Back Pain

Back pain, more specifically, low back pain is a hot, hot topic. A ton of folks suffer from back pain (I say a ton because it varies on what you read). The consensus is however, that low back pain is a serious issue for most Americans; from intermittent, to once or twice, acute or chronic. It's more likely that you will experience back pain at some point in your life, than not. But why? What are the causes of low back pain and why is the pain so frustrating and debilitating?

Nowhere else in your body do you have a higher potential for pain receptors or pain-like reception. Like elsewhere in the body, you can increase the potential for pain (via sensitive nerve endings). But unlike elsewhere in the body, the low back is virtually set-up to spur large amounts of painful nerve endings. Again, why?

Think about it anatomically. There are a lot of important things innervated from the low back: digestion being a huge activity, reproductive organs and the lower body are just a few (large) areas fed by these nerves housed in the lower spinal column. The potential to increase sensitivity is a built-in protective mechanism to insure the safety and longevity of these nerve roots and their peripheral off-shoots.

Okay, but what causes low back pain? Low back pain triggers appear to be contradictory: static posture, twisting, bending, sitting, standing, pushing, pulling...What's the common thread? Well, here, all triggers are physiological, linking low back pain with movement or lack thereof. Studies confirm, however, that the top determinants of low back pain are (drum roll please)............job dissatisfaction and smoking. These are two seemingly unassociated factors of low back pain, neither of which appear to be physically derived.

BUT-If you recall, pain is individual. How you perceive pain is an event completely different than how someone else experiences the same, or similar, pain. Notice I underline IS AN EVENT. It was once thought that there was a pain center, relatively confined, in a specific location in the brain. More recently, we've learned that pain has memory linked to it, including emotion, smell, vision, etc.. Anything you experience during a painful event can and probably is stored for future prediction, so you can anticipate and plan how to prevent that same pain. (Again, this being another in-born protective mechanism).

So do all smokers have low back pain? Absolutely not. Are you thinking, "I thought I liked my job...?" Remember, pain is individual. I can't repeat myself enough. How you perceive pain, when your low back pain "flares up," the intensity of the pain, is circumstantial, based on how you are feeling. Sound new-agey? And you're turned off? If newer, better information sounds hippy to you, keep livin with that low back pain, keep doing what you have been. Stay in a job (or house) you despise, keep throwing your money at your next nicotine hit instead of becoming a millionaire, keep going to massage and electro-stim treatments that are temporary at best, and keep that low back pain.

I understand there are true physical triggers of low back pain. You dug ten fence post holes and you haven't seen manual labor since high school. That's going to cause some inflammation, and probably not just in your low back. BUT-The duration and intensity of that pain is relatively dependant on your mental status.

I had a client that was in a car accident when he was around 20 years old. He saw me when he was a little over 30, and still had a "bad back from the car accident." Really??? Your body is so incompetent at healing that it's still damaged after a decade plus? I hardly think so. We're incredibly more resilient and fascinating than that.

Let's look at some other possible contributing factors: like his gut (well over 40 inches), his eating habits (actual quote: "but my doctor said not to quit the Big Mac's cold-turkey"), his work schedule (an over-night tech at a hospital), his marriage (a deployable military spouse), a brand-new, first baby. We have a heck of a lot more current lifestyle factors contributing to low back pain, both physical and emotional, than a car accident 10+ years ago. Perhaps there are some physical factors out of alignment, but if that is your focus, you'll never get over your back pain.

If you want to know more about pain, neurology, training and the back, check out these resources:
Explain Pain by Butler
Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance by McGill
The Brain That Changes Itself by Doidge
Supertraining by Siff

Nike Free combat boots

Unfortunatley, too many guys and ladies in the military are sporting some pretty stiff and high-heeled boots, thinking that's just the way it is. On the contrary! If your feet can't move and your heel is elevated, you are setting yourself up for ankle sprains, low back pain, knee pain, even headaches!

My husband discovered these on his recent deployment. They have the sole of the Nike Free's. He's a fan of the Oakley Assault because of its mobile sole, so he's going to give the Nike's a test-run to compare.

The final stretch...

In more aways than one, we're in the final stretch to the end of pregnancy numero uno. No, no stretch marks though. Let's hope it stays that way. Everything is running according to plan. The latest excitement was getting the glucose screen back...which I did NOT want to do, but the nurse gave me a pretty good stink eye. I knew it'd come back negative, so I didn't see reason in doing it. I suppose it's more for the doctor's/hospital's peace of mind, and it doesn't truly hurt anything. But I do my research and I like to do things my way :) I wasn't too thrilled with ingesting copious amounts of sugar...probably HFCS at that. In the end, the results were as I suspected and they're in my record.

As the last trimester progresses, I find myself struggling more and more with not being in complete control of my own body. But I remind myself that it's for a greater good and this physical state isn't forever. The big baby belly, startling jabs to the diaphragm, kicks, wiggles, hiccups, a tiny butt trying to push its way through my belly button, that's all good with me. I can handle all that. The fat accumulation in areas I've never had before, the nearly uncontrollable hunger and restless nights filled with sore hips and peeing...oh the getting up to pee....seriously. I could do without. I don't have anything to complain about-really. From some horror stories I've heard, I've had an easy run.

The fam is placing bets on how big this Cheatham boy will be upon arrival. Here are their guesses so far:
Granny-7.6lbs
Mom-8.4lbs & 22in
MIL-7.14lbs & 21in
Step-mom-8.5
Tamara- 7.10lbs & 21.5in
SIL-7.6lbs & 19in
Megan- 7.15 lbs & 21in
Amy- 8.10 & 21in
Dad- 7.11 & 21in