Back Pain

Unlike many mammals that can walk on two legs, human beings exclusively walk upright, in a vertical fashion, on two legs.  We do not use our arms, dragging on our knuckles like closely related species such as apes and chimps nor, is our spine more horizontal to the ground like an ostrich.  None of these animal’s spines experience the relentless, daily vertical load that our necks and low backs do.  Sooner or later, something is going to give and we will have back pain.  There are a lot of sensitive structures that make up our spines.  Our neck and backs are just one joint between two bones stacked up one, on top of another.  We have seven joints in our neck and five joints in our back.  Everything is all held together by muscles and tendons.  The spine not only serves to make us flexible, but it is a rigid cage that protects our spinal cord and the nerves that go to every part of our bodies.  The minute we take our first upright steps as a baby, the wear and tear on our spine will start.  Over time, sensitive structures like muscles, tendons and, nerves will suffer overstretching or pressure which can cause back pain.  Most of the time, we get better with some rest, heat, exercise, or maybe over-the-counter pain medications.  When this does not work, we may have to see a pain specialist to help treat our back pain.  Your pain specialist can offer a lot of relief when the traditional treatments do not work.