What are the causes of low back pain?

1. back pain is caused by inflammation of muscles and tendons near joints and surrounding soft tissues

2) Inflammation can be caused by poor circulation and fluid retention due to rigidity of soft tissues (muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, etc.), accumulation of oxidants, accumulation of modern chemicals, stagnation of ch'i, and stagnation of bioelectricity. 3) There is also a nocebo effect (e.g., consciously scaring people into moving, which can lead to lower back pain).

3. lower back pain due to the nocebo effect (e.g., stiffness caused by conscious fear of moving and not relaxing from the painful area).

Low back pain is a discomfort presenting with back pain that most people experience at least once in their lives. Often it can affect the back, lower back, and buttocks all the way down to the legs. Back pain can be caused by common ailments such as minor bruising, twisting, sleeping on the wrong side of the bed, or a slipped back, a wide variety of chronic back pain with a medical diagnosis, and even back pain caused by an accident or other exogenous injury. The concept of the cause of back pain differs greatly between modern Western medicine and other traditional medicine such as Oriental medicine and Ayurveda.

Modern medicine considers the cause of back pain to be structural abnormalities in the spine, spinal cord, cartilage, nerves, internal organs, blood vessels, etc. Therefore, medical institutions use X-rays, MRI, CT, etc. to diagnose and visually identify functional and structural problems, swelling, and inflammation. This is based on the “mechanistic” philosophy of modern medicine. The mechanistic view of life focuses on structural abnormalities as the cause because it only addresses what is physically visible and measurable.

Conditions associated with chronic low back pain include low back pain due to whiplash, whiplash sequelae, herniated discs, spinal canal stenosis, nerve root compression, facet intervertebral joint syndrome, spondyloarthritis, osteoporosis, lumbosacral transition vertebra, spondylolysis, spina bifida, spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, bone spurs, soft tissue diseases, fibromyalgia, myofascitis and fibrositis, tendonitis, tailbone pain, and neuroma are commonly diagnosed.

In modern medicine, low back pain is diagnosed as a combination of these and many more conditions, including herniated discs and spinal stenosis, which are diagnosed by MRI or other scans that identify protruding discs between the lumbar vertebrae that are compressing nerves, nerve roots, and other structural problems that cause pain. Each of these diagnoses, including herniated disc and spinal stenosis, is then identified.

Depending on the disease, conservative treatments such as pain medication, corsets, local anesthesia, blocked injections of steroids and other drugs, exercises, and traction are generally tried, and if there is no recovery, surgical treatment is recommended for the protruding cartilage tissue or structural abnormalities. Although there are now reviews, modern medicine generally believes that structural abnormalities, hernias, and other structural abnormalities are the cause of the problem, and that the fundamental treatment to remove the cause of the problem is an open therapy, or surgery (at this time in 2020). Preventive and recurrence precautions” are then imposed on the patient to avoid using the area in daily life.

It seems that 15% of all low back pain is such specific low back pain, which can be explained by mechanistic diagnosis including imaging findings such as MRI, and the remaining 85% is nonspecific low back pain that cannot be detected by imaging findings. In this case, the possibility of psychogenic low back pain is also being considered by some medical institutions, and the causal theory of low back pain from an animistic viewpoint is beginning to be explored.

According to Oriental medicine, back pain can be caused by “qi stagnation” (stagnation of qi), “damp phlegm” (poor fluid flow), “blood stagnation” or “blood stasis,” “external evil” (from climate, etc.), “spleen deficiency” or “kidney deficiency” (from poor internal organ function), and other factors. Therefore, treatment is performed to improve the flow of ch'i and blood to balance the overall health of the body, and to loosen stiffness in the muscles near the affected area to promote blood circulation.

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These Oriental and other natural medicine systems, such as Ayurveda, are based on the theory of “vital energy,” which also takes into account invisible ecological and cosmic energies, such as ch'i. In the case of low back pain, too, the emphasis is on the vital activity that changes not in parts but in the whole, and by regulating this activity, the emphasis is on restoring the equalizing effect of the entire tissue.

