Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Why Is Back Pain So Common?

Your spine is made up of 24 vertebrae or spinal bones and 72 joints just in the spine alone. Spinal bones connect or join at the disc and at the facets (two on each side). Moving joints will move out of place occasionally.

Your back is like a machine that has a number of moving parts. Things break down, parts need to be maintained, fuel must be supplied.

For your lawn mower, you can run it until it can’t run anymore. If it has a major breakdown you can go out and buy another. With our spine, however, we ony have one and we can’t get another. So we MUST maintain our back and spine health.

It is these factors that make low back pain so common. A lot of us don’t maintain our spine or do things to keep our backs healthy. We run it into the ground, then back and leg pain occurs or something worse. Sometimes we maintain our backs and try to stay healthy, but one of these moving parts, one of our many joints, goes out of place and puts pressure on nerves causing pain.

But, keep in mind, those of us who maintain the backs will have far fewer episodes of back pain, and when and if an episode occurs, it is much easier to fix.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompressionAdditional Reading Resources:

Monday, April 19, 2010

2 Tips to Avoid Back Pain


Today’s Blog Post comes from Dr. Bellinger’s April 2010 Newsletter that he mails to his patients every month.

Back pain is no fun. It is also a MAJOR problem for our healthcare system and economy. Here are some important facts about back pain, according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA):

  • 31 million Americans experience low-back pain at any given time.
  • One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.
  • Back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work. In fact, back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections.
  • Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain, and that’s just for the more easily identified costs.
  • Experts estimate as much as 80% of the population will experience a back problem at some time in their lives.
  • Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic—meaning they are not caused by serious conditions such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.

There are two different types of mechanical stress that can cause back pain. First is a blatant injury to the lower back area. . This can be anything from a car accident, sports injury or slip and fall. This cause of back pain is easy to understand. Trauma to your spine causes injury to the soft tissue (ligaments, muscles and disks). This is why the first tip is to make your home, work area and car as “back safe” as possible. Home and work should be kept uncluttered so you do not slip and fall. This is especially important at night, when lighting may be dim. A seatbelt should always be worn while driving and your headrest should be checked and adjusted to your height to minimize damage from a crash. If you are in a car accident, you should be examined by a doctor trained to handle these types of injuries. Chiropractors are well-trained in the diagnosis and treatment of car accident injuries. Back pain caused by the trauma of car accidents and falls is obvious.

What’s not obvious is the other type of mechanical stress: MICRO-TRAUMA. Micro-trauma is a small amount of bad force applied to your back or spine. This small amount of bad force does not seem to be a big deal and usually does not cause pain or discomfort right away, but over time, micro-traumas add up and can cause major problems. An example of such a micro trauma is incorrect posture – either sitting, standing or sleeping. Either one of these three, over time, can ruin the structural integrity of your spine and cause major pain. That’s why tip #2 is to make sure you have the proper bed and chair and always keep good posture. If you need advice on any of this, your Chiropractor is an expert and can help you. And you should try not to stand, sit or lay in one position too long. Motion is important – when in doubt, change position! Prevention of back pain is one of the most important things you can do in your life. Minimizing both big and small stresses on your spine is one important way to accomplish this goal.

Additional Reading Resources:


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Long Time Back Pain Sufferer Speaks …

Listen to what one of our patients had to say:



After seeing his doctor and a surgeon, Pete realized he didn’t want to be cut. He knew there had to be another way to end his back pain. He had seen a chiropractor in the past which helped; but this particular doctor’s treatments were very painful to do. Luckily, Pete and his wife found our office, and he hasn’t suffered major back pain since.

Because Pete did so well, he comes in periodically for chiropractic adjustments for whichever ache or pain he presents with. Success story #37.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in Hartford County Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Case Study: Common Back Pain Patient

Mr. xyz goes to his doctor because of back pain. His doctor prescribes something, but it doesn’t help. He goes back, gets some stronger pills- they help a little, but make him so fatigued he can’t work when he takes them, so he stops staking them. On his next time back he is referred to another doctor for an injection. He is also sent for a picture of his back.

He gets a shot, which seems to help at first, but two weeks later his pain is back. He goes back for a second and then third shot, but they don’t seem to help.

He then is given a referral to another doctor, because they told him the pain may be “in his head.” The patient protests, “my pain is real,” and doesn’t return to this doctor.

His life now consists of trying everything from different medications to late night infomercial products that promise to end back pain. He continues with a limited work schedule, taking pain medications daily, trying to only take the really strong stuff when he needs to.

So many patients go through this vicious cycle never learning about non-surgical spinal decompression. I’m here to tell you to never give up on fixing your back pain. Non-surgical spinal decompression is available right here in Glastonbury, Connecticut. If someone is not a candidate for the decompression, they may respond well to one of our many gentle chiropractic treatments.


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in Glastonbury, Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

Saturday, April 3, 2010

The Scary Truth about Low Back Surgery

Any good doctor, whether it’s your chiropractor, orthopedic surgeon, primary care, or someone else, will tell you only to do surgery as a last option. The reason is because there’s no guarantee, there’s lots of risk, and even if it does work wonders it most often relapses and the back pain or sciatica is back. Then, you go through the same risks all over again with less chance of success.

Here’s a link to a (Good Housekeeping) special report one of our patients brought into us that was very interesting: Good Housekeeping Special Report - Click Here!


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in Glastonbury- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

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