Low Back Pain Always a Low Back Problem?

Is low back pain always a low back problem? That may be the general consensus, but it may not be true all of the time. Everything in the body is connected. The guy who made up the song, “The hipbone is connected to the tailbone, the tailbone’s connected to the backbone, the backbone’s connected to the…” really knew what he was talking about. A complete health history may point your doctor of chiropractic to pay close attention to certain areas of the spine, however we must remember that everyone one reserves the right to have any problem in the spine causing anything. We are all individuals and must be treated as such, so as chiropractors we must be very good detectives taking everything into account, though when analyzing the spine, we must accept evidence of nerve pressure (subluxations) were we find it, fix it, and leave it alone so the body has time to adjust to the change. So when talking about a low a back problem not really being a low back problem, sometimes it makes patients want to say, “Huh?”

The spinal cord is arranged in layers much like an onion. The spinal cord and brain is enveloped in a big sac containing cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). It is this fluid that gives the brain and spinal cord its nutrients, as they do not have a direct blood supply. This sac is anchored to the spinal column through ligaments. When you walk, talk, move or do whatever you do your spinal cord does not get bounced, it is tethered to the spine through these said ligaments. The body also has its own way of bathing the spinal column and brain with CSF. See the sac surrounding the brain and cord is super anchored at the tailbone and at the base of the skull. Slight movement backwards of the tailbone and the bone at the base of the skull on inspiration and movement forwards on expiration help form a pumping like action that baths the cord and the brain giving it nutrients. Anyway the outer onion ring of the cord in the upper neck area among other things give rise to muscles in the low back. All information has to go from the body to the brain and back down again. This is how you brain coordinates a simple step forward. Stuck misaligned bones of the spine can twist the sac that contains the spinal column and CSF. If the sac is twisted, the pump bathing the cord and brain in nutrients cannot function appropriately. Twisting of the cord through its anchoring ligaments can puts pressure on the cord if held there for prolonged periods. Remember life is motion. Don’t use your muscles and you will become flabby and you muscles won’t be as strong and function properly. The same holds true with other aspects of the body. Because the cord gets fatter in the upper neck area and because the outer layer of the cord in that area (among a lot of other things) sends information to the low back, tension in this area can cause spasms in the low back. Do I immediately think upper neck when someone comes in with a low back problem, well no, but if they have had really bad earaches as a child, ringing in the ears, horrible sinus problems, and that disc looks great in the low back, the upper neck area is another place on the spine I would check very carefully. As always the whole spine is analyzed every time regardless of the problem. Chiropractors look for nerve pressure (subluxations). Through the relief of nerve pressure the body is then able to bring itself back into balance.