These medical schools have effectively treated back pain based on balancing the overall health of the body, balancing the autonomic nervous system, and correcting internal organ and endocrine function long before structural abnormalities became medically identifiable.

Now that it is possible to diagnose and find structural abnormalities, even if the back pain is what Western medicine calls specific low back pain, each traditional natural medicine is not concerned with correcting structural problems such as protruding hernias or other Western medical diagnoses of misaligned bones, cartilage wear and tear, nerve compression, etc. This is not the case.

Therefore, in the present age, when the development of diagnostic techniques has made it possible to identify causes of structural abnormalities that could not be identified in the past, there is an argument based on the mechanistic viewpoint that healing by traditional natural medicine cannot occur without eliminating these structural causes.

This view is now common among many people, both on the treatment side and the healing side. This has led to the understanding that traditional Oriental medicine and other natural medicine treatments for specific low back pain are more like conservative therapies that improve overall body balance and circulation in the affected area, instead of treating the cause of the pain.

Because of this, modern general medicine, as well as many natural medicine-based physicians and healers, are now becoming more mechanistic, believing that in the case of specific low back pain with structural abnormalities, the structural abnormalities are ultimately treated.

In other words, many non-surgical naturopathic physicians are now treating specific low back pain in a conservative manner, ultimately focusing on correcting the structural cause of the pain, similar to Western medicine. Many chiropractors and naturopathic doctors, who use naturopathic medicine but are also scientifically oriented, also tend to treat patients in a conservative manner to help them feel better. Osteopathic doctors, who are also naturopaths, perform surgery in the same way that modern medicine does today.

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Most modern Oriental physicians and acupuncturists have also adopted a Western medical perspective. This has led to a tendency to specialize in the treatment of nonspecific low back pain for which the cause cannot be determined by medical science, and to treat many specific types of low back pain with structural abnormalities from the standpoint of conservative treatment, based on the understanding that Oriental medicine does not provide a fundamental cure. On the other hand, there are also many therapists who are devoted solely to Oriental medicine and do not take into account the viewpoints of modern Western physicians, and they end up treating only with the meridian theory of Oriental medicine.

In the present situation, meridian therapy based on Oriental medicine, which is a theory of vital energy, does not produce good results for the specific back pain of today, in which structural abnormality is recognized. At the same time, surgical correction of structural abnormalities using only the mechanics of Western medicine does not always produce good results.

Aloha medicine, which is a Japanese medicine, takes the position that structural abnormalities are not necessarily the cause of pain, and examines the cause of back pain based on the essence of the pain and the theory of vital energy. For this purpose, however, we first use a revision based on causal theory, which is rooted in modern medicine based on mechanistic theory.

Take a herniated disc, for example, there is a big mistake in understanding that herniation is the cause of pain in the first place. A crushed disc is painful, but the disc tissue in the herniated area has no nerves, so no pain is felt in that area. Another common theory is that a protruding disc compresses a nerve root and causes pain, but the nerve in that area is not actually a painful nerve, so in this case it is paralyzed but does not cause pain. This is evidenced by the fact that some people feel pain and others do not, despite the fact that herniation is found in more than 70 percent of middle-aged and older adults.

The same kind of structural component of a herniated disc is not the cause of the pain, and the same can be said for the causal theory of various other specific low back pain conditions.

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1. there is only cartilage and synovial fluid between the bones in the joint, and cartilage has no nerves or blood vessels.

 

2. Even when the cartilage is completely gone and the bones rub against each other, there are no nerves in the bones. Fiber membranes such as periosteum and arthrodesis, which cause pain, are around the joint, not in the joint or between bones.

 

The spinal column is held together by a tough dura mater, which can move freely forward and sideways, so the misaligned bones seen on MRI are either pulled or pushed in a certain direction by muscular contraction.

 

4. the collapsed cartilage (cartridge) has no sensory nerves to transmit pain.

