BACK AND NECK PAIN
bACK PAIN
BACK PAIN INCLUDES LOWER BACK PAIN, MIDDLE BACK PAIN, UPPER BACK PAIN. WHEN MOST PEOPLE REFER TO BACK PAIN THEY MEAN THE LOWER BACK IN THE REGION OF THE LUMBAR SPINE. THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THE BACK CAN HURT. ALL OF THE ANATOMICAL STRUCTURES: BONE , DISCS BETWEEN THE BACK BONES, MUSCLES AND SKIN THAT MAKE UP THE BACK ARE SUPPLIED BY NERVES THAT CAN GIVE THE SENSATION OF PAIN. OTHER CONDITIONS OF THE INTERNAL ORGANS INSIDE THE BODY WALLS LIKE KIDNEY INFECTIONS, AORTIC ANEURYSM, SPREAD OF CANCER OR PREGNANCY CAN LEAD TO PAIN IN THE BACK. NERVE AND MUSCULAR PROBLEMS, DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE, AND ARTHRITIS ARE COMMON CAUSES OF BACK PAIN. IT IS IMPORTANT TO DIAGNOSE AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE WHAT IS CAUSING THE PAIN SO THE CAUSE CAN BE TREATED DIRECTLY.
LUMBAR STRAIN AND LUMBAR SPRAIN
LUMBAR STRAIN AND LUMBAR SPRAIN ARE THE MOST COMMON CONDITIONS WHICH CAN CAUSE LOWER BACK PAIN. PEOPLE MAY INJURE THE MUSCLES OR THE FIBROUS TISSUE OF THE BACK FROM PICKING UP SOMETHING HEAVY, INDUSTRIAL WORK, OR SPORTS THAT REQUIRE LIFTING, PUSHING, OR TWISTING.
LUMBAR STRAINS DEVELOP WHEN THE MUSCLES STRETCH TOO FAR OR TEAR. LUMBAR SPRAINS ARE RIPS IN THE LIGAMENTS AND TENDONS, THE TOUGH BANDS OF TISSUE THAT CONNECT MUSCLES TO THE BONES AND THE BONES TO OTHER BONES.
INTERVERTEBRAL DISC DISEASE
ONE CONDITION, HERNIATION OF THE DISC IS WHEN THE STRONG FIBROUS TISSUE THAT IS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE INTERVERTEBRAL DISC MATERIAL BREAKS DOWN AND ALLOWS SOME OF THE INNER GEL MATERIAL THAT IS AT THE CENTER OF THE DISC TO PUSH OUT OF THE CONFINING CIRCLE OF FIBROUS TISSUE. tHE INTERVERTEBRAL DISC LIES BETWEEN EACH VERTEBRAL BONE AND FUNCTIONS AS A SHOCK ABSORB FOR THE FORCES PRESSING DOWN ON THE SPINAL BONES. wHEN SOME OF THE INNER DISC POKES THROUGH THE OUTER FIBROUS BOUNDARY THIS DISC MATERIAL CAN PRESS ON THE NERVES THAT START IN THE LOWER SPINE AND GO DOWN TO THE LEGS.
THIS REFERRED PAIN GOING INTO THE LEG WAS INITIALLY CALLED SCIATICA BECAUSE DOCTORS THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE LARGE SCIATIC NERVE THAT IS BEHIND THE THIGH BONE AND DEEPER THAN THE POSTERIOR THIGH MUSCLES. THE LOCATION OF THE PRODUCER OF THE PAIN IS AT THE LEVEL OF THE SPINE RATHER THAN THE PERIPHERAL SCIATIC NERVE.
SACROILIAC BACK PAIN
ANOTHER COMMON SITE OF BACK PAIN IS AT THE SACROILIAC JOINTS. THERE IS A TENDENCY TO THINK OF THE PELVIS AS ONE CONTINUOUS CIRCULAR BONE. THE PELVIS IS MADE UP OF THE TWO ILIAC BONES ON THE SIDE AND THE SACRUM IN THE MIDDLE POSTERIORLY. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT MOTION AT THE sacroiliac JOINTS OF FIBROCARTILAGE WHERE THE sacrum is usually close to the TWO iliac BONES on either side. WITHOUT SOME POTENTIAL FOR MOTION OF THE PELVIC BONES A BABY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PASS THROUGH A SMALL WOMAN'S PELVIS DURING DELIVERY. THIS POTENTIAL FOR MOTION ALLOWS THE BONES TO MOVE OUT OF PLACE WHICH CAN BE PAINFUL. USUALLY THESE DISLOCATIONS WILL EVENTUALLY GET BACK INTO PLACE WITHOUT MEDICAL ATTENTION. PUTTING THE JOINTS IN THEIR PROPER RELATIONSHIP IS MOST DIRECTLY ACCOMPLISHED BY CHIROPRACTIC OR OSTEOPATHIC MANIPULATION. THIS SACROILIAC JOINT CAN BE PAINFULLY INFLAMED AND SWOLLEN. ACUPUNCTURE READILY TREATS ANY OF THESE PAINFUL SACROILIAC CONDITIONS. SACROILIAC PAIN IS NOT RELATED TO CONDITIONS OF THE LUMBAR SPINE INVOLVING DISCS OR SPINAL NERVES.
