Back Pain can be Difficult to Bare. Low Back Pain can become Severe when untreated. You May need Chiropractic Care, The Right Chiropractor can make a difference http://youtu.be/AUEjDegHXn0

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A Must See Video Before Finding a Chiropractor!
http://youtu.be/AUEjDegHXn0
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Hi there and thanks for taking the time to read this second article on the different types of pain you
may encounter when suffering with low back pain or sciatica.
This article will be about Mechanical Pain, which typically presents as what I refer to as an 'on/off'
pain, i.e. if you put yourself in a certain position or perform a certain activity, you feel pain, yet if
you remove yourself from that particular position or activity, the pain goes away. It is also the
classic grumbling type of pain that has usually been around for some time, many months or even
years.
This doesn't tend to be as debilitating as the acute inflammatory pain, in that it doesn't give you a
constant, often vicious, striking pain which can take your breath away. It tends to be more of a
pain about which people often say "I have got used to it" or "I've learned to live with it".
In some respects this is like the acute pain, in that there may be a degree of inflammation present.
However, I tend to refer to this as low grade inflammation i.e. not as intense and constant as the
inflammatory response set up with acute pain where everything seems to hurt. Instead, the
structures responsible for this pain are more sensitive than they should be and therefore when a
mechanical stress is placed across them, rather than just accepting it as a part of our normal
movement, the pain nerve fibres are stimulated (due to their decreased pain threshold levels) and
therefore pain is perceived.
The reason why this mechanical pain often maintains itself for many months or even years is
because we naturally and subconsciously avoid the stressful postures and activities that will
provoke the pain, so as not to increase the pain further. For example, we may avoid any gardening
or housework or maybe simply modify how we put our underwear, shoes and socks on in the
morning. However, it is all well and good temporarily avoiding certain activities in order to give the
body a chance to heal itself (an approach I think is essential as part of a correct treatment regime),
but this is only appropriate if we are doing this to settle the pain down in order to begin a specific
treatment/exercise programme which targets and addresses the cause of the pain.
The problem arises when certain postures and activities are avoided/modified just because they
hurt. If there is no thinking beyond this, then this is quite simply burying our head in the sand.
Under these circumstances, although we may be preventing an acute flare up of the pain, the
cause of the pain is not being addressed and therefore it will continue to aggravate the structures
concerned and those same structures will continue to give pain. This ends up being the typical
pain we "learn to live with" or "have got used to". This is such a shame, as nearly always this type
of pain can be addressed and resolved.
That is about it for mechanical pain, although I would just like to state that the distinction between

2. inflammatory and mechanical pain is not black and white, but rather different shades of grey.
There is no threshold point where the pain turns from primarily inflammatory to primarily
mechanical or vice versa. Only you can judge which type of pain you are feeling. A good rule of
thumb however is:
Acute/Inflammatory Pain: This tends to be constant and easily aggravated, i.e. you may carry out
a quite simple activity/posture and you will feel a sharp and intense increase in pain. The constant
pain/aching always present also increases and it is likely that this will now take some time to settle
down.
Chronic/Mechanical Pain: This tends to be more like a pain you can turn on and off by changing
your posture or activity.
Acute on Chronic Pain
I would just like to finish this article with a little piece on the type of pain referred to as 'acute on
chronic' and this may well be a type of pain you recognise.
If you have had your low back pain or sciatica for some time, with it being primarily mechanical in
nature, we often refer to it as being a 'chronic' pain problem. When we talk about an attack of pain
as being 'acute on chronic' all we are referring to is that the individual concerned has been
suffering with mechanical pain for some time, i.e. chronic pain, however, as a result of the cause
of this mechanical pain not being addressed, the constant stresses being placed across the lower
back will mean the potential for an acute attack of low back pain or sciatica is never too far away.
Consequently, from time to time, an acute inflammatory episode of pain will occur in addition to the
chronic pain the person concerned is already suffering with.
Initially, this may occur just once or twice a year and the individual suffering with this pain will not
be too concerned, as they know that taking a few days from work or maybe just 'taking it easy' for
a couple of days will soon sort it out and the pain will then drop back down to its 'normal level'.
However, the issue is that this continuous aggravation by the cause of the problem is slowly but
surely driving down the pain threshold levels of the low back pain/sciatica. Consequently, what
was a problem just once or twice a year and only lasted for a few days, then becomes a problem
two to three times a year and may last for a week or so. With the pain threshold level still being
driven down further, this acute attack of low back pain or sciatica may then begin to happen four or
five times a year and may last for a couple of weeks.
I am sure you can see where this is going. Eventually, the attacks of pain occur so frequently and
last for that much longer, that in effect the 'normal level of pain' becomes a higher level to that
what it used to be. This is because before any acute attack of pain has had a chance to settle
down completely, another one occurs.
The obvious aim of treatment here is to discover which stresses upon our lower back are keeping
the pain threshold levels at a constantly inappropriate low level. If we can discover these stresses
and eliminate them accordingly, the pain will once again resolve itself as the body begins to heal
itself.
OK, that's about it now for both inflammatory and mechanical pain, as well as acute on chronic

3. pain. I hope you have found both of these articles interesting and informative.
Thank you as always for checking out my articles and always keep a look out for more.
Take Care & Good Luck,
Paul.
Paul Boxcer - Bsc (Hons) Physiotherapist, has over 14 years experience of treating people with
low back pain & sciatica. With careful analysis of this experience, Paul has developed his unique
Personalised Treatment Approach to treating both of these painful conditions. Visit his website at
http://spinal-health-care.com to find out more about Paul's unique approach to treating both
sciatica and low back pain.
Paul's book"Low Back Pain & Sciatica - A Personalised Treatment Approach" not only explains
everything you need to know in order to allow you to cure yourself of the pain you may be suffering
with, but by addressing the cause of the problem, it ensures the risk of subsequent episodes is
also eliminated. Visit Paul on his Facebook page for further information or maybe ask him a
question or two!
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Boxcer
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A Must See Video Before Finding a Chiropractor!
http://youtu.be/AUEjDegHXn0
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