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Lower Back Pain? Think Outside the Box

There’s no shortage of people who will eventually find themselves suffering fromlower back pain (LBP). The reasons for pain in the lower back can be numerous, and trying to get to the bottom of it can bea frustrating and daunting process.

Traditionally, the typical causes of LBP can be related to a physical breakdown of the integrity of the boney structures, the joints/articulations, or the myofascial unit in the low back. Another causal factor may be degeneration and wear and tear of the articular surfaces of the joints in the lower back and pelvis.

In this article, I am suggesting that you to think a little outside the box by stretching your imagination and your paradigm by moving from the usual protocol of focusing on the muscular or articular system when treating LBP. What do I mean by this? Here’s the deal: I’m going to pose that we take a little look at treating LBP from an energetic perspective. Let’s consider what a blockage within the base or sacral chakra has to do with someone suffering from acute and chronic LBP.

Personally, I know when I was first introduced to energy work, it took me quite some time to completely buy into the effects of a chakra imbalance, or blockage. After all, seriously, how was I expected to sell this kind of esoteric stuff to my client who expected me to actually touch and physically manipulate their muscles, fascia, or some other structure?

But after repeated instances of my highly stressed clients coming to my treatment room with acute LBP and then having it relieved not long after addressing and resolving their personal issues with stress, the correlation was just strong to ignore! I am now a true believer in the negative effects of blockages in the chakra system, and that’s where the intense study began.

As a short lesson to those within the community that haven’t dabbled in the energy field, it’s something worth thinking about. Thinking out of the box will be worth your time and energy (pardon the pun), and will totally help you and your client to find an effective resolution for some of your most frustrating acute and chronic LB problems.

Here’s the deal for those of you who aren’t familiar with a blockage in the chakra system: the first and second chakra deals with our relationship with the earth plane, or our physical reality. Furthermore, it has to deal with our stability and security in the world, safety and being grounded; income and job security may be another indication of areas to investigate when considering a blockage in the first chakra.

The second chakra has to deal with our personal sense of power in the world. How many people today do you think may be struggling in this arena?

Both the first and second chakra are located and are related to the pelvis, lumbar spine, and internal organs that are associated with that particular region. Dysfunction in local organs, the lumbar spine and pelvis, can affect the flow of energy through the chakra. Just as a blockage in the chakra can also affect the overall optimal function of the aforementioned structures.

According to the book, The Creation of Health, written by Carolyn Myss, she writes that, “For all of the many and varied approaches that are available to people within the field of holistic health, they all share three basic premises. First – the body breaks down in response to emotional, psychological and spiritual stress; second – in order to heal completely, these unresolved areas of stress need to be dealt with effectively; and third – the patient is responsible for his or her own healing process. It is the third perception, more than the other two, that determines the effectiveness of any of the alternative technologies.”

I couldn’t have put it any better. So, in this treatment journal entry, I ask you toconsider putting some serious thought to thinking out of the box when it comes to successfully finding a solution for that patient/client with chronic low back pain symptoms.

I ask you to start taking into consideration the effect of our client’s lifestyle and their pain symptoms and location. Keeping this in mind can really help you to find another solution to many painful LB episodes. Give it some thought…

Until next time….stay curious,

Alvin

http://massagetrainingplus.com/lower-back-pain-think-outside-the-box/

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Comment by Gary W Addis, LMT on August 9, 2012 at 11:41am: Thank you for the expression of sympathy. I lost her in 1982...I will always feel the loss, you know? but it doesn't dominate any more.

Alvin, it's obvious that you are a fine therapist. Even at this early point in my career I have come across so many who seem to be passing time till the next thing catches their momentary interest. No matter the modality you use at the moment, I know that your client is in good hands.

My story? two years of massage school, and I will be sitting for MBLEX on Monday the 13th. So, you are forgiven for believing me arrogant in my ignorance. But thanks to Gordon and other fine massage therapists who willingly offer a helping hand to newbies along with the excellent educational resource that is the internet, I believe that my current skill level is slightly superior to that of most rookies--not because I am superior in any way, but because at 64 years of age, what I know will be the brevity of my career has given me a powerful thirst for knowledge for the sake of knowledge. I'm 64, soon to be licensed and can hardly wait!

Comment by Alvin Brown on August 9, 2012 at 5:11am: Gary: Thanks for your reply. First and foremost; my deepest sympathy for the loss of your mother. I think we can all relate in some way. I appreciate your transparency and openness to share that story. Second, I wish you nothing but great fortunes and a very successful practice using that passion to help others find health and healing. Cheers my man.

Comment by Gary W Addis, LMT on August 8, 2012 at 11:45pm: Despite your trainings you quote this: "According to the book, The Creation of Health, written by Carolyn Myss, she writes that, “For all of the many and varied approaches that are available to people within the field of holistic health, they all share three basic premises. First – the body breaks down in response to emotional, psychological and spiritual stress; second – in order to heal completely, these unresolved areas of stress need to be dealt with effectively; and third – the patient is responsible for his or her own healing process. It is the third perception, more than the other two, that determines the effectiveness of any of the alternative technologies.”