BACK PAIN SYMPTOMS WERE TRADITIONALLY TREATED WITH REST IN BED, TRACTION, ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDICATION, MUSCLE RELAXANTS, STRONG PAIN MEDICATIONS. THESE STANDARD TREATMENTS JUST MENTIONED WERE NOT FOUND TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE IN A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF CASES. NOW BACK PAIN CAN BE TREATED WITH CAREFUL RESUMPTION OF ACTIVITY WHILE AVOIDING VIGOROUS ACTIVITIES LIKE HEAVY LIFTING. acupuncture, PHYSICAL THERAPY, CHIROPRACTIC OR OSTEOPATHIC MANIPULATION HAVE ALL BEEN FOUND TO HELP PATIENTS WITH BACK PAIN. PHYSICIANS CAN PERFORM INJECTIONS TO CALM THE NERVE OR DECREASE INFLAMMATION. IN SOME VERY SEVERE CASES IT IS NECESSARY TO PERFORM AN OPERATION TO RELIEVE BACK PAIN.
WILLIAM CRAIG, D.O. MADE MANY INNOVATIONS IN TREATING CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE DISABlING PAIN CONDITIONS. HE HAD AN INTUITIVE FEEL FOR TREATING PATIENTS WITH DIFFICULT CONDITIONS. HIS LANDMARK STUDY PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION TREATED PATIENTS WHO HAD CHRONIC BACK PAIN WITH PAIN UNRELIEVED BY PRIOR TREATMENT. TREATMENT OF THESE PATIENTS WITH HIS SPECIFIC PROTOCOLS OF ACUPUNCTURE AND ELECTRICAL STIMULATION SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED THE PAIN AND FUNCTION OF THESE PATIENTS. HIS STUDY COMPARED PATIENTS WHO WERE TREATED WITH HIS LOW BACK PAIN ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS USING ELECTRICAL STIMULATION WITH STANDARD TREATMENT.
BACK PAIN INCLUDES LOWER BACK PAIN, MIDDLE BACK PAIN, UPPER BACK PAIN. WHEN MOST PEOPLE REFER TO BACK PAIN THEY MEAN THE LOWER BACK IN THE REGION OF THE LUMBAR SPINE. THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THE BACK CAN HURT. ALL OF THE ANATOMICAL STRUCTURES: BONE , DISCS BETWEEN THE BACK BONES, MUSCLES AND SKIN THAT MAKE UP THE BACK ARE SUPPLIED BY NERVES THAT CAN GIVE THE SENSATION OF PAIN. OTHER CONDITIONS OF THE INTERNAL ORGANS INSIDE THE BODY WALLS LIKE KIDNEY INFECTIONS, AORTIC ANEURYSM, SPREAD OF CANCER OR PREGNANCY CAN LEAD TO PAIN IN THE BACK. NERVE AND MUSCULAR PROBLEMS, DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE, AND ARTHRITIS ARE COMMON CAUSES OF BACK PAIN. IT IS IMPORTANT TO DIAGNOSE AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE WHAT IS CAUSING THE PAIN SO THE CAUSE CAN BE TREATED DIRECTLY.
LUMBAR STRAIN AND LUMBAR SPRAIN
LUMBAR STRAIN AND LUMBAR SPRAIN ARE THE MOST COMMON CONDITIONS WHICH CAN CAUSE LOWER BACK PAIN. PEOPLE MAY INJURE THE MUSCLES OR THE FIBROUS TISSUE OF THE BACK FROM PICKING UP SOMETHING HEAVY, INDUSTRIAL WORK, OR SPORTS THAT REQUIRE LIFTING, PUSHING, OR TWISTING.
