Is Low Back Pain About Your Back?
If you experience back pain, you’re not alone. It is estimated that over 80% of Americans will experience back pain at some point in their lives.
According to a survey taken in 2013, 33.7% of people aged 65 or older report that they have experienced back pain over the last 3 months which is a 12% rise from 1997.
Back pain not only hurts our physical body, it also impacts our wallet as well. Americans spend $59 billion dollars a year to treat back pain. When indirect costs are considered (lost wages, productivity, legal and insurance costs) the numbers rise to $100 billion dollars annually.
The evidence is clear. Back pain hurts, physically and financially.
Admittedly, “back pain” is an umbrella category, encompassing many different influences and situations. However, experts do agree. While surgery is necessary for some, surgery isn’t a guaranteed relief for everyone. In fact, it is reported up to 74.6% of back surgeries fail to completely relieve pain.1
Even the people at Harvard Medical center offer these 4 recommendations before committing to back surgery:
- Wait
- Apply ice and heat
- Take pain relievers as needed
- Stay active2
From the Kaiut perspective, back pain or any kind of pain has much more to do with the interconnectedness of the whole system vs. one, particular area.
The body’s natural ability to protect and adapt yields compensatory patterns, and therefore, consequences to the body. In the case of acute injuries, the mechanisms to protect the area will be useful during the initial healing phase but after such phase the patterns established may be counterproductive. An acute knee or ankle injury will have an immediate and lasting impact on the entire body as the use of that joint and walking pattern changes unless the compensatory patterns can be dissolved.
Chronic issues like “low back pain” can arise from decades of compensatory patterns (desk job, occupational behaviors or acute injuries) build until the body can no longer adapt. When the body and nervous system can no longer adapt, pain may set in.
The Kaiut Method was designed with all this in mind and incorporates a wholistic approach to balancing the system and removing unnecessary patterns and blockages.
Integrating the following three concepts inherent to the Kaiut method into your daily practice will help you understand and eventually mitigate pain regardless of location.
The Body Is Connected: this philosophy is embraced in most traditional approaches to health and wellness. When there is a part of the body that is injured or suffering, there will be consequences elsewhere in the body. Following this perspective, for a therapeutic to be effective- the entire body and mind and being must be considered.
Trusting Your Pace: your body has an inherent, natural rhythm. When we experience pain in our bodies, our tendency is to “fix it” and remove it immediately. We have to understand that any healing process must match our own internal rhythm. We might think we can push through a pain to make it better, but in the long run the “pushing through” approach doesn’t last and could drive the issue deeper into the system. Most of us will benefit from slowing down enough so that we can match our outward actions to our internal pace. When we work with the body- from nature’s pace vs the speed of our mind- results are generally more sustainable and effective. Trust the intelligence of the system that has evolved over 6 million years, and be aware of overriding that intelligence with our own.
Learning To Listen: pain is a great teacher and a guide into a deeper knowing of ourselves. Francisco has said, “the more that you avoid pain, the greater pain you will have.” Over time, through the Kaiut practice we learn how to touch sensation without creating a defensive response. In this way, eventually we are able to begin to establish a new connection between the brain and the body that doesn’t read as a pain but as sensation. As we continue on this path, we can use pain as a way to guide us towards improved health and greater intimacy with our systems.
Over the last 30 years, the Kaiut Yoga method has proven itself over and over again as a method that is effective at reducing pain and increasing mobility. If you’re experiencing back pain, or have a loved one that deals with pain, maybe it’s time for you to try something new. Take a look at our schedule.
The first class is complimentary for new students and you can also sign-up for an introductory month at $57.
References:
A. Asher, “Causes of FBSS: Why Does Back Surgery Fail?”, Very Well Health, October 2019. https://www.verywellhealth.com/fbss-why-does-back-surgery-fail-4105394
2. “When Is Back Surgery the Right Choice”, Harvard Health Publishing, June 2014. https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/when-is-back-surgery-the-right-choice