Oh, absolutely agree that emotional upheaval in the mind can make people sick, and faith can heal them again. But your inference seems to be that all illness can be attributed to "emotional, psychological stress." What about the lady who over works muscle by carrying a heavy clothes basket, or the guy who slips on ice, or the teenager who drunkenly tries to take out a tree with his daddy's car? Will faith in anything heal those people? will it cure cancer? Lots of charlatans throughout the years have make a lot of money claiming that they have the healing touch. I watched the replay of an old documentary awhile back, in which Billy Moyers was visiting Japanese energetic medicine masters. The MASTER of all in Japan lined up about a dozen of his students, and without touching anyone flung them all down with the power of his mind. Sorry, Alvin, I don't buy into that.

Having said that, I do know the strength of the human willpower over the weakness of the body. My mother in intense pain held on to life for the three days it took for me to arrive to be with her those last moments. We spent twenty minutes together: I watched the acceptance of death enter her eyes after I kissed her goodnight. She said, "No, son, goodbye." She died not ten minutes later. I think she would have survived another three days if necessary in order to say her last goodbye.

What I disagree with is the assertion by the faithful who believe that a hovering Therapeutic Touch or Reflexology session is more beneficial to a muscle / tendon injury than therapy by a skilled massage therapist. The energetic touch certainly won't hurt (I use it on myself when I hurt myself in the gym), but an influx of chi ain't gonna release any trigger points or knit any torn ligaments or heal any broken bones. Dogma, you say? Alvin, seriously?

BTW, I just love these polite putdowns when someone praises me while simultaneously pointing out my inexperience. Years of experience do not lessen the benefit of commonsense. Commonsense and warehouses full of research papers and sevral hundred thousand medical doctors deny the efficacy of energetic treatments for the treatment of very real physical ailments. Dogma, you say?

Alvin, quoting you: "Still, I am humbled enough to not make such black and white statements about what works and what doesn't!"

Just so there is no doubt, I emphatically deny that your hovering hands can heal cancers or even the common cold. An aid to relaxing the stress levels within the ill or the pain-wracked? yes. A replacement for medical treatments for cancer, psychological counseling for the emotionally unstable, for the pain relief provided by skillful trigger point therapy? Hell no. None of which, btw, even remotely claim to actually heal the body or the mind--MDs, DCs, PTs, MTs, we all agree that the body heals itself, just as you said. But the physical body often needs the intervention of drugs, surgery, or the neuromuscular therapy and osteopathic skills you spent 20 years acquiring.

Trigger point therapy ain't a cure-all. Neither is manipulation of chakras. Now, once again I feel compelled to ask... Dogma?

Peace be unto you, Alvin.

Comment by Alvin Brown on August 8, 2012 at 8:10pm: First, to Gordon J. Wallis: Gordon, when treating the human body, I've come to realize that NEVER will we know everything about what the healing capabilities of the body are, and I've become humbled by the human body and it's magic. I have been at this intense study for over 20 years now, and I've become more and more open to the fact that we/I will never know what technique will be that "key" to unlock someone's healing capacity and finally free them of pain and suffering. So again, I keep on learning and growing. Thanks for your input.

Gary W. Addis: You write passionately about this topic! I used to hold on to such dogmatic views of the body myself. I use to love to believe that I had the exact answer to solve everyone's issue. This is why my 20 years has led me to study everything from Neuromuscular Therapy to Osteopathy. Still, I am humbled enough to not make such black and white statements about what works and what doesn't! As for statistics and research, just recently a new study has shown that exercise can reduce diabetes in Type II conditions!! Wow! We waited this long and put that much money into research of facts which we have already known! Yes! I have now done two theses, and still I don't put my 100% reliance on what the results say. I am and always will be humbled by the inner workings of the human body and the things that will never be explained by independent and dependent variables. I still have a deep trust in the body's unlimited potential to heal. But Gary, I appreciate your passion, and I encourage you to use that to power you through your career, but I also encourage you to stay curious and open. Cheers.

Comment by Gordon J. Wallis on August 7, 2012 at 6:59am: Hmm, that statistic is about right...Actually I think you can apply that statistic to the entire body. Hmm, if that's true, a knowledgeable massage therapist could help the vast majority of the population out of their aches and pains...hmm... Makes one think huh? Naw, cant be true.

Comment by Gary W Addis, LMT on August 7, 2012 at 6:05am: Even the AMA estimates that 89% of low back pain is soft tissue. Soft tissue is either fascia or it is muscle. Chriropractic is built on the assumption that if your little toe hurts, it's gotta be caused by the spine. Nope, not so.

And if it in fascia or muscles, almost always the pain can be traced to a trigger point. You'd do well to think outside your box, and become skilled in locating and releasing trigger points.

I assure you, Alvin, a hypertense hamstring can't be stretched with hovering TT hands. A shoulder that can't be lifted two inches...a simple test will determine whether the injury is within the ligaments or in the muscle. If the etiology of the pain is muscle, I guarantee you that a skilled Neuromuscular Therapist will find and release one or more trigger points in either/and rhomboids, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, subscapularis, teres minor or major, upper traps. Also might find pain in pec major, biceps near its insertions, or the lats deep in the armpit.

Sorry, Alvin, ain't never read of one confirmed case in which energetic work relieved shoulder pain in less than a dozen sessions (the time frame during which it could heal itself) Gordon, Daniel, or even I, a skilled rookie, regularly relieve shoulder dysfunction in one half hour session--actually, a few seconds to relieve the pain and a few minutes to massage, stretch, relax other muscles that might have tightened in sympathy to the injured part