TYPES OF BACK PAIN

 

You may experience back pain in the thoracic (upper/middle), lumbar (lower) and sacral (tailbone) regions of your spine. Your pain can be sudden-onset, as a result of some kind of injury or sudden motion, or gradual-onset, and it can be recurring. The types of pain you may experience can range from sharp to dull, and may be achy, with a general soreness, or a radiating referred pain.



STRUCTURE

 

Your back is involved in the most basic activities of your daily life. The joints allow you to bend forward, backward and sideways and to rotate. You have 12 thoracic vertebrae, 5 lumbar vertebrae and the sacrum. The lumbar vertebrae are large and support much of your body weight. The sacrum, which is also connected to the pelvis, allows for hip motion. Your spine houses your spinal cord and the many nerves carrying messages to the body, and is the attachment site for many muscles. The complexity of the structure and its many components make it a high-risk area for pain and injury.

​

MUSCLE GUARDING

 

When you sustain an injury or your back is not properly functioning, your muscles create an automatic splint. This splinting is in the form of muscle guarding or spasm. These spasms are your natural defense signals sent from the brain, to eliminate motion of the hurt muscle and divert the muscle action somewhere else. The increased tissue tension from muscle guarding and spasm can decrease blood flow to the area. The guarding of the muscle decreases the ability of the surrounding joints to move freely.

​

TREATMENT

 

PDTR has shown to be greatly effective for upper and lower back pain. By interrupting the pain signals, muscle guarding is greatly eliminated, and therapy results in clearing up dysfunction.

​