 

5. Even if the cartridge (intervertebral disc) pops out and touches the nerve root, it is too soft to crush the nerve.

 

6. If the nerve root were to be compressed severely, it would result in paralysis, but not pain.

 

7. Low back pain is caused by inflammation of contracted muscles and surrounding soft tissues, not by the “displaced bone,” “compressed nerve,” or “crushed cartilage” itself. It does not mean that the “displaced bone,” “compressed nerve” or “crushed cartilage” itself is painful.

 

The pain is felt in inflamed muscles, tendons, and other tissues, and this inflammation is caused by insufficient blood flow in the muscles and surrounding soft tissues due to the stiffness of muscles that have contracted (strained) strongly enough to move the bones to which they are connected.

Thus, the essence of lumbago is pain felt in the muscles and other tissues near the joints of the lumbar spine. The protrusion of the intervertebral disc itself is caused by excessive pressure on the lumbar vertebrae due to excessive muscle tension, which pushes out the tissue, and the direct pain is inflammation due to impaired blood flow to those tense muscles. So the “protrusion” of disc tissue is the result, not the cause.

Although the location and symptoms vary with various diseases, the fact remains that muscles far from the lower back, such as those in the sacroiliac joint near the sacrum and buttocks and the iliopsoas muscle deep in the lower abdomen, are stiff and painful, and that the muscle tissue and soft tissue related to the disease is stiff and inflamed. The same is also true that mental stress often causes pain signals to be transmitted by receptors called nociceptors.

 

 

The cause of pain in Aloha medicine is seen as inflammation of the muscles and tendons near the joint and the surrounding soft tissues. The reasons for this inflammation are:

 

1. stiffness of the tissues around the back and joints

⇒Stiffness of the muscles, tendons, and soft tissues near the affected area obstructs blood flow. The body tries to regulate blood flow by causing inflammation there.

 

2. oxidation and stagnation of blood and body fluids

⇒The modern, high-protein, mineral-deficient diet increases oxidants, and the blood is stagnant and does not flow smoothly. Body fluids are acidic. Acidic substances such as lactic acid accumulate, causing the affected area to harden and become inflamed. Inflammation is an attempt to stimulate blood flow by inflaming the area and dilating small blood vessels.

 

3. bioelectricity charge/deficiency

⇒Stagnation and oxidation of blood and body fluids, as well as problems with chemical substances, also occur due to electrostatic charging and electron deficiency in the body.

 

4. Accumulation of modern chemical substances

⇒ Through the use of food containing many food additives and chemical agents, chemical agents that did not exist in the past are accumulating in the body.

 

 5. Back pain due to the nocebo effect

⇒There is the placebo effect, which improves the body by thinking things in a positive way, and the nocebo effect, which worsens the body by thinking things in a negative way. For example, being consciously afraid to move and not relaxing from the area of pain causes stiffness. This further tenses the sympathetic nervous system and induces further pain.

6. back pain felt by the brain

 

For the above reasons, nociceptors are stimulated and pain is felt in the “brain.

In other words, the cause of back pain in Aloha medicine is “poor blood circulation and fluid stagnation due to rigidity of the soft tissues (muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, etc.) near the joints of the back, accumulation of oxidants, accumulation of modern chemicals, stagnation of ch'i, stagnation of ecoelectricity” even for medically specific back pain except back pain with fracture or rupture of tendons. The term “whiplash” is also used to describe the whiplash of the body.

 

The same view is applied to back pain caused by whiplash (in most cases, there is no soft tissue damage), sequelae of whiplash (even if there is damage, the damage has already healed), and nonspecific back pain for which no structural abnormality is found after diagnosis and the cause cannot be determined by modern medicine. Aloha medicine's causal theory of back pain is the univocal theory of Iki-Ki Theory, which examines the essential root of back pain instead of dividing it into many categories, seeing the 15% of patients with specific back pain and the remaining 85% with nonspecific back pain as being exactly the same thing.

