The Three Hidden Causes of All Back Pain

Let me introduce to you to the three hidden causes of all  back pain (really all health conditions, for that matter). I’ll  begin with terms that are slightly technical, and then explain  what they mean in plain English. Once you understand these  key concepts, you’ll probably never look at your own back  pain the same way again.

All back pain is ultimately caused by one (or more) of the
following three issues:

1. Excess (“too much”)
2. Deficiency (“too little”)
3. Stagnation (“too slow”)

All these terms revolve around the idea that to live pain  free, you need to maintain a delicate balance in your body,  mind, and diet. It’s important to avoid too much (i.e., excess)  of anything that causes you pain or too little (i.e., deficiency)  of something in order to prevent pain from occurring.

For example, if you do too much weightlifting, causing  your muscles to get shorter and less flexible, and you do too  little stretching to lengthen and increase the flexibility of your muscles, you create a condition that is ripe for back pain.

Similarly, if you have too much negative emotional stress  and too little downtime to process and deal with that stress,  you’ll be creating conditions in your body that are ripe for pain while limiting your ability to heal.

Let’s look at each of these three concepts in more detail.

Excess: Too Much of Something 

When we talk about excess, we’re talking about too much  of something. If you drink too much soda, coffee, or  caffeinated drinks, you’ll have too much caffeine in your  system (as well as other junk). Since caffeine is a diuretic that  causes you to urinate a lot, you’ll have too little water left in  your body. The discs in the spine need water to stay healthy  and function optimally. Too little water and they degenerate,  bulge, or herniate, making you vulnerable to nerve  compression and pain.

If you eat too much of the wrong kinds of fats—such as  hydrogenated (partially or fully) vegetable oils; fried foods;  and foods such as chips, crackers, and the like—you’ll likely  carry too much fat on your body, potentially straining your  muscles and putting extra pressure on your back. In addition,  since the body requires a delicate balance of different kinds of  fats to avoid inflammation, too much of these “bad” fats will  tip the scales in favor of inflammation and pain. (I’ll explain  more about diet and inflammation in a later chapter.)

We can have too much of just about anything in any area  of our lives. I’ve touched on diet, but what about the physical  body? Too much running, cycling, or weightlifting—without  cross-training with other types of exercise, sports, or  activities—can lead to uneven muscle strength and flexibility.
 
Too much sitting at the computer can lead to shortened  muscles in the backs of the legs, which creates back pain. Too  much stretching, without strength training, can lead to weak  and flabby muscles that no longer support the body properly.

We can expand this concept to our mental lives. Too  much stress can weaken the body’s defenses and lead to  sickness. Too much anxiety can lead to tension headaches and  irritable bowels—even panic attacks. Too much self-judgment  can lead to depression and low self-esteem, which decreases  blood flow in the body and robs the tissues of adequate  oxygen supply.

All these excesses throw the body and mind out of balance,  tipping the scales toward back pain—not to mention other  kinds of pain and/or disease.

Deficiency: Too Little of Something 

When we talk about deficiency, we’re talking about too  little of something. If you drink too little water, you run the  risk of dehydration and toxic buildup in the body, as well as  constipation and back pain. Eat too little fruits and  vegetables, and your body doesn’t get enough of the vitamins  and minerals it needs to stay healthy, fight off stress, and  lower your risk of experiencing back pain.
As with “too much,” we can have “too little” of just about  anything in any area of our lives. If we consider the physical  body, the first deficiency that comes to mind is too little  exercise. In America, we’re suffering from an obesity  epidemic.

I talked about too much of the same kind of  exercise a moment ago, but for many people, the problem is  too little exercise. We’re moving around a lot less than we  used to and performing far fewer manual tasks, which is  creating all kinds of aches and pains, to say nothing of the  increase in such weight-related disorders as diabetes and heart  disease.

If we consider our emotional lives, we can see how too  little quiet time is a problem for many of us. We’re  bombarded by stimulation from all corners of our existence— televisions, cell phones, traffic noises, loud voices, radios,  stereos, text messages, e-mails, and more. Rarely do we take  the time to go to a quiet place and reflect. This constant  stimulation leaves us anxious and unable to relax, causing too  little oxygen to reach the muscles and creating blood  circulation that’s too slow.

These deficiencies create an imbalance in the mind, body,  and diet—again, setting us up to suffer because of some  upcoming disorder or pain condition.

Stagnation: Something Is Moving Too Slow 

Stagnation can be caused by too much or too little of  something in your life—or by both. Simply put, it’s the  slowdown of blood flow and body energy.

In a healthy body, the blood flows freely throughout the  veins and arteries, supplying all organs and tissues with the  oxygen and nutrients they need while carrying waste away.  However, if that blood flow is restricted somehow, say, in a  trigger point within one of your back muscles, it slows down  and clogs up the system.

Imagine one side of a two-lane highway. As long as those  two lanes stay open, traffic flows freely (usually!). However,  during times of construction, one lane often is closed, which  narrows the passageway and forces all the cars into the  remaining lane. The flow slows down.

There are many causes of stagnation. Too much anxiety,  tension, and fear all restrict blood vessels, as evidenced by the  feeling of “cold hands.” Too much sitting for long periods of  time, whether at the computer or on an airplane, restricts the  blood flow in your legs, and can even result in a clot. Too  much “bad fat” in the diet can slow down blood flow and leave you fatigued. Too much strain on a muscle can cause a muscle spasm, which can restrict blood flow. Too little activity, too little stress relief, too little water, and too little stretching to elongate the muscle fibers all can lead to low energy and poor circulation. And poor circulation can lead to muscle soreness, toxin buildup, and back pain.

A Dangerous Cycle 

It’s easy to understand how these three points—too much,  too little, and too slow—can all interact and feed each other.  You can see how too much of one thing often prompts too  little of something else—with the entire chain of too much  and too little resulting in energy and blood flow that is too  slow, creating back pain.

Suddenly it becomes clear why the more common  approaches to treating back pain—those that focus strictly on  pain—don’t address the underlying conditions.
It’s a dangerous and self-reinforcing cycle.