Is my pain from tight muscles or could it be from something else?

Is my pain from tight muscles or could it be from something else?

Over the past 35 years of my chiropractic practice, I have often been asked, “Is my neck and back pain caused by tight muscles or could it be something else?” This article discusses muscle pain and other causes of discomfort and how to achieve relief from neck and back pain.

Recently, a patient in her early 30s came to my practice with a complaint of chronic back pain. Her job required her to perform rigorous physical activities such as laying floors and carpets. She told me that her discomfort was affecting her ability to perform her work duties. She was afraid that because of her condition she would have to give up this job and pursue another career.

When I asked her what she had previously done to help with the problem, she told me she had visited orthopedic surgeons who gave her steroid medication and muscle relaxants. She had also seen physical therapists who gave her stretching exercises. She found that these measures gave her temporary relief but did not completely resolve her pain.

When I examined her, we discovered that she definitely had muscle spasms in her lower back. However, their investigation revealed a more significant, deeper problem. Her muscles were tense and cramped as they tried to protect deeper misalignments of the spinal joints.

I told her that the body will always work to protect an injured area. In her case, her muscles were chronically tight and spasming because they were doing what they were supposed to do to prevent her condition from worsening.

Let's take a moment to explain the difference between muscle pain and pain from other sources. When we overuse our muscles, they may be sore and experience some degree of cramping; it can be mild or severe. Typically, these muscle complaints will subside over the course of several days as the body heals itself. This is a completely normal form of healing.

However, if the cause of the condition comes from a deeper problem, such as misalignment of the spinal joints, superficial muscle pain will be continuous and become chronic. If this is the case, treating the muscles will only provide temporary, at best minimal, pain relief. To fix the problem, we must address the deeper source of the pain. Pain relief can only occur if we address the cause of the problem.

In my patient's case, treatment involved using gentle chiropractic spinal adjustments to correct the misalignment of the spinal bones in her back. After her first treatment, she immediately felt the muscle spasm relax and loosen. She said, “Wow, I feel looser already!” It took several more treatments with safe chiropractic adjustments to fully correct the deeper alignment problem so she could perform her work pain-free.

Chiropractors are specialized healthcare providers when it comes to relieving neck pain and lower spine pain. Chiropractors are trained to diagnose and treat physical, mechanical alignment problems of spinal pain. Most patients who visit a chiropractor find that chiropractic treatment is a safe and pleasant experience because it relieves muscle tension and spasms by correcting deeper spinal misalignment.

Remember that sore muscles should usually heal after a few days of rest. However, if chronic muscle tension, stiffness, or spasms persist, it is most likely due to a deeper spinal misalignment. In this case, it is advisable to seek gentle, safe chiropractic care to relieve muscle pain.

Inspired by James Schofield