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 A Holistic View of Back Pain Management
Spring has arrived! The weather is nice and people are heading outside to enjoy their favorite sports, work in their garden or to get those outside projects and yard work done.
Whether you are working on your golf game, coaching your child's sports team or simply getting the weekly yard work done, it is important to bend, and lift properly. If you haven't been very active during the long winter months, doing too much at once could put you at risk of injury.
Our holistic view of back pain management necessitates stepping back as a physician in order to look at the patient and the causative 'picture' as a whole (holistic) when treating chronic (ongoing, episodic) back pain.
Almost all back problems are a combination of poor body mechanics along with insufficient stabilizing forces due to inadequate or absent strength and conditioning of the supportive musculature. Proper nutrition and rest also play significant roles in the healing of back problems by allowing the natural processes of inflammation control and tissue repair to occur.
Failure to condition the spinal joints and muscles regularly, especially with known disc and joint problems, will place more stress on those structures and deepen the problem. If you do not exercise these areas, or even worse, you don't exercise at all, it only stands to reason that you are not getting any stronger and likely getting weaker. Allowing the spine to continue to weaken significantly increases stress on the disc and the potential need for surgery. And unfortunately, a weak spine that needs surgery is at greater risk of failed back surgery. We believe there is no way around the need to get your spine strong. Strengthening your spine is either to avoid surgery, defer it or to strengthen & rehabilitate your spine after an ultimately needed surgery.
Insufficient body mechanics include how we lift things and move our bodies as well as how we posture ourselves (in front of computers, driving, sitting in front of the TV and sleeping). Consistently maintaining good posture and body mechanics helps support our spine. Repetitively failing to do so and we weaken the spine, slowly wearing on the muscles, ligaments and discs. This is behind why so many claim to have done 'nothing' when their back 'went out'. They didn't have to. It was already weak and primed to do so!
It has been said that you become what you eat, think and do, and unfortunately for many, you are what you've eaten, thought and have done. Fortunately the body has a resilient and magnificent ability to heal and repair. But we must change our habits in order to turn it around.
At Natural Medicine & Rehabilitation
we approach back problems like most chronic health problems, with a 'whole' view perspective of the patient.
From our diagnostic work-up and nutritional intervention to our treatment modalities such as chiropractic, manual therapies/massage, physical therapy and therapeutic exercise, we strive to be comprehensive and 'whole' with our patient care.
A complimentary half hour consultation is being offered
to new patients to see how the services
provided at NMR may benefit them.
Just call and mention this newsletter!
(908-252-0242) | 
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