Dr Adriaan Liebenberg My Spine Explained | Page 112

CHAPTER 14
CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENT
Spinal pain and chiropractors
Among people seeking back pain relief alternatives, most choose chiroprac-
tic treatment, followed by physiotherapy in popularity. Chiropractors also
treat many other conditions, but for the focus of this chapter, we will only
refer to spinal conditions and their associated conditions.
Up to 60 – 90% of people will have spinal pain some time during their lives
and it is one of the most common forms of disability. Spinal pain can be the
result of underlying damage to the structures of your spine like the discs
between the vertebrae or inflammation of the joints between the different ver-
tebrae. It can also be the result of problems located in the structures adjacent
to your spine, or those involved in the alignment of your spine.
Therefore inflammation and problems in your hips, knees, legs, shoulders and
arms can cause indirect spinal pain. Abnormalities of the muscles or inborn
abnormalities of your spine like scoliosis (a skew spine) can also cause spinal
pain.
Many factors predispose towards the development of spinal pain:
1.) Genetic factors such as an inborn tendency to have weakness of the carti-
lage in the discs between the vertebrae and the spinal joints lead to disc dam-
age and inflammation in the joints.
2.) Obesity and inactivity or a lack of physical fitness.
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