BACK PAIN

During nearly 40 years of treating back pain, both acute and chronic, my preferred approach was to use bioelectronic medicine, despite my training in osteopathy and manipulation. We can now offer this successful treatment approach using our Digital Electronic Treatment Unit in conjunction with online consultations. 

Because of my background in osteopathy most patients with back pain who came to the clinic expected a ‘hands on’ type of treatment, because back pain to many seems to be a mechanical problem and therefore requires a mechanical solution, such as manipulation.

We often talk about back pain as mechanical; ‘putting my back out’ or ‘slipping a disc’ and it is a common assumption that an Xray or MRI scan will be able to pinpoint the exact cause of the pain.

There is ample evidence, however, that there is no absolute link between findings on MRI scans and the presence or absence of back pain.(1)(2) 
Many people who have low back pain do not have changes on MRI scans to explain their pain, and many patients who have no pain whatsoever have very definite changes on their scans. The two simply don’t match up. 

Far from explaining the cause of back pain, MRI scans and Xrays can even be positively misleading and may lead to inappropriate treatment. But it may help to explain why bioelectronic  approaches can work so well, since the presence or absence of mechanical problems on a scan does not tie in with the presence or absence of back pain. 

If we stop thinking about low back pain and also sciatica purely in terms of structural changes and damage to the spine or of the back being ‘out’ and think more in terms of pain patterns as we do in bioelectronic medicine, there are many more options for successful treatment and relief of pain without physical interventions or medications. This is particularly true when back pain has been present for many months or years and has become ‘chronic’.


How does this work for me?

Because these pain patterns are held in the brain they can be modified by ‘neuromodulation’ which is one of the ways that we respond to stimulation of points and areas on the surface of the body. Bioelectronic medicine stimulates the brain to remodel itself, reducing activity in areas which are over-stimulated by chronic pain and stimulating areas which have been unnaturally suppressed, contributing to effective treatment of back pain and sciatica.

In addition, stress and anxiety have been shown to be a major part of continuing back pain and we can trigger several responses in the body which are involved in reducing them.(3)(4)(5)
​
These include stimulating serotonin which is made in the brain and is the target of many of the drugs used for anxiety and stress; reducing activity in the ‘fear’ part of the brain; improving mood regulation, and reducing inflammation which may be one of the factors that keeps back pain going.

(1) Tonosu J, Oka H, Higashikawa A, Okazaki H, Tanaka S, Matsudaira K. The associations between magnetic resonance imaging findings and low back pain: A 10-year longitudinal analysis. PLoS One. 2017;12(11):e0188057. Published 2017 Nov 15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188057
​(2) Deyo RA, Weinstein J. Low Back Pain. N Engl J Med 2001; 344:363-370 DOI: 10.1056/NEJM200102013440508
(3) Cebalo N, Negovetić Vranić D, Bašić Kes V. The Effect of Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS) on Anxiety and Fear in Children Aged 9-14 Years. Acta Stomatol Croat. 2020;54(4):412-419. doi:10.15644/asc54/4/8(4) Kong J, Fang J, Park J, Li S, Rong P. Treating Depression with Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation: State of the Art and Future Perspectives. Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:20. Published 2018 Feb 5. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00020
(5) Liu, CH., Yang, MH., Zhang, GZ. et al. Neural networks and the anti-inflammatory effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in depression. J Neuroinflammation 17, 54 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-020-01732-5