LUMBAR STRAINS DEVELOP WHEN THE MUSCLES STRETCH TOO FAR OR TEAR. LUMBAR SPRAINS ARE RIPS IN THE LIGAMENTS AND TENDONS, THE TOUGH BANDS OF TISSUE THAT CONNECT MUSCLES TO THE BONES AND THE BONES TO OTHER BONES.
INTERVERTEBRAL DISC DISEASE
ONE CONDITION, HERNIATION OF THE DISC IS WHEN THE STRONG FIBROUS TISSUE THAT IS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE INTERVERTEBRAL DISC MATERIAL BREAKS DOWN AND ALLOWS SOME OF THE INNER GEL MATERIAL THAT IS AT THE CENTER OF THE DISC TO PUSH OUT OF THE CONFINING CIRCLE OF FIBROUS TISSUE. tHE INTERVERTEBRAL DISC LIES BETWEEN EACH VERTEBRAL BONE AND FUNCTIONS AS A SHOCK ABSORB FOR THE FORCES PRESSING DOWN ON THE SPINAL BONES. wHEN SOME OF THE INNER DISC POKES THROUGH THE OUTER FIBROUS BOUNDARY THIS DISC MATERIAL CAN PRESS ON THE NERVES THAT START IN THE LOWER SPINE AND GO DOWN TO THE LEGS.
THIS REFERRED PAIN GOING INTO THE LEG WAS INITIALLY CALLED SCIATICA BECAUSE DOCTORS THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE LARGE SCIATIC NERVE THAT IS BEHIND THE THIGH BONE AND DEEPER THAN THE POSTERIOR THIGH MUSCLES. THE LOCATION OF THE PRODUCER OF THE PAIN IS AT THE LEVEL OF THE SPINE RATHER THAN THE PERIPHERAL SCIATIC NERVE.
SACROILIAC BACK PAIN
ANOTHER COMMON SITE OF BACK PAIN IS AT THE SACROILIAC JOINTS. THERE IS A TENDENCY TO THINK OF THE PELVIS AS ONE CONTINUOUS CIRCULAR BONE. THE PELVIS IS MADE UP OF THE TWO ILIAC BONES ON THE SIDE AND THE SACRUM IN THE MIDDLE POSTERIORLY. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT MOTION AT THE sacroiliac JOINTS OF FIBROCARTILAGE WHERE THE sacrum is usually close to the TWO iliac BONES on either side. WITHOUT SOME POTENTIAL FOR MOTION OF THE PELVIC BONES A BABY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PASS THROUGH A SMALL WOMAN'S PELVIS DURING DELIVERY. THIS POTENTIAL FOR MOTION ALLOWS THE BONES TO MOVE OUT OF PLACE WHICH CAN BE PAINFUL. USUALLY THESE DISLOCATIONS WILL EVENTUALLY GET BACK INTO PLACE WITHOUT MEDICAL ATTENTION. PUTTING THE JOINTS IN THEIR PROPER RELATIONSHIP IS MOST DIRECTLY ACCOMPLISHED BY CHIROPRACTIC OR OSTEOPATHIC MANIPULATION. THIS SACROILIAC JOINT CAN BE PAINFULLY INFLAMED AND SWOLLEN. ACUPUNCTURE READILY TREATS ANY OF THESE PAINFUL SACROILIAC CONDITIONS. SACROILIAC PAIN IS NOT RELATED TO CONDITIONS OF THE LUMBAR SPINE INVOLVING DISCS OR SPINAL NERVES.
BACK PAIN SYMPTOMS WERE TRADITIONALLY TREATED WITH REST IN BED, TRACTION, ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDICATION, MUSCLE RELAXANTS, STRONG PAIN MEDICATIONS. THESE STANDARD TREATMENTS JUST MENTIONED WERE NOT FOUND TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE IN A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF CASES. NOW BACK PAIN CAN BE TREATED WITH CAREFUL RESUMPTION OF ACTIVITY WHILE AVOIDING VIGOROUS ACTIVITIES LIKE HEAVY LIFTING. acupuncture, PHYSICAL THERAPY, CHIROPRACTIC OR OSTEOPATHIC MANIPULATION HAVE ALL BEEN FOUND TO HELP PATIENTS WITH BACK PAIN. PHYSICIANS CAN PERFORM INJECTIONS TO CALM THE NERVE OR DECREASE INFLAMMATION. IN SOME VERY SEVERE CASES IT IS NECESSARY TO PERFORM AN OPERATION TO RELIEVE BACK PAIN.
