Picture this, you emerge, slowly from your car, bracing any nearby point of contact. It’s evident that you can’t balance and walk as you normally would due to a bad back. As you slowly enter your office, a coworker stops to offer help. After that you may hear any combination of the same three questions:
- How did you injure your back?
- Have you tried (ice/heat/acupuncture/yoga/orthotics/chiropractic)?
- Did you get an MRI or X-Ray?
There are a few takeaways from this brief encounter.
1.) Yes, we’re all lucky to have so many well-meaning people in our lives.
2.) Everyone has a remedy – sometimes.
3.) Very few people understand spinal cord diseases.
Most people accept that back injuries are common and treatable, with chiropractic intervention. But rarely is back pain associated with disease and disorders of the spinal cord. As you know from grade school biology, the spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that runs down the middle of your back. It carries signals back and forth between your body and your brain. It is protected by your vertebrae, which are the bone disks that make up your spine. While bone and cartilage provide protection, the spinal cord is still susceptible to infections.
While many childhood vaccines are designed to keep bacteria and viruses at bay, however, as we age we can grow susceptible to foreign bacteria that target the spine and can plague the spine’s physiological make-up. Common strains of strep can be be contracted after an operation due to lack of proper wound care or an infection contracted in the hospital. Just one of the many reasons chiropractic care seeks non-surgical alternatives to spinal issues.
On the other end of the spectrum are autoimmune diseases – diseases caused by the bodies inability to fight infection, or the immune system attacking itself. Rheumatological problems that affect the spine are due to autoimmune disorders that attack the musculoskeletal system. In a normal immune response, alien proteins such as those of bacterial or viral origin trigger the immune system to destroy the invading organism. In an autoimmune disorder, the immune system becomes confused and develops sensitivity to normal body proteins. When the immune response mistakenly identifies these normal host proteins as “foreign invaders”, inflammation, swelling, erosion of bone, joint and nerve destruction can occur. This is the basis of an autoimmune spinal disorder.
Despite the cause, a proper evaluation can help determine whether or not you have a back disease or disorder. Dr. Rob Fast will spend an ample amount of time on your first visit talking about your pain, and activity level in order to form a proper diagnosis. Get advice from a doctor with years of experience with back pain and spinal disease. Visit Dr. Fast at the Back Pain Clinic Belleville for a thorough