Did you know that back pain will affect 80-90% of every single one of us in our lifetime? That is a staggering number if you think about it. Why is this? Well,there happened to be many reasons. One is the simple fact that we carry two thirds of our weight above her waist. Many studies have shown that degeneration or arthritis can occur much sooner in two legged mammals versus four-legged mammals. A man who weighs 180 pounds carries roughly 120 pounds above his belt line. So, every time he bends over, and then straightens up, he lifts 120 pounds plus whatever it is he is lifting. This is the reason why most back injuries occur by simply bending over to pick up a pencil. It doesn’t seem possible that a pencil could injure your back, but in reality it’s a pencil +120 pounds.

As if carrying two thirds of your body weight wasn’t hard enough let’s now look at what you’re picking up off the ground. Physics shows us that a 5 pound weight when held at arms length in front of the body as a force equal to 50 pounds. When you bend over to pick an object up off the ground the entire force of the weight of that object is put right into your low back. Picking a 20 pound bag of groceries up off the ground improperly is equal to 200 pounds. At that to the 120 from our last example and you’re asking for trouble.

Too add another pickle to this equation, most all of us that live on the east side and in Bellevue, have jobs where we sit for long periods at a computer or a desk. This lack of movement creates quite a lot of problems for our backs in part because it puts our backs in a very vulnerable position. Putting the back in a flexed posture, or a slouch, is one of the worst positions we can possibly be in, and we do it for hours on end.

In order for us to fully understand why your low back has such a high potential for injury is important that we delve into some basic anatomy. When a human being is born the spine is made up of 33 individual bones. At the age of 18 five of those bones fuse to make up bone called the sacrum, which becomes the base of the spine and 4 of them for fuse to make up the coccyx, or the tailbone. This leaves five lumbar, or low back, 12 thoracic, or mid back, and seven cervical, or neck vertebrae. each of these bones is stacked on one another much like children’s building blocks to form a tower and connected together by a shock absorbent pad that we call the disc, and two small joints called facets. If we look at what normal should be the low back should carry roughly 80% of our weight in the front and 20% in the back. The problem is most people’s abdominal muscles are a bit out of shape an entire pelvis tips forward. This creates too much of a curve in the low back and overloads the small joints called facets leaving them extremely vulnerable to injury. The shock absorbing pads called disks become injured when we do combinations of bending, lifting, and twisting.

OK, enough about anatomy. What can we do to reduce the chances of having periodic low back pain? Obviously, staying in shape is very important. Certain muscles of the body must be tight to keep us upright or standing. These muscles need to be stretched on a regular basis. For example: the hamstring muscle. We’ve all had to perform hurdler types of exercises and remember how tight they feel!

We realize that you have a choice in where you choose for your healthcare services. If you, one of your family members, or a friend have low back pain, we would sincerely appreciate the opportunity to help them find freedom from their pain.

Have you been lookingfor a bellevue chiropractor for your pain? Call Donna atus today425-635-0495 to set upan appointment with Dr. Weir.