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Based on this understanding of Aloha medicine, it becomes clear why traditional acupuncture, Oriental medicine, and many natural medicine have long ago been able to improve pain in ways that do not directly treat structural problems. In other words, the essence is that the pain goes away even if the structural abnormality remains, and the protrusion calms down at the same time as the muscle tension is relieved.

 

However, this was in the past when there were no chemicals and lifestyles were different. Today, there are new problems that did not exist in the past, such as the accumulation of chemicals and the westernization of lifestyles. In addition, modern oriental medicine and natural medicine also suffer from the fallacy of structural abnormality, i.e., back pain, due to modern diagnostic techniques, and the nocebo effect resulting from this is thought to have further reduced patient recovery by half.

The introduction of modern Oriental medicine's mechanistic theory of structural problems as the cause has implicated both therapist and patient, and the nocebo effect, which does not improve back pain, is operating in the psyche of both patient and therapist. In addition, the modern acupuncture and moxibustion techniques that have been used since the Medical Revision Act no longer represent acupuncture and moxibustion as medical treatment, and traditional oriental medicine is “absent” in the first place, as Chinese medicine, which is supposed to be used concurrently, is not used by acupuncturists. (See “Oriental Medicine”).

 

In addition, even if only structural abnormalities are surgically removed by modern medicine, it does not mean that the true cause of the pain has been corrected, and this is a major reason why many patients are still in pain even after back pain surgery.

 

Therefore, in both Western and current Oriental medicine, the therapist's mindset is fixated on the visual condition of the structural abnormality visible on MRI diagnosis, which implants a negative implication in the patient that the area must be pinpointed and eliminated in order to be cured. This creates a nocebo effect, whereby a back pain disorder that presents structural abnormalities is a back pain that cannot be cured without surgery, and the tension causes the patient to carry extra muscle stiffness in the affected area. Tissue tension can lead to inflammation by inhibiting blood flow. The fact that both therapists and patients of all types of medicine are treated with a bad nocebo effect is one of the main reasons why improvement is halved for many people with back pain today.

 

This is other than the back where there is no trauma, fracture, or tissue tear: neck and back pain, stiff shoulders, whiplash, elbow, knee, and finger pain, sleep disorders, cartilage wear and tear in knees and other parts of the body, partial tears of tendons and ligaments, tennis elbow, osteoarthritis, chondromalacia, osteoarthritis of the knee, heel spurs, 40 and 50 shoulder, soft tissue diseases, tendonitis, fibromyalgia, fasciitis inflammation, fibrositis, tendonitis, neuroma, hip dysplasia, plantar fasciitis, poly- mononeuritis, TMJ TMJ syndrome, and various arthritis, among many others.

 

The pain is the stiffness of muscles and tendons near joints

Stiff shoulders, whiplash (no tendon damage in most cases) back pain, neck and back pain, elbow, knee, and finger pain, sleeping wrong, slipped back, herniated discs, spinal canal stenosis, nerve root compression, worn cartilage in knees, etc., partial tears of tendons and ligaments, facet intervertebral joint syndrome, spondyloarthritis, lumbosacral transition vertebra, spondylolysis, bifida spondylolisthesis, spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, tennis elbow, osteoarthritis, chondromalacia, osteoarthritis of the knee, calcaneal spurs, 40 shoulder, 50 shoulder, soft tissue disease, tendonitis, fibromyalgia, myofasciitis, fibrositis, tendonitis, tailbone pain, neuroma, plantar fasciitis, polyosseous mononeuritis, TMJ TMJ syndrome, various arthritis.

 

All pain is inflammation of muscles and tendons when near joints. The reasons for this inflammation are:

1. stiff muscles and tendons near the affected area obstruct blood flow. The body tries to regulate blood flow by causing inflammation. 2.

 

2. blood is stagnant and does not flow smoothly. Inflammation is caused by the body trying to stimulate blood flow by dilating small blood vessels by causing inflammation in that area.

