Degenerative Spine What You Need to Know
In my years as a Doctor of Physical Therapy I’ve seen low back pain of all types in all styles of people from 8 year olds with pain since walking to 82 year olds with 50+ years of back pain. In today’s society it’s almost impossible to meet someone who hasn’t experienced some form of low back pain throughout their lives. Yours truly actually had horrible back pain in my 20’s that made me want to sit down after 10-15 minutes of standing.
As I went through my studies in medical school I learned the body is the perfect machine and when one part breaks down, another part picks up the slack. What does this mean? It means that when someone experiences “back pain” it’s likely a sign that it’s working harder than the surrounding area, that’s why the “back pain” gets worse with more activity like doing dishes, it's getting tired. Why not the hips? Or the knee? Or the feet? We stand on those just as much.
When the back is “overworked” it begins to get worn out with time, and people start to notice that the back is preventing them from doing activity due to pain, but is it really the back’s fault? As stated above it’s working really hard, that’s why more activity makes it worse. So where is the problem?
Imagine for a moment that your back and pelvis are like a suspension bridge. The legs are the pillars and the muscles in the back are the suspension cables. If, for some reason, an old fall caused damage to the junction of the bridge /pelvis and pillar /leg, the suspension cables/back muscles are going to notice more tension trying to hold the bridge up. Over time everyone will be watching the suspension cables because of all the tension, but if we just support the bridge better, maybe the problem will take care of itself.
What does this story mean? It’s a lesson that the foundations of support for the back are key to eliminating back pain. However, you can’t support the back by strengthening the back. That’s like strengthening the cables supporting the bridge, eventually they will give way as the pillar weakens.
This means that if all those back exercises you’ve been doing haven’t helped your back pain, it’s likely that you need to strengthen the hips. The hips are the supporting pillars and are often under trained in today’s world due to the amount of sitting we do.
With all that being said signs and symptoms of a degenerative spine:
Stiffness in the AM
Discomfort/pain with sustained standing
Inability to bend over to get objects off the floor
Leg pain (to the foot, usually along the back of the leg)
Reclining position is only position that is comfortable to sit in (I can only sit in THIS chair comfortably)
All these above statements are indications that the back is wearing down and getting overworked. Give it proper attention and stretch/strengthen the hips!
Jump 4 Wellness, LLC
Taylor Jump PT, DPT, TPIC
(520) 415-0747
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