According to a BBC report, six trials involving 1800 patients showed the routine use of scans in the treatment of lower back pain showed no advantage when compared to standard care without MRI or xray scans.
This should come as no surprise as scanning only studies the anatomy (what it looks like, compared to what it should look like) and normally only takes a static image. This is normally compared to what the patient verbally reports about the pain they are experiencing. There are many people who live with anatomical changes in their spine like a disc bulge without any pain symptoms. Without observing how the person moves (or scanning and loading during movement) it is very difficult to tell whether its the anatomical change causing the pain, and the real cause is often overlooked.
In my experience, lower back pain can have multiple causes, and often not the obvious ’slipped disc’ from poor posture or a poor golf swing! A person’s back pain has a cause as unique as them, and can be related to poor posture, faulty breathing, faulty vision or hearing, and even emotional ill health.
However, the health of the gut is always vital when assessing back pain -both as a potential root cause of the pain, and its role in the digestion and absorption of nutrients to mop up inflammatory processes and repair damage. Problems in the gut can cause pain and ’switch off’ the muscles that support the spine. Common problems are bloating from gluten and other food intolerance, fungal and parasitic infection.
For more information on how dc Integrated Health can help you, see http://dcintegratedhealth.com/get-rid-of-pain/
[...] Dr. Steve Alff, D.C. posted a noteworthy aricle today onHere’s a small snippetProblems in the gut can cause pain and ’switch off’ the muscles that support the spine. Common problems are bloating from gluten and other food intolerance, fungal and parasitic infection. For more information on how dc Integrated … [...]
another good lesson