We have been told as little kids to “sit up straight,” “don’t slouch,” “pull your shoulders back,” etc. While all of the above are very important for spinal health that is not necessarily what I mean when I mention back posture. Posture takes into account everything from the head to the feet. There is a normal posture for every part of our skeletal structure, and obviously there is an abnormal posture as well.

Habits: the Primary Cause of Abnormal Back Posture

Basically, something that we get used to doing and feel comfortable doing is imprinted into our nervous system. When bad posture becomes habitual, it occurs subconsciously. For example, we are all guilty of holding our phone to our ear using our shoulder to free up the use of both hands. I personally do it without even knowing. This is something that becomes habitual, and causes postural abnormalities. In this case, repetitive actions will cause postural abnormalities over time, leading to a high right shoulder and lateral list or curvature of the cervical spine. This is just one instance of a daily action that involves bad back posture. Think about how you sit at your desk, how you sleep, how you sit in your car, how you sit in your favorite chair. These are all things that will cause postural changes to the spine, and they are abnormal back posture changes.

Avoid Back Pain in Your Future

The concern with these abnormal postural changes of bad posture habits is that they cause chronic symptoms that can become irreversible or even end up a surgical case. Research has shown that a structurally abnormal spinal joint segment is over 50% weaker than a structurally normal spinal joint segment. To put this in perspective, a spinal joint segment includes the spinal disc between two vertebrae. By decreasing the strength of a spinal segment, the disc is more prone to herniation or a disc bulge. These conditions involve disability and pain. Is it not good medicine to simply avoid back pain altogether?  For one to fix posture problems by personal choice is the medical remedy we recommend.

Fix Posture to Delay Arthritis

Not only does abnormal back posture decrease the strength of a spinal segment, but it also increases the degenerative or arthritic process in the spine. With an abnormal spine posture, the spinal joint planes are adversely altered. It is similar to the front end of your vehicle being out of alignment, the tires will wear abnormally. The same thing happens to a joint that has an abnormal joint plane. That joint will “wear abnormally”, or become arthritic. Again, for you to fix posture habits will help you maintain healthy alignment, and the protracted result is a delay in arthritic difficulties as you get older. And again, you will avoid back pain in your future.

Therefore, back posture is very important to the health of your spine, and your parents were right, and it is never too late to incorporate better posture into your lifestyle.

The piriformis muscle is located in the buttock region. It is a small cylindrical muscle that attaches to the sacrum or tailbone. It then runs diagonally through buttock and attaches to the lateral side of the femur or thigh bone. Usually, a chronically tight muscle would not be complicated enough to warrant the classification of a “syndrome.” However, there is one key component to piriformis syndrome. The sciatic nerve runs directly under the piriformis. When the muscle is chronically restricted, the sciatic nerve becomes aggravated. When a nerve becomes aggravated, it becomes inflamed. Since inflammation is a pain generator, and nerves are highly sensitive, piriformes syndrome can be extremely painful. Even though this syndrome is basically just a chronically tight muscle, piriformis pain involves a complicated diagnosis.

There are many different options to treat piriformis pain, but piriformis syndrome treatment depends on the cause of the piriformes muscle contracture.

Stretches for Lower Back Pain

If the cause of the piriformis syndrome is due to repetitive use of the piriformis, which is common in track athletes, rest along with committing to a routine of stretches for lower back pain is the only treatment.

Invasive Piriformis Pain Treatment

If the syndrome is chronic enough, scar tissue will begin to replace normal muscle fibers due to long term levels of local inflammation. In these cases, the only piriformis syndrome treatment is conservative myofascial release therapy or more invasive injectable treatment.

While all of the above are quality treatments for the condition, the primary concern is why the muscle contracted in the first place.

Piriformis Syndrome Treatment Through Chiropractic Care

In my experience, over 75% of all piriformis pain is due to an acquired structural abnormality of the pelvis, especially the sacrum or tailbone. If the bones that make up the pelvis are not properly articulating, the muscles that attach to those bones will become stressed, and understandably restricted. By correcting the structure and alignment of the pelvis through both regular stretches for lower back pain and chiropractic adjustments, it is possible to provide a piriformis syndrome treatment at the root cause.

Most people suffering from chronic spinal pain and arthritis-in-neck discomfort have heard the terms disc degeneration, joint degeneration, or spinal arthritis.

Even though it sounds scary, terms like "joint degeneration" and "spinal arthritis" really do not tell us much besides the fact that the spine is deteriorating. The number one question is why is it degenerating, and can that process be stopped? Joint degeneration or arthritis is a natural process the body endures as we age. However, we want to slow that process down as much as possible.

There are a few situations that will advance the degenerative process of arthritis in neck and spine at an increased rate. One is obviously trauma. Any acute trauma to the spine will speed up the joint degeneration process if the spinal segment affected is not properly treated and normal joint motion is not regained. Another is repetitive stress or repetitive micro trauma. Any joint that is chronically stressed beyond normal functions will naturally degenerate at a faster rate than normal. Finally, the number one cause of joint or disc degeneration is abnormal joint motion. Like I mentioned before, abnormal joint motion is similar to the front end of your car being out of alignment and the tires wearing abnormally. The same thing happens in a joint with abnormal motion or alignment. The joint will wear abnormally and become arthritic.

The key to determining if joint or disc arthritis is due to age or external factors, is best determined by radiographic examination. Basically, if every joint is in the same phase of degeneration or arthritis, then it is considered an aging process. If only a select few joints or discs are degenerated when compared to the entire structure, such as the experience of arthritis in neck not evident lower in the spine, then those degenerated segments are a result of something other than age.

Neck pain is a common problem in society today.

Stiff Neck Pain

More often than not, stiff neck pain is a result of posture. With over 70% of occupations being “desk” jobs, the steady rise of stiff neck pain cases is expected. Obviously, cervical spine conditions lead to or contribute to other conditions such as; headaches, carpal tunnel like symptoms, etc. However, I am going to focus on neck pain only. Even though these cases sound simple, there is a substantial level of complexity to properly diagnose neck pain.

Lets start with the basics; pain is always the result of a pain generator, so it is essential to determine the sources that cause neck pain. Research has revealed that inflammation is the number one pain generator by a long shot. Therefore, the primary focus to treating neck pain is to determine the source of inflammation. Once the source is determined, the proper treatment can be administered. Inflammation can be a result of multiple conditions including the following:

• Discogenic syndromes, which involve damage to the intervertebral discs located between each vertebrae.
• Joint imbrication, which involves compression or jamming of the joints between the vertebrae, and neuritis, which is nerve root irritation at the spinal level.

Things That Cause Neck Pain

Some other sources that cause neck pain include:

• muscle contracture
• arthritic degeneration
• chronic stress
• vitamin deficiency
• acute injury

Once the inflammatory cause is discovered, then and only then can the symptoms/condition be treated properly at the source.

By treating the source of stiff neck pain or severe neck pain, patients will receive long term benefits rather than periodic medical symptom treatment. In the majority of these cases, chiropractic manipulation, along with other therapies, is the most conservative treatment.

Severe Neck Pain

However, the severity of each condition could possibly warrant a more invasive treatment. In order to prevent more invasive treatment for severe neck pain, cervical spine pain cases must be addressed and treated without procrastination. If these conditions are not addressed as soon as possible, they will progressively deteriorate leading to a more extensive and costly solution.