The Many Masks of Back Pain

Did you know pain in the extremities is frequently traced back to the spine? In a recent study 369 patients with isolated pain in their upper extremity (shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand) or lower extremity (hip, knee, ankle, and foot) who believed their pain was not of spinal origin were thoroughly assessed, given proper diagnoses and treated accordingly. Results showed the following: Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

A lack of thorough orthopedic assessment is thought to be the cause of misdiagnosed conditions in the extremities. We start by finding a baseline movement or position that aggravates or worsens the pain. After discovering your baseline, we can begin using other specific movements involving precise levels of force, direction, and planes of motion. Treatments involving active and passive care are used, then baselines are re-assessed. Just as a scrape, burn or cut takes time to heal; pains located at the level of the joint or surrounding tissue usually require a healing phase followed by rehabilitation of the affected area to prevent re-injury. 

If after your trial of care, you do not experience graded relief re-assessment or referral out may be necessary. Unfortunately, pain is multi-dimensional and affects everyone differently; our goal is to diminish the pain to a tolerable level and eventually abolish all symptoms. I have provided a link to the article I have referred to at the bottom of the page for further leisure reading if interested. As always if you have any questions, feel free to email me, luxspineandsport@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading!