A Frightening Realisation

I have always had problems with my back; aches, pains and twinges. And I’ve always known I’ve got bad posture; a little hunchy and I lean on one leg more than the other. But I never thought it was that much of a problem, that was until I finally made it to a chiropractor where they told me my back was totally screwed up!

I had x-rays and scans of my back done and my chiropractor they told me a few things: My right leg is longer than my left causing my left hip to drop and causing a 20º levoscoliosis (scoliosis with the curve off to the left) in my lower back. My feet arches have collapsed causing my pelvis to tip back increasing the arch to my lower back. My head is too far forward, straightening out my neck causing the beginning of a hump in my upper back. So in conclusion my back is f*cked!

Scoliosis is a condition where a person’s spine is curved from side to side to make an s shape, a lateral curve, instead of being straight. Scoliosis is typically classified as congenital (present at birth) idiopathic (occurring without a know cause) or as a secondary symptom of another condition such as spinal bifida, cerebral palsy or a physical trauma.

There are varying degrees of severity of scoliosis, mine is on the less serious side, and due to the fact that mine is in the lumbar region of my spine it doesn’t affect my posture or outward appearance as much as a thoracic scoliosis would, as that type causes a twisting of the rib cage and is therefore more noticeable.

Problems such as scoliosis and just general back pains are caused by subluxations, misalignments of the back vertebra. These misalignments can cause a wide variety of problems and could be the cause of lots of very common symptoms such as high blood pressure, irritable bowl, migraines, fatigue, ear aches, varicose veins, bronchitis, ulcers and even acne. This is all because the spine protects the spinal cord which connects the brain with the rest of the body, therefore if the spine is misaligned then it can pinch the spinal cord or the nerves leading off it stopping the right messages from getting from the brain to specific parts of the body.

My problem now is the fact that I have to re-teach my back muscles, and that is going to be really hard. Over the next year I have to go to my chiropractor 3 times a week, see a podiatrist, x-rays and stretches every day and even then my spine might not be completely straight. I’m not looking forward to this.  

So the message of this little look into my messed up back and posture problems is that everyone should go to a trained chiropractor to have your back assessed especially if you have any back problems, because from my experience it could be from an underlying, worse condition.

Look after your spine, you can’t see it, but it keeps you upright.