Get More Than One Opinion for Back Pain
Get A Third, Fourth And Fifth Opinion As Well
These days, you can’t rely on any one therapist to give you a definitive opinion on what’s wrong with you.
The reason is – as William Blake said, ‘Man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.’ The doors of perception have been closed.
As professional therapists, we’re all working in our silos, looking at a problem through rose-coloured glasses, rigidly devoted to our specialized training.
The doctor probably won’t have much of an idea what the cause of the pain is. He or she will, likely as not, give you a pill to mask the pain and send you on your way. For a few people, this will do the trick. The dysfunction will, in a few weeks, fix itself up. If it doesn’t do the trick, the dysfunction will probably get worse, but you won’t know about it because you can’t feel the pain. If the pain does get worse, likely not, the physician will up the dosage of the painkiller. Not good!
The doctor of one man I met recently wanted to put him on morphine for pain in the neck. I don’t think a lack of morphine causes neck pain!
If you go down that route, you’re destined first for morphine addiction and then the scalpel.
If I were seeking just one opinion, I wouldn’t rely on the opinion of a surgeon. Surgeons have one weapon, and most are hell-bent on using it. And at anywhere around $40,000 for an hour’s work, they’re keen to start hacking into you.
A lack of surgery does not cause back pain.
Think about it. If the bones in your lumbar spine are out of alignment and a disk is bulging and pressing onto your spinal column, does slicing off a part of the disk restore the alignment of the bones? Of course not. Over time, the problem gets worse. Another disc will bulge, and another.
The radiologist won’t be able to tell you the cause of the problem, either. They’re not allowed to diagnose. They only tell you what’s happened, not what caused it. They’re scared doctors won’t refer people to them if they try to be helpful and diagnose your problem.
They’ll charge you an arm and a leg for the MRI or the X-ray. Click here to view the Clinical Diagnostic.
Assessment. It’s an integral part of the Global Back Care program.
Once you complete the assessment, you’ll be quite surprised to see how out of alignment you are.
The chiropractor will give you the ‘crunch’ but discount the fact that it is muscles that have taken your bones out of alignment. They’ll ‘crunch’ bones back into alignment, and you pull them out again. Sounds like good luck, doesn’t it—for them?
The physiotherapist will want to give you a rub down (and a 1991 Time Magazine) and connect you to an electric twitching machine or a vibrator. You’ll come away with a warm feeling under your singlet, but the rubbing and vibrating will not improve your strength and flexibility.
On the other hand, a good physiotherapist will teach you a comprehensive set of strength and flexibility exercises.
The massage therapist will dig in and loosen you up, which is good stuff. The pain will convince you they’re doing something good, but it’s transitory unless you keep loosening the tight muscles yourself.
These people will provide you with a few clues as to what you can do.
A couple of years ago, I attended a fitness trade fair and spoke to about ten therapists about how to stop tearing one of my calf muscles. I got all sorts of advice.
The sports trainer said, ‘Strengthen it.’ He said that until I could do 40 calf raises on each leg, my calves weren’t muscular enough. I could hardly do ten before I got the burns.
One therapist said, ‘tight calf, tight opposite leg hamstring.’
Another suggested a tight calf and tight buttock on the opposite leg.
I agree with both observations.
The Reiki therapist said, ‘Drink more water.’
The podiatrist said, ‘You need inserts.’ At $800 a pop, I’ve put that one on the back burner, but I probably do need them. The damage has been done, and the inserts may be enough to square me up.
The gravity boot man suggested hanging upside down for 10 minutes daily to straighten me out.
That makes sense.
One shoe salesman suggested a flatter shoe with a higher heel. I’ve done that – but doesn’t it irritate you when a good pair of running shoes costs twice as much as a pair of dress shoes – and you know they’re made in Indonesia for $5?
On reflection, I think the shoe salesman may have been wrong. The higher the heel, the more likely you are to run on your heels. It would help if you run on the balls of your feet.
One person suggested that the best shoes for calf and Achilles pain are ‘Shape-up rocker shoes’ made by Sketchers.
Harry at the gym suggested a longer warm-up when I ran. I’ve found that advice useful. If I walk for a Kilometre before I start running, my calf doesn’t hurt so much.
Anyway, you get my drift. Spread yourself and get lots of advice, but don’t forget your strength and flexibility exercises.
And don’t forget to go to YouTube. Many people, therapeutic specialists, and regular folks might have the program to solve your problem. If something worked for them, it may work for you.
Keep these two principles in mind.
a. Muscles pull bones out of alignment. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you can train your muscles to pull bones back into alignment.
b. The cause of the pain is rarely at the site of the pain. Therapy directed at the spot where it hurts, particularly for lower back pain, is unlikely to provide lasting relief.
You also need a home-based training program that sets out the key strength and flexibility exercises you need to do to get your body back into alignment. Doing that will increase the likelihood of the pain disappearing.
In the meantime, stay highly tuned and start looking for clues.
Regards and best wishes
John Miller
If I can help you with more information, please feel free to contact me on this link https://www.globalbackcare.com/contact-us/
