My Back’s Out…And That Means What Exactly?
Oh the power of words and what they actually mean. The most common phrase that I hear with new patients is typically, “My back’s out,” or, “Outta whack,” or something along those lines. Now, we could just let that slide by and everything would be okay, OR we could educate and tell you more. Before we begin, let’s clear the board and announce that in Chiropractic school, training, clinicals, national board exams, preceptorships, etc. etc., not once did we Chiropractors learn about the phrase, “My back’s out.”
My Back’s Really Out…Right?
Listen to the words we are saying, “My back’s out.” NO, the back cannot simply “go out”. The back doesn’t randomly decide to leave your body and go hang out at Costco without you. Too critical? Let’s use the word misaligned instead. A misalignment in the spine, otherwise called a subluxation, can and does happen. Once it occurs it will stay in that misalignment until forces (Chiropractic adjustments) begin to correct it. Still, you cannot simply just feel like “My back’s out” or even if you try and be witty you cannot just say “I just felt a subluxation occur in my back.”
If My Back Is NOT Out, What IS Happening?
Here’s another common phrase “Don’t kill the messenger!” When a subluxation occurs, it places undo stress upon the Central Nerve System (CNS) and can specifically irritate a spinal nerve. This spinal nerve made certain muscles and controls certain muscles. Therefore, when the nerve gets irritated, the muscles become irritated. The last messages to appear after a subluxation has been existent will be chronic muscle tension, knots, and irritation. A subluxation that goes on uncorrected and neglected for years is equivalent to your teeth not being cleaned. As time passes, your symptoms begin to appear, and eventually when your body is in a stressed state, the PAIN messages appear. Now your muscles, tendons, ligaments and tissue become inflamed…thus creating an episode of, “My back’s out.”
Just Get Checked
It’s simple. If you utilize your Chiropractor correctly, you will know him before you need him. Understand the reverse of this phrase as well. When you do decide to get adjusted, the bone does not just simply “go back”… It requires time and repetition for your CNS to allow your body to heal and ADAPT from the neurological strain that it was under for so long. Just get checked!
