The pain relieving expert is asked: Acute lumbago! Severe, sudden onset of pain in the area of the lumbar spine. What is your opinion on this?
“Let’s look at what is meant by acute lumbago. It is an acute functional disorder of the back in the area of the lumbar spine. In addition to muscular hardness, those affected also have temporary sensory or motor deficits. Patients cannot sit up at all or can only do so with severe pain.”
Ah…I had that once too. And it went away quite quickly? After a few injections in the back.
“That’s right. The back is as hard as a board during an “attack”. The injection then leads to a loosening and relaxation of these structures. But that also means that you have to wait – until you get to the doctor. He also has to have time and the back is still very sensitive afterwards.”
How does this kind of incident actually happen?
“It usually happens when lifting heavy loads or objects in a bent-over position. The client suddenly feels a sharp pain in the area of the lumbar spine. The pain gets worse with certain movements or in certain positions, for example in an upright posture. Pain intensification usually appears when sneezing or coughing.”
I see. But how does it happen?
“Lumbago is a logical consequence of certain conditions in the body. It usually affects people who have already suffered frequently from back pain beforehand. What happens here in concrete terms? If you spend a lot of time sitting during the day, the muscles and fascia at the front of the body, i.e. the abdominal muscles, other muscles and fascias around the hips and thighs, become more and more unyielding and “shorten”.
So it’s a permanent pull of the upper body forward.”
Understood. And then what happens in the back?
“The back extensors respond with a permanent counter-tension. This exerts an immense force on the spine. Why is that? Otherwise the person would always and constantly topple forward. Just before lumbago occurs, most people work bent forward and want to straighten up with momentum.”
Ok. so what?
“When you straighten up, the shortened structure at the abdomen and hips is suddenly pulled apart, so it’s very jerky. The brain reacts to the sudden threat. The “acute threat” to your spine. The chief controller (the brain) pulls the emergency brake, similar to in a car. For the purpose of supporting the structure, the back is stretched hard. In response, the muscles on the front contract – even more than they already do.
One question: What happens to the structure in the middle – when the front is pulled hard and the back is all tight? “
The structure is threatened and can break?
“Exactly.”
Have you had patients with this problem yourself?
“Yes – several. And I didn’t need injections to solve the problem 
“
How so?
“I’ll tell you about that next week. Ok?”
