The Hidden Problems with Micro-trauma

                We’ve been discussing trauma lately and most people think of the major traumas when they think of the word.  How about micro-trauma?  There are syndromes associated with the desktop life style.  Many people sit for HOURS a day.  In fact, it isn’t a stretch to imagine someone who is in a standing position for less than an hour total a day.  Moving from bed to shower to car to work to car to couch to bed.  I would venture that many reading this spend the majority of their waking day sitting – I won’t even mention the poor sleep hygiene we are facing.  YOUR BODY WAS MEANT FOR MOTION!

                Upper Cross Syndrome and Lower Cross Syndrome are associated with sitting in a poor posture for hours on end a day.  Rounded shoulders and weak muscles on the front and back add up to upper back pain and lower back issues.  At first, it may just feel like tight and sore muscles.  Maybe you even have the foresight to realize the need for exercise to strengthen the affected areas.  Over time, the chronic immobile nature of joints and muscles that were designed to move all day long adds up and you are faced with arthritis in the spine. 

                The musculo-skeletal consequences are the obvious ones.  If you have upper cross syndrome in your upper back, it can result in weakened muscles in and around your ribcage.  Once those start down the road of segmental dysfunction, you could battle them for years.  The upper back is the source of nerves for your upper organs.  Your heart, lungs, esophagus, stomach, liver and gall bladder are all innervated by the thoracic spinal region.  Ever have heartburn that was so bad you could feel it in your back?  Many people with gallstones can attest that they had pain on the right side of their back toward the bottom of their shoulder blade. 

                The lower back when subluxated can give rise to constipation, diarrhea, urinary issues, reproductive problems, not to mention pain and numbness in the legs and feet.  If you are waiting to see someone when you have pain down in your legs, your journey back to health will not be by taking a pill or being adjusted a few times.  And if you allow your spine to degenerate to the point of arthritis, there’s not a whole lot that can be done beyond surgery.  (Look up Steve Kerr and his troubles with his back when considering spinal surgery).  Most spinal surgeons now recommend physical therapy, chiropractic or both before they will take the risk of fusing vertebrae because the chances of the surgery being successful isn't as great as some claim, especially for certain conditions. 

Even when the surgery is successful, there is still often pain and discomfort that persists and the risk of continued opiate use is prevalent.  There are most certainly people who need to take that risk.  The other issue with surgery is if you get a spinal fusion, the immobility of that fused joint is now going to result in added stress on the joints above and below.  If that isn’t addressed you could feasibly find yourself back in the operating room to the another fusion. 

There are two points to this post:  first, if you are in a job where you are unable to move like you are designed to, you must take steps to ensure you maintain a healthy body and spine.  Exercise, stretch, see a chiropractor, do yoga.  All these things will lessen your body’s chances of deteriorating before it should.  The second point is, if you are now dealing with chronic pain or other issues due to spinal troubles you need to be taking steps to ensure that it doesn’t get better.  The same elements above are applicable here.  As a chiropractor, I can’t reverse Degenerative Disc Disease (arthritis in the spine); but I can help lessen the daily pain and can help keep the other areas of your spine from experiencing similar fate.  Even if you’ve had to get a spinal fusion, you must keep the remaining segments moving properly.  If you don’t, you could find yourself having the same symptoms returning a few years down the road.

Don’t wait until you are in constant, unbearable pain before you get seen by a chiropractor.  We specialize in keeping your spine moving efficiently and like it was designed to.  If you aren’t in a profession that allows you to move all day, you are silently doing damage to your back.  The trouble with those small traumas is the analogy of the frog in the pot of water.  You aren’t noticing the damage until the frog is dead and there isn’t much anyone can do to help.