Every day, we brush our teeth, but what do we do for the 200 bones in our body? We demand so much from our body every day and yet most of us don’t do anything to help it recover. We just get tired and go to sleep hoping that all our aches and pains will be gone by the morning. But what if I told you there was a way to relieve the unwanted stress and increase the blood flow throughout your body, more specifically, your back? Seeing a chiropractor may not be a routine for most of you but for everyone in this class, seeing a chiropractor can improve your life.
Currently, sports injuries, arthritis, and diseases are the most common causes of back pain, but rising in the ranks is sitting. According to Dr. Lutz, a chiropractor at Dockter and Lutz Chiropractic, sitting and remaining stationary is quickly becoming the most common cause of preventable back pain. Our bodies were meant to be standing. Humans are the only animals that are like this. When we are standing, our lower spine is naturally curved to distribute the weight of our body; but when we are sitting our lower spine is straightened putting more weight on the spine and less on our muscles. This causes our muscles to weaken and further increase the weight on our spine. Over time, this cycle can break down the tissue in our spine and cause the disks to misalign or rub together, causing back pain.
Every year, back pains such as these plague over half of all working Americans and at any given time there are 31 million Americans experiencing back pain. If you look around this classroom, only four of us will go our entire life without experiencing some kind of back pain that could have easily been prevented. That means 80% of us and the rest of America will be sidelined because of unnecessary back pains. In 2010, researchers for the Global Burden of Disease found that these back pains are the number 1 reason for missed work and with more than 50 billion dollars being spent a year on surgeries for back pains, that’s a lot of money being wasted. The Global Burden of Disease also found that back pain is the second most common reason for a doctor visit. And with all these people in pain, wouldn’t there be some kind of treatment for them? There is!
Go see a chiropractor. Chiropractic adjustments correct misalignments allowing the spine to redistribute the pressure on it throughout the body. Realigning the spine is the most effective way to get rid of lower back pains. I myself had to see a chiropractor for reoccurring back spasms after I separated my shoulder and collarbone. The muscles and ligaments in my shoulder didn’t heal correctly and caused my spine to be torqued out of position. My uncle, Dr. Lutz, gave me 4 realignments over a 2 week period and I haven’t suffered a spasm now for over a year. When I last saw my uncle, I asked him how many times he recommends seeing a chiropractor, Dr. Lutz answered, “For people like fitness trainers and athletes, who are active and in an upright position more than most people, getting an adjustment every three to four months would be enough to prevent disk breakdowns and maintain a better overall health. But for people who are sitting for extended periods of the day, realignment may advisable every month.”
Now some of you may have heard somewhere along the line that chiropractors aren’t doctors. This is false; Chiropractors are doctors and spend 4500 hours of education to receive a Doctor of