Dedicated to Back Education and Wellness

Vol. H4 - Number 2004

All backaches are not the same. There is a distinction between the type and the severity of the disorder. The most common back disorders are: muscle guarding and spasm, disk strain or bulge, disk herniation, acute sprains and strains, postural strains and sprains, joint stiffness and osteoarthritis. 

A muscle spasm may be painful but it is not necessarily a sign of a serious problem. Your body’s first reaction to any kind of pain is muscle guarding which if prolonged, produces muscle spasm.

More serious than Muscle Spasm, Disk Strain or Bulge is usually caused by sitting or standing in a forward, slumped position and forward bending or lifting. Disk Strain or Bulge is almost never the result of one injury and usually takes months or years to develop. Involvement in Wellness Care is an excellent way to prevent this serious condition from developing.

The advanced stage of disk strain or bulge, slumped sitting, forward bending and lifting causes disk Herniation. With herniated disk you feel numbness, weakness, reflex changes in your leg or arm as well as pain.

Often occur as a result of improper lifting, twisting, falls or other injuries such as whiplash

Resulting from days, months or years of strain placed on joints and/or muscles because of poor posture, stressful living or work habits, postural strains and sprains can be alleviated by chiropractic adjustments but also require a change in behavior.

Joint Stiffness

Often associated with arthritis, especially if the stiffness occurs after not moving for an extended period of time such as in the morning. 

Osteoarthritis occurs in some people who have had long-standing back disorders related to disk injury, strains or sprains or to repeated wear and tear. People who have Osteoarthritis need a very specific exercise program to maintain a reasonable level of physical fitness.

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