Sciatica and Back Pain
If you have lower back pain, you are not alone.
Low back pain (LBP) is the second most common cause of disability in US adults and a common most reason for lost work days. About 80 percent of the population will experience an episode of LBP at some time during life. The recurrence rate of low back pain is very common that it may develop chronic low back pain that lasts for more than three months of onset. Pain can begin as a result of an auto accident, lifting injury, or the aging process. The vast majority of low back pain is mechanical in nature. It involves structural distortion that disrupts the components of the spine to fit and move properly. Patients tend to associate lower back pain with general degeneration of the spine from normal wear and tear that occurs in the joints and discs as we age. Most often times treatment focuses on the lower back when the actual cause of the low back pain is in the upper neck.
Here’s why upper neck must be considered as a contributing factor that causes lower back pain.
The upper neck has thousands of sensors that are responsible for postural balance and spinal alignment. It is constantly monitoring the head position, making the necessary changes to the lower spine to assure that the head stays in upright. Top two vertebrae produce the most mobility in six different directions while rest of the spine primarily moves in two directions. Due to their mobility, they are especially vulnerable to injury and misalign relative to our skull and rest of the spine. When a misalignment occurs between the head and neck, rest of the spine compensates and adapts, and it triggers a chain reaction from top to bottom. When the upper neck is misaligned, lower spine is compromised leading to structural body imbalance. The pelvis is tilted, the shoulder is unleveled, and one leg can be drawn upward causing short leg on one side. Body imbalance will create a body imbalance, causing weakness and instability. This chain reaction, over time, makes the components of the spine more vulnerable to injury. If the upper cervical misalignment is neglected, it can lead to premature arthritis and irreversible spinal degeneration.
Why Posture is Important in Chronic Back Pain
Your posture constantly adjusts to maintain center of the body’s mass aligned and balanced over base of support on the ground. Postural adjustment supports head and body against the gravity and stabilizes supporting parts of the body while others are being moved. It is very critical for the central nervous system to communicate the spatial orientation of the body from the environment with the brain correctly. With the proprioceptive messages being disrupted, the body balance would be compensated in order to keep the head and neck upright. This reflex mechanism causes one side of the pelvis to be tilted in three dimensional way, which causes the entire structural shift to occur as a chain reaction.
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