Chronic Back Pain Vs. Acute: What’s the Difference?
In terms of chiropractic, developing a patient-focused treatment is the key to a successful recovery. The location and extent of the injury are important in determining the appropriate treatment method. But, learning whether the injury resulted from a repetitive habit or a short-term injury is also crucial. Here, we’ll delve into the differences between chronic and acute injuries, and how this informs treatment plans.
Acute Back Pain
Spine injuries that result from a single incident are classified as acute injuries. The vertebrae may be more vulnerable based on lifestyle choices. Often, acute back pain stems from a trauma-related injury, such as being tackled, tripping backwards, or a fall. Patients frequently visit a chiropractor to heal these injuries.
After suffering from the injury, the patient is generally in immediate pain. The impacted area may become swollen, in response to the overwhelming pressure. Patients that have experienced an acute injury are usually aware of it immediately. These injuries tend to cause immediate and intense pain. This type of back pain can be accompanied by a muscle spasm.
Acute back pain can, however, steadily but gradually become chronic back pain. In order to prevent this, it’s important to find a qualified Bellmore chiropractor to treat this injury well.
Example: Lifting Excessive Weight
Despite its reputation as a dangerous activity, lifting is often considered a highly beneficial method of exercise. And, with the proper technique, it can be. However, many people do suffer from acute back pain that is directly caused by excessive lifting.
Instinctively, many people tend to bend at the back, rather than the hips. This technique will put additional stress on the back, potentially causing tissue damage that could lead to a disc rupture. While especially common for fitness enthusiasts, these acute back injuries are also common for people who lift as part of their jobs. This includes manual laborers, construction workers, and others who frequently lift. In fact, consistent chiropractic treatment is often a suitable method of not only healing this type of injury, but preventing future injuries.
Acute injuries can impact the blood vessels and nerves, so prompt treatment is key.
Chronic Back Pain
Chronic back pain develops over time, and cannot be blamed on a single instance of injury. Rather, an accumulation of injuries as well as repetitive motions and activities are the primary cause of chronic back pain.
Performing the same action again and again puts a disproportionate amount of stress on the operative body part. For example, tennis players often suffer from chronic injuries that develop from repetitively swinging the racket with the same motion. As the frequency or intensity of these motions increases, the injury develops further. Chronic back pain conditions also tend to flare up or aggravate the patient after certain activities.
Due to the nature of chronic back pain, it’s common for people to go years without knowing that they have chronic back pain. People often perceive chronic back pain as incidental injuries. For this reason, it’s important to follow spine wellness tips, and address back pain concerns with a Bellmore Chiropractor.
Example: Mechanics
Many jobs can cause mild to severe chronic back pain purely because of the motions involved. Mechanics often spend long hours working in odd positions to access hard-to-reach parts of cars. Mechanics tend to work crouched over a car, laying under a car, or in another harmful posture. Doing this once might cause mild back pain; doing this daily for decades is a different story.
Understanding the factors behind this injury can figure into the Chiropractor’s treatment strategy. For example, the chiropractor may implement fascial release techniques to break up the connective tissue that is impacted by chronic injuries.
Tips from Bellmore Chiropractic
The cause of the back injury can go a long way in helping the chiropractor to shape a recovery plan. Based on the injury’s origin, the chiropractor can effectively implement one or several Chiropractic adjustment techniques, which will help decrease swelling and return the spine to its normal position. Contact Brenner chiropractic to begin taking steps in the right direction.