WILLIAM CRAIG, D.O. MADE MANY INNOVATIONS IN TREATING CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE DISABlING PAIN CONDITIONS. HE HAD AN INTUITIVE FEEL FOR TREATING PATIENTS WITH DIFFICULT CONDITIONS. HIS LANDMARK STUDY PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION TREATED PATIENTS WHO HAD CHRONIC BACK PAIN WITH PAIN UNRELIEVED BY PRIOR TREATMENT. TREATMENT OF THESE PATIENTS WITH HIS SPECIFIC PROTOCOLS OF ACUPUNCTURE AND ELECTRICAL STIMULATION SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED THE PAIN AND FUNCTION OF THESE PATIENTS. HIS STUDY COMPARED PATIENTS WHO WERE TREATED WITH HIS LOW BACK PAIN ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS USING ELECTRICAL STIMULATION WITH STANDARD TREATMENT.
NECK PAIN
THE CERVICAL SPINE IS SIMILAR TO THE LUMBAR SPINE IN THAT ALL OF THE STRUCTURES ARE SUPPLIED BY NERVES THAT CAN CONDUCT THE SENSATION OF PAIN TO THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. DEGENERATED HERNIATED DISCS CAN PRESS ON THE CERVICAL NERVES CAUSING PAIN. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NECK AND THE BACK IS THAT THE NECK HAS MANY MORE LAYERS OF MUSCLE TISSUE THAT ARE ARRANGED TO PULL IN MANY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS INCLUDING CAUSING ONE VERTEBRAL BONE TO ROTATE, FLEX OR EXTEND IN RELATION TO THE BONE ABOVE AND BELOW IT. AFTER THE MORE SUPERFICIAL LAYERS OF MUSCLE ARE TREATED AND ARE NO LONGER IN PERPETUAL PAINFUL SPASM, EXAMINATION CAN REVEAL THAT THE UNDERLYING MUSCLE LAYERS ARE IN SPASM AS WELL. ACUPUNCTURE IS VERY WELL SUITED TO PRECISELY TREAT ALL OF THE MANY DIFFERENT MUSCLES IN THE NECK AND SHOULDER GIRDLE. INDIVIDUAL MUSCLES LIKE THE TRAPEZIUS CAN START AT THE TOP OF THE NECK AND EXTEND DOWN TO THE WAIST AND LATERALLY TO THE SHOULDER JOINTS. CONDITIONS OF THE CERVICAL REGION CAN CAUSE HEADACHES.
THERE ARE MANY SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES INVOLVED IN THE SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF BACK, NECK AND OTHER PAIN THAT INVOLVES THE SPINE. DR. CRAIG IS NOT THE FIRST TO ELECTRIFY ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLES PLACED ON EITHER SIDE OF THE MIDLINE OF THE SPINE BUT HIS CONTRIBUTIONS WERE DEVELOPED AND CODIFIED TO ALLOW A LARGE NUMBER OF ACUPUNCTURISTS TO SUCCESSFULLY TREAT SEVERE SPINAL PAIN.
THE ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT OF BACK AND NECK PAIN WHICH INVOLVES PLACING LOCAL NEEDLES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE VERTEBRAL BONES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK HAS SEVERAL BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. THESE NEEDLES LOOSEN THE SPASM OF THE MUSCLES LOCATED AROUND THE SPINE. RELIEF OF THIS BACK MUSCLE SPASM ALLEVIATES THE PAIN FROM A LUMBAR SPRAIN AND OTHER CONDITIONS THAT CAUSE MUSCLE SPASM.
ACUPUNCTURE ALSO HAS THE ABILITY TO RETRAIN THE NERVES COMING FROM THE SPINAL CORD SO THAT THE SENSATIONS ARE NOT SO PAINFUL.
ACUPUNCTURE HAS AN OVERALL PAIN RELIEVING EFFECT BY STIMULATING THE BODY TO RELEASE NATURAL PAIN RELIEVING CHEMICALS LIKE ENDORPHINS, THE BODY'S NATURAL MORPHINE, INTO THE BLOOD OR SPINAL FLUID. ACUPUNCTURE CAN HELP REDUCE THE PAINFUL EFFECTS OF INFLAMMATION BECAUSE ACUPUNCTURE PROMOTES THE RELEASE OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CHEMICALS THAT CAN DECREASE INFLAMMATION. THIS DECREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF INFLAMMATION CAN SHRINK A HERNIATED DISC OR THE INFLAMMATION OF A SPINAL FACET JOINT. INFLAMMATION CLOSE TO A NERVE FIBER IRRITATES THAT FIBER PRODUCING PAIN.
