In the entire animal kingdom, the human skeleton is practically unique, due to its adaptation to a lifetime of bipedal walking. Our primate ancestors gave up their tree-bound lifestyle for a life of running and hunting game on the plains of Africa, and this led to some changes in the human form. This includes a skeleton featuring long leg bones, arched feet, an upright pelvis, and most of all, an S-shaped spine. All of that gave early humanity many evolutionary advantages, though this comes at a cost, even today. Walking upright means fighting gravity more acutely than other animal species do, and this puts wear and tear on the human spine and various leg joints. Some serious spinal injury cases call for surgery, but many other chronic back pain issues can be solved with rehab tools and systems and an algometer in a hospital. Other patients may have chiropractic adjusting tools used on them, or they may perform yoga to relieve their back and joint pain. Back and spinal pain are common today, but so are the cures. A hospital offers algometers and range of motion testing, and a doctor may refer patients to a pain clinic if need be.
The Causes of Back Pain
Chronic back pain is among the most common types of chronic pain in the world, and a number of causes have been identified. Meanwhile, the American medical industry is enormous, and it rigorously studies health trends among the American public. The numbers show many cases and rates of back pain, and as just one example, some 31 million Americans suffer from back pain at any given time. That’s around one in 10 people in the entire nation. Experts also say that 80% of Americans will suffer back pain issues at some point in their lives, and one in three women and one in four men are suffering back pain. In fact, nearly half of all working Americans admit that they are experiencing back pain symptoms of some sort.
What causes all this? Often, working Americans suffer back pain from years of hard manual labor, such as working in the construction industry. Sports injuries may also cause back problems, and many surveyed Americans blame ongoing stress for their back problems. Not only that, but pregnant women may suffer spinal distress, too. Finally, simple old age may cause spinal and back issues, since many decades of upright walking may cause the spine to collapse over time and pinch nerves and strain muscles. The good news is that all sorts of remedies are available, and many do not even require surgery or medication.
Solutions to Back Pain
A hospital is well equipped to help a patient recover from spine problems or any other joint issues. A recovering patient will undergo physical therapy sessions with some therapists, and this may help the patient restore their strength, mobility, and arcs of motion for any affected joints or body parts. Hospital staff may even use an algometer, which is a pain threshhold testing device. The algometer, a handheld tool, applies pressure on a patient’s body that steadily increases until the patient reports pain, and this threshold is valuable data. Meanwhile, the patient may also perform stretch tests to measure their muscle strength, and motion capture cameras may track the patient’s movements and record them. All of this helps therapists track the patient’s recovery in all aspects, and determine when the patient may be released. By the end, the patient may have fully restored mobility and may suffer little, if any, pain.
Meanwhile, other patients may visit their doctor and report their spinal or back issues. The doctor will, in turn, refer them to a pain clinic, chiropractor, or a yoga expert. A chiropractor may use basic tools and even their bare hand to adjust a patient’s bones and bone muscles, which may relieve pain, undo muscle cramps, and restore arcs of motion. Something similar may be done when a patient signs up for private yoga sessions, where they perform poses as their instructor tells them. This can relieve pressure on joints and muscles and restore flexibility, all through natural poses and bends. No surgery or medicine may be needed for a full recovery.
