Lower Back Pain

90 % low back pain  is mechanical. This type of  low back pain is the result  of overuse  or straining, spraining ,lifting , or bending that  results  in ligment  sprains,muscle pulls , or  disc herniations.  The ligament  injury is a more important  source of back pain.

Weak  spinal ligaments precede disc heriation

Weakening  of the spinal ligaments precedes disc heriations.  For a disc to heriate,  there must  first be  a primary  ligament weakness and a deteriorating disc. Disc degeneration  is so common it is considered part of  the normal   aging process. In  the  natural course of  aging, in the natural course of aging, a disc loses pliability and is less  able to withstand  normal  pressures. Thus  , it is  more  prone  to having  its outside edges become  cracked or torn. If  the pressure  goes high  enough,  the fluid  in the disc's center can leak  through these  cracks  or fissures. This  also leads  to decreased  disc height.  In addition, the  ligament  that holds the disc in place  becomes lax and  weakened. As a result, the joint  becomes even more unstable  and more likely  to heriate. Ligment hold the disc in place, so if the  ligament  weakens, the disc can more easily herniate through it. In fact , increased pressure  in the disc , together with increased ligmet laxity, is  the perfect  recipe for  disc heriation.
 
Prolotherapy for  Disc Disease

Although initial onset  of disc deriation is usually extremely painful and acute, in a few days to a few weeks, the  protruding  disc segment slowly shrivels away.  In fact , with  or without  treatment , most  of  disc heriations reabort and resolve whithin  two to six weeks, with up to 90 % back to normal activity wthin one  month regardless treatment. However, it has been  extamated  that  10 % people  who suffer a disc heriation  continue  to have pain and  go on  to experience  chronic  back pain that  includes muscle pain, spasm , and  stiffness ( a sign of  ligement   laxity and a weak joint) , sometimes with pain  going down  the legs.  These  syndrome may  persist  long after  the disc  heriation itself   has  shiveled  away because  of  weakended  back ligments and  connective tissue support which  has not healed. Even  after  someone  has recovered  from  a back injury or disc heriation  to the point  that he or she is   out of  severe pain , there  still exists a  predisposition to further injury at sites  where  there is ligment weakness, In addition to that ,  the change in biomechanics when  a ligament weakens  can contribute towards osteoarthroritis in the  joint  as well as  stress on  other  joints. Prolotherapy can help  stabilize and strenthen  the ligaments around  these  weakened  joints and  reduce or eliminate pain.