Back Pain Can Affect More Then Just Your Back.
By Randall C Pruitt, DC, DACNB, DAAPM, MUAC, FACFN, CES-NASM
In my practice it is rare to see a patient with lower back pain or neck pain, not exhibit some other condition. Whether it be knee pain, shoulder pain or some other type of joint or muscle pain. However most doctors are so narrow in their focus that they rarely look past the body part wherein they specialize.
This is unfortunate for many reasons. Usually as the back or neck pain improves the other area will begin to affect the person much more significantly and a referral to another specialist is usually made. This can be a source of frustration for most people because who wants to go to an endless series of doctors and specialists when their problem could have been taken care of in one place?
A recent study by Michael Korff PhD and colleagues found that about 20% of the population of the United States has chronic spinal pain at any given time. And of this population 87% reported at least one other musculoskeletal condition. However, these problems are not only an accessory condition but, create about 1/3rd of the persons disability in conjunction with the spinal pain.
Another article written in the journal Pain by Peter Croft MD states that humans are vulnerable to multiple forms of pain, and common conditions will inevitably occur together.
Because of this common thread my team here at the Arizona Back Institute is very well trained in the treatment of a variety of musculoskeletal conditions, injuries to the knee, the rotator cuff and conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome and neuropathy just to name a few. Of course our main focus is on chronic spinal conditions, but my philosophy is that their affect on other areas should be treated as part of the total injury and not as a separate case, requiring a referral.
