When patients feel back pain that is not directly over their spine they will sometimes ask, “Is it just a muscle?” I think most of the time they ask this because the pain is different than the sharp, specific pain that they had experienced in the past when they hurt their spine.
My response is different based on their condition, but here is a general answer to the muscle vs. spine question. Maybe.
IS IT JUST A MUSCLE?
Maybe it is just a minor pulled muscle and we can apply a simple therapy over the area to help it hurt less and heal properly. Maybe it is a referred pain from a disc or joint problem in the spine. Maybe it is a nerve injury that is causing the muscles to act weird and the nerve is what needs treatment.
After the exam procedures I will make my best “educated guess” as to which one of these possibilities is the most likely. It could actually be a combination of any of them. Most commonly my treatment will involve a series of chiropractic adjustments followed by a therapy to address the particular injury and enhance the healing process.
MAGIC OF CHIROPRACTIC
It might be obvious that I believe the chiropractic adjustment is such a big deal, but let me explain how it can also help with pain that is not directly over the spine. There are some fancy words about this: high velocity dynamic thrust, myotactic stretch reflex, autogenic inhibition, Golgi tendon apparatus threshold. I’m not going to get all technical and explain those terms, but here is the way I like to describe the whole process.
A spinal adjustment provides a quick tension on the muscle and helps it finally relax and start working right. There is nothing else that can address the muscle in this exact way. The adjustment will gently stretch the muscle fibers and the nerves will notice the change and react to it.
So, yes, it might just be a muscle injury. But even a muscle injury involves the nerves and nearby structures in a way that can best respond to the magic of a chiropractic treatment.