lifting. Most of the time back pain “just seems to happen.” Most sufferers cannot recall a specific event that brought on their pain.What is to blame then, if severe injuries, herniated disks and other serious structural disorders are not the main causes of low-back pain?…

What is to blame then, if severe injuries, herniated disks and other serious structural disorders are not the main causes of low-back pain?…

More Than 90% Of All Chronic Low-back Pain Is Muscular In Nature

This was the result of a recent study of 10,000 chronic low-back pain sufferers, a joint effort by the Washington Schools of Medicine, John Hopkins University, and the Seattle Veterans Hospital. (10,000 people—an entire town’s worth.)

The 23-member panel of Doctors and scientists concluded that more than 90 percent of all chronic low-back pain is of soft tissue origin. (Soft tissue includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, and a few other tissues, but you can think of it as basically muscle.)

Tight and injured muscles causing pain—It may sound almost  too simple.  Why, if the vast majority of low-back pain sufferers have a simple muscular injury or imbalance, isn’t this obvious to most doctors? Neurosurgeons…Rheumatologists… Neurologists…Internists… MDs…

Will any of these doctors make a point of checking for possible muscular problems when testing or examining you? Most, sadly, will not.

One reason is probably that muscular injuries and imbalances are not so simple when it comes to detecting them. They are difficult to palpate and don’t show up well, if at all, on X-rays and MRIs.

They can, however, cause a bewildering array of symptoms, from a mild ache that comes and goes, to constant, severe, disabling pain. Even microscopic muscle tears can cause terrible pain.

The unfortunate fact is, that even now in the year 2010, despite all our medical advances…

Soft Tissue Injuries And Muscular Problems Are Very Often Poorly Diagnosed And Inadequately Treated

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons actually admitted this amongst themselves in 1987, while examining orthopedic medicine’s limitations in treating soft tissue injuries.

(“The Mechanisms of Injury and Repair of Musculoskeletal Soft Tissue” 1987 symposium; American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons)

Unfortunately, even if your doctor does suspect a muscular problem as the cause of your pain, you will be very lucky to get anything more than a prescription for painkillers, muscle relaxants, or anti-inflammatories from them.

What about physical therapy? Isn’t that the best thing for muscular problems and injuries? In some cases yes.

But when it comes to chronic back pain, the general belief in physical therapy is seriously outdated. It’s a 1930’s concept that weakness or instability of the spine causes pain, and that the muscles that support the spine need to be strengthened. (Still very popular though.)

“The spine is not a flimsy reed easily broken.” (John Sarno, Ph.D.)

Are Pain-Fighting Drugs Doing You More Harm Than Good?

The truth about painkillers and anti-inflammatories can be summed up in one very simple statement, which the pharmaceutical companies don’t ever want you to consider: Drugs do not heal.

Taking pain relief or inflammation-fighting drugs only suppress your symptoms; they mask the problem. Like cutting the wire that goes to the engine warning light in your car; you don’t see the light on any more, but your engine is still in danger of breaking down!

Drugs actually SLOW the healing process by interfering with the body’s natural responses, inhibiting circulation to the injured area, and taxing your liver and kidneys. (Not to mention the serious gastro-intestinal side effects anti-inflammatories are notorious for.)

Amazingly, these and other drugs are routinely prescribed as if they do actually help your muscles heal!

An Alternative To Drugs, Surgery And Ineffective Therapies

If conventional medicine is letting you down and you’re fed up with being treated like a malfunctioning machine by a cold, impersonal system, here’s an alternative…

An alternative to the harmful chemicals, pointless ultrasound and electrodes zapping you while you lay there on a cold vinyl slab

Take a look at a completely hands-on muscular therapy approach: Overview of the Neuromuscular Therapies

And some of the many success stories of those who were once in a lot of pain like you are: Treatment Success Stories