What is lumbar sprain?
Lumbar sprain is when the ligaments around the lumbar spine are over stretched. This can lead to tearing of the tearing of the ligaments. As a result, this leads to inflammation of the ligament. Some symptoms of lumbar sprain include, low back pain, heat, redness, restricted movement, muscle spasm and radiation down into the buttock.
What attributes to low back pain?
Multiple factors can bring lead to low back pain, including:
- Improper lifting techniques
- Traumatic Incidents
- Repetitive movement that causes gradual overuse
- Static positioning for too long
Why does structural chiropractic work so well for lumbar sprain?
Structural chiropractic works great for lumbar sprain because it addresses the root cause of this problem. Often, lumbar sprains are caused by muscles and ligaments doing too much work. This occurs because it needs to support and stabilise the spine (should be done by the deep stabilising muscles) whilst generating the power and movement for the dedicated task. Structural chiropractors find where the issues are so your body can strengthen at the right places (deep stabilising muscles) to help you prevent injuries and heal quicker.
Wondering whether we may be able to help you?
Click here to book a free consultation with one of our structural chiropractors or call us on 09 4183718 to see how we can help you.
So how does this all happen?
When your joints (any joint) are misaligned, they cannot move correctly. When a joint does not move correctly, the stabilising muscles that support that joint become lazy and weak and the nerve connection to those muscles diminish as it’s not getting used much.
It’s use it or lose it for the body, brain and nerve connections and Just like having a cast on your arm or leg, without moving the joints for just 1-2 months you will see a huge reduction of muscle tone and strength and nerve connectivity.
More specific to the spine, without proper movement of the joints and strength of the muscles and ligaments of the spine, the spinal curves lose their most functional shape and instead of acting like springs to distribute everyday forces, all the forces go onto the bones and discs of the spine and cause degeneration, damage/injury and other dysfunctions to occur.
The deep stabilising muscles and their strength and activity are important as when they are not supporting a joint properly a whole host of problems can arise.
These muscles keep the joints in their proper position… so when they are weak:
- The joint is not getting any support.
- It’s not in it’s optimal position.
- Keeps locking up and lacks proper movement.
- The muscles keep getting weaker.
- The cycle keeps getting worse over time.
- Creates damage inside the bones, joints, discs and nerves
This weakness and instability within the deep stabilising muscles also creates tightness and stiffness in and around the bigger muscles around the body such as the neck (causing tension headaches), chest, shoulders, lower back, buttock and even arms and legs, creating a whole chain of improper movement and stress through the body.