This is Why Your Back Hurts: Learn What You Can Do to Get Rid of the Pain

by Vaughan Dabbs

Overview

Traveling in Haiti and other 3rd world countries Dr Dabbs has come across by mistake a secret that the western world has forgotten about. He found out after treating hundreds of Haitians and other underdeveloped patients in hospitals and mountain towns that even if they were 80, or 90 years old they had very little back pain and arthritis, and great movements in there joints. Combine this secret with tenty-three years in practice of treating back pain he and his staff of Physical therapists, MD’s, Trainers and Chiropractors have come up with some amazing facts that most Doctors get wrong about back pain.
Back pain is an epidemic in this country affecting 80% of the population and costing billions of dollars. It’s the #2 reason people miss work right behind colds and flues.
The western world tends to treat the symptoms of back pain and not the cause. Why is it underdeveloped countries that don’t have this problem when clearly they have poorer health facilities?
Even the simplest and most common treatment being medications for back pain kills over 20,000 people a year.
"This is Why Your Back Hurts" is an easy to read and understand book that tells the secret Dr Dabbs has found that will astound you and give you hope that you too can live without back pain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614480310
Publisher:	Morgan James Publishing
Publication date:	03/31/2012
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Dr. Dabbs is a Doctor of Chiropractic with a specialty Diplomat of Chiropractic Orthopedics. He has practiced for 23 years in one of the largest Chiropractic and PT Clinics which he owns in the country. He has helped manage thirty-five MD/PT/DC rehab clinics. Dr. Dabbs has put together with the help of a Physical Therapist  and Trainer, a national based home back care program for all ages called the Dabbs Accelerated Back Care System. This system includes a workbook and five DVD’s full of tips, low tech exercise equipment and a system of exercises focused for low back care.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Myths About Back Pain

Stop Believing Them!

Back pain, otherwise known as lumbago, has become very prevalent these days and there is an 80% chance you will get it over and over. Just about every person experiences backache at some point in their lives. Because of its prevalence, a lot of theories and speculations have risen regarding it. This chapter is about myths and facts surrounding back pain for the purpose of enlightening you as to what you should and shouldn't believe about it.

Walking Upright Myth

Myth: Many people believe that walking upright places more stress on your disc.

Fact: For more than 2.5 million years, we have been standing and evolution has compensated for this through proper posture and curves in the spine. So standing for millions of years on two legs has allowed a normal C curve in the back, which makes it stable.

Let's take look at four-legged creatures such as dogs or horses. I used to treat horses at the Laurel Maryland Race Track, so I've personally observed this. They have a C-curve too, which somewhat prevents their discs from bulging out.

With humans, standing upright puts an S-curve in the entire back and a C-curve in the lower back. The C-curve prevents the discs from bulging. However, in developed countries, we don't have a normal smooth consistent "C" curve due to our bad posture. We sit for hours, bend, lift incorrectly, stand and walk incorrectly. Depending on your actions throughout your life, the smooth "C" curve of the lower back may be too small or too big, both of which contribute to various back problems. Due to millions of years of evolution, walking on two legs should have no more pressure on the lower back discs than walking on all fours.

Age Factor Myth

Myth: The older we get the more back pains we will have.

Fact: It is a fact that we get arthritis or joint degeneration as we get older. Just like everything else, we too suffer from wear and tear. But many back problems come from disc herniations when you're in your 20s and 30s because at that age you have much more disc material to bulge out. The "jelly" inside discs dehydrates as one gets older so discs become less of a problem.

Now let's look at aging. Sure, arthritis is for older people, but it's more prevalent if you slow down, rest more, find exercising no longer appealing and, suddenly, you don't do as much manual labor anymore compared to when you were in your younger years. While it may surprise those who are not aware of the causes of back pain, this kind of sedentary lifestyle ironically causes more wear and tear on your spine. How is this possible? The rationale behind this fact is if you don't move, then the joints and muscles in your body will get weak due to lack of motion and activity. If you don't use it, you lose it!

In Haiti, 70-year old women carried 30-pound bags on their heads as they climbed up mountains. The old men shoveled concrete. And yet when I checked them for arthritis, they had little to none. At age 80, their knees could still bend so much that their heels touched their backside, their hips can still rotate out fully, their backs and necks still have full range of motion so that they can still twist, bend and extend fully backward. They have maintained such flexibility and sturdiness because they were forced to do manual labor, and they were exposed to physical labor their whole lives.

Manual labor grinds the scar tissues and the arthritis out of the joints, strengthens the muscles equally and continually, and develops great balance-which explains how they can still carry 30 lbs on their heads regardless of their age.

Had Haitians done physical labor with terrible posture, they would have developed back problems. Just imagine yourself carrying 30 lbs. on the back of your neck with your head down and forward. Your neck would be very sore and would build up bone spurs to stabilize itself which is arthritis. Picture yourself carrying 50 lbs on your back with your body flexed forward for five miles. This routine would strain your back and eventually degenerate your lower back.

