Wear and tear on the body is perfectly natural. As we age, the body begins to slowly develop new issues that can make even the simplest of tasks more difficult.
While this broader dynamic is common, natural and expected, there are many aspects of modern life that can further exacerbate these issues. Lack of exercise, awkward posture and a predominantly-indoor lifestyle all can contribute to substantial issues in our bones and joints – especially those of the spine.
Millions of people are currently suffering from undiagnosed back pain, and what makes it even worse is that medical professionals are not taking the problem seriously.
By ‘undiagnosed’ we are referring to not having a formal diagnosis provided by a doctor or orthopaedic or spinal specialist, that states a specific source of the pain. Back pain sufferers still experience the pain, even if it hasn’t been diagnosed.
An Unseen and Under-Reported Issue
Many illnesses and chronic problems manifest in very overt and recognisable ways. This makes it easier for doctors, friends and family to identify the problem, encourage something be done about it and implement proper healing regimens.
Unfortunately, back pain is something that cannot be directly seen. As a result, general practitioners and medical professionals often fail to understand the extent of back pain for countless patients. In addition, many loved ones and friends do not fully grasp the extent of the situation that their friends and family members are experiencing since back pain cannot be seen in a direct way.
Astonishingly, three out of four people report having some form of back pain that bothers them on a regular or semi-regular basis. Despite these startling statistics, only around one quarter of people have seen a doctor about their pain within the past year.
Roughly half of all people suffering from back pain have never seen a doctor about the issue and to seek pain relief. Even though there is a clear issue with the fact that general practitioners are not adequately addressing these concerns, the extent of the problem is less obvious due to many failing to seek medical help in the first place.
Lack of Diagnosis Exacerbates the Problem
Due to the fact that millions of people are not receiving the proper diagnoses and treatments that they need to reduce back problems, many are experiencing faster deterioration of vertebrae and nerves in the back and neck. As such, many people continue to live with or start to develop problems such as:
- Lower back pain, piriformis syndrome, cauda equina syndrome, sciatica, and other problems in the lumbar spine.
- Mechanical back pain.
- Neck pain, shoulder pain, and even headaches.
- Hip pain and iliac crest pain.
- Chronic back pain (including chronic low back pain, or chronic neck pain).
- SI joint pain.
- Spondylitis, spondylosis, and spondylolisthesis.
- Disc problems such as degenerative disc disease or herniated disc.
- Referred pain (which is pain that originates in one part of the body but is not felt locally, but rather in a different part of the body, e.g. back problems that cause leg pain).
- Other spinal issues.
The Solution
If you are suffering from back pain, then it is absolutely critical that you seek medical assistance and assert that there is a problem.
But since relatively few people seek assistance, you may need to be persistent in finding a solution to what is a very common problem. However, the alternative is permanent damage to the body: you want to avoid this possibility at all costs.
However, you don’t necessarily have to wait for a diagnosis and you can also try to fix back pain with approaches such as a little bit of exercise, rest, proper back support products, and select pain medications. They can all be used to treat and potentially correct these problems.
You can also take your recovery one step further and use a spinal decompression device to get rid of back, neck, hip, leg, arm, or shoulder pain from the comfort of your own home. It stretches out your spine (and with regular use it keeps it that way) to ensure your nerves don’t trigger pain signals and cause you to feel pain.
Spinal Backrack
Author: Spinal Backrack