 

3. Body fluid is acidic. Acidic substances such as lactic acid accumulate and harden the affected area, causing inflammation for the same reason as in 1. 

 

4. stiffness due to fear of movement and inability to relax from the painful area, as in 1.

5. or the nociceptors are stimulated and the “brain” feels the pain for reasons 1 through 4.

Thus, pain is caused by inflammation to ensure the flow of blood in areas where muscles, tendons, and fascia near joints are stiff and spasmodic, blood is contaminated, or blood circulation is poor due to acidity of body fluids. Pain is “inflammation of muscles and tendons” due to muscle spasms, contractions, strains, and impaired blood flow. Therefore, with the exception of a broken bone or a major tendon rupture, all pain is not a structural problem.

 

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A Memorandum of Understanding the Nature of Pain

There is only cartilage and synovial fluid between the bones in a joint, and even when the cartilage is worn away, the bones have no nerves to transmit pain, and the cartilage has no nerves or blood vessels. Even when the cartilage is completely gone and the bones rub against each other, there are no nerves in the bones. (The pain-sensing fiber membrane is outside the joint, not between the bones.)

 

If a nerve root is compressed, it will result in paralysis but not pain.

The spinal column is held together by a strong dura mater, which moves freely forward and sideways.

As shown on the MRI, the displaced bone is only pulled in a certain direction by muscle contraction, and the pain is caused by inflammation of the contracted muscles, which can be caused by the “displaced bone,” “compressed nerve,” or “crushed cartilage. It is not the “displaced bone,” “compressed nerve,” or “crushed cartilage” that is painful.

 

It is the inflamed muscle and tendon that hurts, and this inflammation is caused by a lack of blood flow within the muscle due to the stiffness of the muscle that has contracted (strained) hard enough to move the bone to which it is attached.

 

The cartilage (cartridge) that is being crushed has no sensory nerves to transmit pain. 

 

Even if the cartridge (intervertebral disc) pops out and touches the nerve root, it is too soft to crush the nerve. Even if it were crushed, the nerve would be paralyzed and would not cause pain. Nerve root compression by a bone or other object can cause paralysis, but relaxing the muscles will eliminate the tension and pressure.

 

 

 

Thus, pain is not caused by bone, cartilage, or nerve, but by inflammation of the muscles and tendons near the affected area.

In order for the pain to disappear spontaneously, one must understand that the pain is actually nothing more than “muscle or tendon inflammation” caused by impaired blood flow, so there is no problem.

 

Then, understanding the principle of pain, relax and move the muscle without fear or stiffness, and the pain will decrease day by day. At this point, it is important to understand that the more you move, the stronger your muscles become, and not to mistake muscle soreness caused by movement for bad pain.

 

Do not make the mistake of thinking that joints and bones are “displaced” or “dislocated” because joints are socketed from the start. It is important to understand that joints do not start out as sockets and that they do not engage. Understanding these things and not being afraid of them is the key to avoid stiffening the muscles.

 

Mental stress can cause pain because the sympathetic nervous system makes the muscles tense.

After understanding and reassuring yourself of the true nature of the situation, try to shift your attention to the mind. Is anything stressful, tense, angry, sad, or worried? If these negative emotions are present, it is important to improve the mind. This is because changing the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic austerity to parasympathetic is essential to relieve muscle and tendon stiffness.

 

When you understand the true principles of pain and stop “protecting” the painful area by moving it with ease, you will be able to move the muscle without putting more force than necessary into it. At the same time, blood circulation to the muscles improves, inflammation instantly disappears, pain is relieved, and misaligned bones return to normal.

And for those whose blood is contaminated or high in acidic substances, they should improve their daily diet. It is also important to detoxify the blood to eliminate acidic substances and improve the blood environment. Repair of past damage to bones, joints, cartilage, etc. can also be done by not stiffening the muscles in the area, which will ensure blood flow and healing.

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*If you have any questions about this article or wish to receive treatment at the Jujube Clinic please contact us.

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