A GOOD COMPREHENSIVE ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT USUALLY INVOLVES PLACING NEEDLES ON THE ARMS AND LEGS TO ENCOURAGE THE BODY'S ENERGY TO MOVE. tHESE NEEDLES ARE IN ADDITION TO THE LOCAL NEEDLES NEAR THE SPINE. TREATMENT OF THE BODY'S ENERGY AND TREATMENT OF THE CONDITION LOCALLY CONTRIBUTES TO THE ALLEVIATION OF PAIN OF THE BACK AND PAIN FELT ON THE LEGS OR ARMS CAUSED BY IRRITATION OF THE NERVES OF THE LOW BACK THAT GO TO THE LEGS OR NECK CONDITIONS THAT AGGRAVATE THE NERVES GOING TO THE ARMS.
I HAVE PERFORMED ACUPUNCTURE ON PATIENTS WHO CONTINUED TO HAVE SIGNIFICANT PAIN AFTER AN OPERATION THAT CORRECTED ANY ABNORMALITIES IN THE SPINAL ANATOMY .
- AS WITH BACK PAIN, NECK PAIN IS ONE OF THE CONDITIONS MOST COMMONLY SUCCESSFULLY TREATED WITH ACUPUNCTURE.
THERE ARE MANY SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES INVOLVED IN THE SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF BACK, NECK AND OTHER PAIN THAT INVOLVES THE SPINE. DR. CRAIG IS NOT THE FIRST TO ELECTRIFY ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLES PLACED ON EITHER SIDE OF THE MIDLINE OF THE SPINE BUT HIS CONTRIBUTIONS WERE DEVELOPED AND CODIFIED TO ALLOW A LARGE NUMBER OF ACUPUNCTURISTS TO SUCCESSFULLY TREAT SEVERE SPINAL PAIN.
THE ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT OF BACK AND NECK PAIN WHICH INVOLVES PLACING LOCAL NEEDLES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE VERTEBRAL BONES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK HAS SEVERAL BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. THESE NEEDLES LOOSEN THE SPASM OF THE MUSCLES LOCATED AROUND THE SPINE. RELIEF OF THIS BACK MUSCLE SPASM ALLEVIATES THE PAIN FROM A LUMBAR SPRAIN AND OTHER CONDITIONS THAT CAUSE MUSCLE SPASM.
ACUPUNCTURE ALSO HAS THE ABILITY TO RETRAIN THE NERVES COMING FROM THE SPINAL CORD SO THAT THE SENSATIONS ARE NOT SO PAINFUL.
ACUPUNCTURE HAS AN OVERALL PAIN RELIEVING EFFECT BY STIMULATING THE BODY TO RELEASE NATURAL PAIN RELIEVING CHEMICALS LIKE ENDORPHINS, THE BODY'S NATURAL MORPHINE, INTO THE BLOOD OR SPINAL FLUID. ACUPUNCTURE CAN HELP REDUCE THE PAINFUL EFFECTS OF INFLAMMATION BECAUSE ACUPUNCTURE PROMOTES THE RELEASE OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CHEMICALS THAT CAN DECREASE INFLAMMATION. THIS DECREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF INFLAMMATION CAN SHRINK A HERNIATED DISC OR THE INFLAMMATION OF A SPINAL FACET JOINT. INFLAMMATION CLOSE TO A NERVE FIBER IRRITATES THAT FIBER PRODUCING PAIN.
A GOOD COMPREHENSIVE ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT USUALLY INVOLVES PLACING NEEDLES ON THE ARMS AND LEGS TO ENCOURAGE THE BODY'S ENERGY TO MOVE. tHESE NEEDLES ARE IN ADDITION TO THE LOCAL NEEDLES NEAR THE SPINE. TREATMENT OF THE BODY'S ENERGY AND TREATMENT OF THE CONDITION LOCALLY CONTRIBUTES TO THE ALLEVIATION OF PAIN OF THE BACK AND PAIN FELT ON THE LEGS OR ARMS CAUSED BY IRRITATION OF THE NERVES OF THE LOW BACK THAT GO TO THE LEGS OR NECK CONDITIONS THAT AGGRAVATE THE NERVES GOING TO THE ARMS.
I HAVE PERFORMED ACUPUNCTURE ON PATIENTS WHO CONTINUED TO HAVE SIGNIFICANT PAIN AFTER AN OPERATION THAT CORRECTED ANY ABNORMALITIES IN THE SPINAL ANATOMY .
