It’s unfortunate that our medical healthcare system hasn’t yet identified its weaknesses and strengths. Maybe if it did, they would focus on what they do best. What is that?

Medicine is amazing dealing with acute illness and injuries. The more recent it is the better they do. Things like:

• Trauma like accidents, injuries
• Fractures
• Acute infections (although they created a monster with over prescription of antibiotics)
• Acute Illness: pneumonia, bronchitis, flu, etc.

What they don’t do well is treat chronic health challenges like:

• Cancer (few significant advancements in decades)
• Arthritis
• Headaches
• Back pain
• Anxiety
• Fatigue

In addition to their poor track record treating chronic problems they don’t even try most of the time to correct the problem. Their focus is on managing the condition or illness by mitigating the symptoms. 

This does nothing to correct the underlying problem or even make it better. In many if not most cases this approach allows the problem to worsen over time, requiring more and more drastic measures to manage it. 

An example is the prescribing of anti-inflammatory drugs for arthritis. The medication can be effective at reducing the pain but research shows the use of NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs) accelerates the breakdown of cartilage in osteoarthritis. 

Put bluntly, the drugs most doctors prescribe for arthritis pain actually makes the arthritis worse. 

The tools of modern medicine are primarily drugs, injections, and surgery. 

There’s a saying that “If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”.

That’s a pretty good description of medical care. Everything is treated with a drug, an injection, or surgery. 

MECHANICAL PROBLEMS REQUIRE MECHANICAL SOLUTIONS

According to research published in the National Library of Medicine Mechanical Back Pain comprises 90% of cases presenting to physician’s offices. I think the percentage is even higher if you consider all the people that never go to their MD for back pain. 

Let’s think this through for a minute. 

A mechanical problem when it comes to neck or back pain means there is something that is not working properly in the joints of the spine. This is causing pressure on nerves that causes pain and muscle spasm. 

Can you think of what type of drug or injection that could possibly improve spinal joint motion?

I didn’t think so. Neither can I because there isn’t one. 

Drugs and injections are chemicals that can only change chemical problems. There’s a question of whether they can improve chemical problems but that’s a discussion for another time. 

WHAT IS A MECHANICAL SOLUTION?

Let’s break this down. 

With neck and back pain, especially chronic pain that is either constant or recurrent there is a loss of proper joint movement. Since joints are intended to move, when they are impaired in their movement it causes a cascade of responses:

• Increased muscle tension and spasm
• Reduced mobility
• Over time a contracture of all the tissues around the joint that further restricts movement.
• This process further increases pain and restriction

So, how can you apply a mechanical solution?

Some of the things that might come to mind:

• Yoga: while yoga is great it can be difficult if not impossible to loosen chronically restricted joints. You lack the leverage to focus the movement at specific joints. And, the process can take a long time. 

Yoga is a great way to maintain healthy movement. 

• Stretching: almost everyone with neck or back pain that comes to my office, Life Chiropractic in Grass Valley will relate that they have tried stretching and self massage. 

The problem again is one of leverage. You can stretch the muscles but it is difficult to get to the specific restricted joints. In addition the muscle spasm is often the body’s attempt to stabilize an inflamed joint. If you release that spasm it can often make things worse. 

• Massage: this is directed at the effect of the problem rather than the cause. The muscle spasm and tension that accompanies neck or back pain is a result of the nerve irritation rather than a cause of it.

Here again, I routinely see people who have tried massages. Sometimes it offers them short term relief and other times it actually makes the pain worse. In the last few months I’ve seen a couple of women who experienced the onset of their pain after a massage. 

• Corrective Chiropractic: this differs from traditional chiropractic. The focus is multifold, to restore motion, to restore alignment, and to correct nerve pressure and irritation. 

We live in a world that puts our body in positions that are stressful and lead to a loss of motion in spinal joints. Over time this often will start to manifest as neck pain, shoulder pain, headaches, arm pain and numbness, back pain, and sciatica. 

Even the most active of us sits far too much. We often do the same repetitive movements day in and day out. And, we live in a world of stress. 

If you are ready to explore how corrective chiropractic might help you overcome pain and return to the activities you love you can schedule your first visit to Life Chiropractic here: Schedule Here.

About Dr. Berkowitz  

Bringing more than 3 decades of practice experience, Dr. Bill Berkowitz focuses on balancing and corrective care, applying his expertise to provide patients with predictable, repeatable and measurable results.

Dr. Bill consistently strives to enhance the well-being of his patients by addressing the root imbalances of their problems and promoting optimal balance, alignment, and function of the spine and nervous system.  

Bill’s wealth of knowledge and experience has allowed him to develop a nuanced understanding of the human body and its intricate connections. With each adjustment, he supports the body in returning to a state of balance that goes beyond mere symptom relief, focusing instead on long-term correction for his patients’ well-being.