Lower back pain can affect balance

Lower back pain can affect balance

Many people with balance problems may not associate chronic back pain as a contributor to their balance problem. This article discusses the connection between back problems and stability on your feet. Current research findings on how treating the back can actually help improve stability are also presented.

Back problems are omnipresent. It is known that 80% of people in the United States have had a significant episode of back pain by the age of 40. Some back problems are acute, meaning they occur once and then go away. However, other back diseases are described as chronic. Chronic conditions are those that are constant or recur very frequently.

Painful chronic back conditions cause people to react to protect and guard against their pain. As a practicing chiropractor for over 36 years, people often come into my office suffering from back pain and saying it is "crooked, twisted, bent, or bent." Essentially they are telling me that they walk and stand with an abnormal posture. This is because her body protects and compensates for her painful back. We all know people who are bent over at the waist or leaning to the side because of back problems.

Our normal balance is a product of several factors. Our eyes and the balance mechanism of our ears send messages to the brain that contribute to normal balance. We all know that we feel less confident when we close our eyes. Also, submerging our head in cold water in a pool or lake can affect the balance mechanism of the ears and cause temporary balance problems.

Another factor that provides balance information to our brain is sensory information from nerve endings in all of our joints. The word “proprioception” is a term that describes the body’s ability to sense movement and balance. The joints of our feet, hips and pelvis, and lower back are particularly important in helping our brain process information that leads to proper balance. When these joints are injured, proprioception problems can occur. Since chronic back pain can lead to impaired proprioception, these people are more likely to be unsteady on their feet and have a significantly higher risk of falling.

A scientific study in the journalFrontiers In Neurology, December 2020found that studying 151 adults of different ages with or without chronic low back pain found that chronic back problems and increasing age were risk factors for decreased proprioception.

Fortunately, chiropractors are trained to diagnose and treat these disorders. Often, a chiropractor can relieve back pain by realigning mispositioned spinal and pelvic bones. Once the joints of the lower back are properly aligned, normal proprioception can occur and people feel a significant improvement in their balance. Chiropractors are specialists trained to treat physical, mechanical alignment problems of the spine and pelvis. Most patients who see a chiropractor find that chiropractic treatment is a safe and pleasant experience because it corrects spinal misalignment, relieves lower back pain, and can help achieve improved or normal balance.

Inspired by James Schofield