It is therefore important to maintain an active lifestyle and exercise using proper posture all day. Don't be afraid to do a little gardening or some brisk walking, house cleaning, or to move stuff here and there, and use those muscles and joints. Make this a habit and you should live life with much less back pain and arthritis.

Height Myth

Myth: Tall people have more back problems because they have more vertebrae. In addition to this, their center of gravity is higher than the average height, which can also lead to more back problems.

Fact: Tall people have the same number of spinal vertebrae (24 total vertebras) as shorter people. They just have taller vertebrae and discs and longer muscles. This adds more support to make up for the higher center of gravity.

I have a 6'8 tall NFL football player as a patient from the Seattle Seahawks who comes in for an annual treatment of his lower back. He makes sure to get one treatment a year. That's all he needs despite the fact that he took a pounding for 15 years as an offensive center. He only needs maintenance care because he works out daily, uses perfect posture and uses proper body mechanics in everything he did in the past and presently.

The bottom line is everybody, tall or short, has an equal chance of getting back pain. The difference is in how we take care of our backs, not in our height.

Weight Myth

Myth: The bigger and heavier you are, the more back problems you'll have. So, you won't be relieved of your back pain unless you lose weight.

Fact: Fifty percent of Americans overeat. Thin people have just as many back problems as fat people. The heavier or bigger a person is, the more muscles they develop in their back to help support the weight.

I had to treat a 425 lb patient named Jose B. He was a big man. It took all my strength just to lift one of his legs up. I asked him if he ever had any back problems and he said never. So I examined his spine, and I found out that he had massive back muscles. I noticed too that he had very good posture. That was the reason he never had backache even with his body mass. He had come to me for a knee issue.

A heavy person with a good posture or with a normal "C" curve in the lower back will most likely exhibit fewer back problems than a thin person with a bad posture.

Exercise Myth

Myth: The more exercise you do, the better.

Fact: Exercise is good but it has to be done in moderation. Sixty percent of Americans do not exercise. Lifting weights or doing exercises such as aerobics, yoga, and engaging in sports are good for your health. However, too much of any of these will cause overuse syndrome.

If exercising with weights it is better to lift 25% of maximum and do a lot of repetitions. It builds endurance that helps maintain the core back muscles, because in daily life we lift small objects such as groceries, do small tasks such as bending over to tie a shoe and other activities many times a day, not one big lift, so we need endurance more than strength.

A good example of this would be classic weight lifting. Too much of this routine will strain the body and cause the body to break down. So if you overdo exercise, your body will not recover in time.

Our body has a natural ability to heal and regenerate new tissues. However, healing doesn't come perfectly every time. When tissues are damaged, they develop scar tissues. This scar tissue is not as flexible as normal tissue. Tissues such as muscles, ligaments (they hold the bones together), tendons (they attach the muscles to the bones) and cartilage (padding between the joints) have an elastic characteristic to them. They can bounce back to their normal lengths after being stretched. Their fibers are normally paralleled and aligned, but after they're damaged and when they develop scar tissue, their fibers become crisscrossed like a spider web. Because of this arrangement, they become inflexible. Furthermore, they become less resilient and they tear and damage easily.

I had a patient, Tom B, who was in great shape. He had a ripped muscular body like a gladiator. He lifted weights daily, yet he came to see me three times a week because of pain all over his body. He didn't stop working out, so my four weeks of treatment was futile.

Later, I told him he was way over doing it and he needed to let his body recover for a day or two, and take at least four or five weeks off from the gym to undo the damage he was doing. He was reluctant, but he eventually followed my advice and his pain went away. He works out moderately now, always giving himself one or two days to recover in between workouts. He is still in great shape, and he is feeling great now.

Stress Myth

Myth: Stress causes back pain.

Fact: Stress can make a back problem or any illness worse, but does not in itself cause it. Stress causes tighter muscles to spasm, and this can lead to more pain. However proper posture is a relaxing posture and can lead to less stress and less back spasms. Relaxed sitting, for example, can lead to a more relaxed mental and emotional state.

I had a 25-year-old patient, Mike K., who was so stressed that when I treated him he felt better but the next day his muscles would be tight again. Exercises helped but again the next day he was so stressed he would have muscle spasms in his back again. I could not find much wrong so I asked him "What is going on with you, what are you so stressed about?" He said "I am being sued for one million dollars and its really stressing me out." I taught him proper posture and I told him to meditate for 30 minutes a day and exercise three times a week for 20 minutes full out so a desired heart rate and respiratory rate were achieved. He did these two things and he came in two weeks later all relaxed. The meditation helped his mind relax, and the intense aerobic exercises got all his frustrations out in a healthy way. I released him feeling good again.

Other Myths and Facts

Myth: Most back pain is caused by a slipped disc.

Fact: Only one to three percent of low back pain results from herniated, or slipped, discs. One of the major causes of low back pain is muscle strain from faulty posture.

Myth: Most back problems eventually require surgery.

Fact: Less than one person in 1,000 with low back pain will need surgery. Surgery is only required if major organs, such as the bladder, are affected or when mobility and sensations are greatly compromised. However, surgery is always the last option.

These days, I see surgeons only do surgery when it is absolutely necessary. The outcome is much better than 20 years ago because they do as little as possible and many use microsurgery and laser treatment. I have great respect for surgeons, for they enter the picture when everything has failed and save the day. However it is as a last resort as back surgery fails 50% of the time.

Myth: Everyone with back pain will need an MRI, and MRI is a treatment for back pain.

Fact: MRI is a diagnostic procedure; it is similar to an X-ray and CAT scan. Its purpose is to see what is really going on inside our body. In certain cases, an MRI is very useful in diagnosing back pain. However, not everyone with back pain needs this test. Try exercise, chiropractic or physical therapy first for two to four weeks and if it is not better after that, then get an MRI, CAT scan or X-ray.

Myth: Everyone has low back pain. It's something that has to be endured until it becomes disabling.

Fact: Some 6.5 million Americans are treated for low back pain each day. Getting help early is very important for successful treatment because it can resolve the problem before it worsens, and it can reduce the recurrence of the problem.

Myth: Only people who do heavy labor or a lot of lifting suffer intense low back pain.

Fact: Up to 80 percent of adults experience low back pain at some time in their lives. In addition to heavy lifting, other factors that increase the risks of developing low back pain include not having good posture, sitting for long periods without back support, driving and smoking.

Myth: Back pain will happen only once, and if it goes away it does not come back

Fact: Back pain is not an infection and we can't develop an immune response to it. Seventy percent of people with back pain that resolves will have a recurrence. Why? Oftentimes you never fixed the original cause.

Summary:

Back pain is not influenced much by the fact that we:

• Walk on two legs

• Are overweight

• Are tall or short

The bottom line is that we need:

• good posture

• healthy diet

• moderate exercises

These will go a long way to prevent and heal back problems.

Myths, especially those that have been in circulation for a long time or seem pretty reasonable are the hardest to get rid of. Even harder to get rid of are the myths that absolve us of any blame in the back pain that we all have from time to time. Think of this: we are among the minority when it comes to having a backbone. Of all of the creatures on the planet, 97% of them have no backbone at all and yet 90% of the people in the developed world will have some form of back pain during their lifetime.

We have this back pain because we do not have good posture and because we are confused about exercise. We have an all-or-nothing-at-all attitude about exercise — we are either doing too much exercise or not enough. Either we are working out too strenuously or we are not working out hard enough. We think that if we are tall and fit and thin that we will never have a problem with our back at all and then we get out there and overdo it. Remember the story about the ripped patient (Tom B.)? He continued to have pain even after four weeks of treatment simply because he was not willing to give up his daily workouts. He was simply overdoing it. Once he allowed himself the time to let his body rest and recover, when he started approaching exercise with a more moderate approach, he was able to be pain free.

From the long, stretched neck of the giraffe to the tiny little mouse, we all have the same number of vertebrae with which to work with. Allowing ourselves to be lazy about our posture gives us the problems that we want to blame on other things: we hate our beds, it's our height, our weight, a combination of all the above. But those are all myths. The truth is simple: we need to work on our posture and exercise key areas and most of our back pain will be a thing of the past.

CHAPTER 2

Back to Basics

The Back, It's Basic Structure, How It Works

A mechanic needs to know an engine before he can fix it — before you heal your back you must understand how it works. My patient Bob M., a car mechanic, said to me "Why do I need to know how my back works? I'm in pain and I want to be out of pain — that's all." I said to him "Bob, how can you fix the engine on your own car if you don't know how the engine works?" He got the analogy. I continued "With a car, you can hire a mechanic such as yourself to fix it by replacing the defective parts, but in your back there are no spare parts, so only you can take care of it." Bob now understood. So understand how your back works, then you will know how to take care of it. Most people take better care of their car than their back. They get oil changes and tune ups, wash it, clean it. It's time to learn about your back so you can get it tuned up.

Anatomy of Your Back

Your back is made up of bones, joints, muscles and cartilage or discs. There are 24 movable blocks called vertebrae (bones) in your entire spine, including five in the lower back, and in between each of these blocks is a piece of cartilage type of material called a disc, which is tough on the outer layers and jelly-like in the middle. Each vertebra has two joints called facets that stop the vertebrae from twisting too far.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "This Is Why Your Back Hurts"
by .
Copyright © 2012 Dr. Vaughan Dabbs.
Excerpted by permission of Morgan James Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction: My Quest in Haiti,
Chapter 1: Myths About Back Pain,
Chapter 2: Back to Basics,
Chapter 3: The Real Causes of Back Pain — What Most Doctors Won't Tell You,
Chapter 4: What Went Wrong?,
Chapter 5: Look After Your Back and It Will Look After You,
Chapter 6: Diet For A Healthy Back — And A Healthy Body,
Chapter 7: Putting It All Together,
Chapter 8: No Surgery, No Meds,
Testimonials For The Dabbs Accelerated Back Care System,
Share The Health,
About the Author,
Bibliography,