DAY 157 - It Came Out of Nowhere

Patient: (with distress) Doctor, I have no idea what caused this back pain. It came out of nowhere.

Doctor: That’s got to be upsetting, to be experiencing pain that seems to have been unprovoked.

Conversations like this are common in my practice. They start out interesting, and become even more so.

Early on, with each patient, I suggest that nothing comes out of nowhere; that there are many happenings that we don’t understand, and influences that we can’t see, but all events are brought about by related phenomena. For a thoughtful doctor, it is usually not difficult to begin to solve the mystery of the surprising back pain.

Given that stress is pervasive, and a known cause of back pain, I always bring it up as a probable contributor. Most of us, through adaptation or mental blocking, keep stress and its effects from our consciousness. Many people don’t imagine that the recent death of their sibling, and the associated feelings, could directly contribute to the initiation of back pain. In our culture, understanding that the chronic stress of a rotten job, an unhappy relationship, or an ill child, could cause back pain, is not common. The tendency is to be surprised when an ongoing input finally causes a sudden and overt change; in this case, pain.

An interesting part of our cultural understanding of the effects of stress, is that we actually do know and appreciate that chronic stress can, and reasonably should cause back pain, in others, but find it difficult to accept that it would be true for us.

We have a tendency to think that one must DO something, like lifting a heavy object, to cause back pain. We are less apt to think about the effects of what we DON'T DO. Patients, confused about the cause of their pain, rarely offer that they have not been going for walks regularly, have not stretched in six months, or have not had a salad in the past week. They never mention the bowel movement that they haven’t had for 3 days.

Further off the American radar as a cause of back pain, is food allergy, even though it may be the most common. Most of us have never heard that eating a food such as dairy products for years, or decades, could chronically provoke ones immune system, causing focal inflammation and tissue damage in muscles and joints, and ultimately pain in the back. Pain caused in this manner may not come out of nowhere, but those who have never even heard that foods can cause back pain, are always blindsided.

Most back pain is caused by long-term, combinations of stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, lack of aerobic exercise, lack of stretching, and food allergies; not from falling down a flight of stairs while moving a grand piano. But without the necessary perspective ... back pain can appear to come out of nowhere.

DAY 113 - A Day in The Life

Let me just talk straight with you. It’s 2:30 PM and I feel tired. My shoulder muscles, between my neck and the tips of my shoulders, what are for short called traps, are tight and tense. I’ve been off coffee for 27 days, and it’s times like this when I feel that I could use a cup. I’ve got a lot of work to do. Nothing new there. Maybe that’s part of my problem. Always things, not little things, that need done. But, they don’t just need done; they need thinking, and with my brain, they often need lots of thinking. But they also need love and compassion. Is an answer an answer if it isn’t compassionate? Well, yesterday after work, I went straight to the Ventura City Council meeting which started at 6:00 PM. Big issue about whether to spend $75,000 to study whether or not to annex Canada Larga into the City. Bit stressful because even considering annexing Canada Larga, is to create and invite more urban sprawl, moving Ventura, and all of Ventura County toward becoming a clone of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Lots of folks living here, that just fled from there. Are we having trouble thinking ahead? I sat from 6:15’till 9 ish – not great for my back, legs, or health. Spoke briefly before the council to be a voice of reminder that we don’t want nor like urban sprawl, so let’s not do it. After the meeting a nice lady told me that the Council was “two-faced”. I told her that I personally knew a few of the Council members and that my opinion is that they were not liars, but were caring people working with very complicated issues. Drove home. Got a bite. (Dragged a comb across my head.) And sat down to write my daily post for my book/blog. By 11:30 PM I was done and in bed. Not so good for a guy who functions best on 10 hours of sleep per night. So, I’m snuggled in, my wife breathing quietly beside me. Now I get to deal with being wound up from the day’s feelings, activities, interactions and inactivities. My heart is racing a little; my mind definitely is. My gut is a bit tight and uncomfortable. I start with deep breaths and awareness of my traps. I begin counting my blessings; my wife, my kids, my health, the enormity of the options and opportunities in my life. Things, like my heart, begin to slow, and thanks to exhaustion, I am asleep in no time. But now it’s today and I’m in the cycle. Still lots of blessings. Still lots of stresses, tensions, and things needing done. I was thinking, that since I am doing non-patient work in the office in Ventura today, and since I won’t get home to Ojai before 6:00 PM, that it would feel good to be with a friend this evening while watching the State of the Union. While my dear friend, Bill, says that he still likes Obama, he also says that has lost some appreciation for him. Gosh, I still love the man! Why is it that so many of us can’t seem to separate the man, Obama, from what they hoped would be accomplished, but has not been? Obama has told us himself that he is not satisfied with what has been accomplished. But, how many of us are living our own lives as we think we should; and could? How many of us have a family that is without disharmony and dysfunction? How many of our cities are running smoothly, without a glitch? Holy cow! He is trying to help us run a COUNTRY! Don’t just cut him some slack, remember that you too have a responsibility for the actions and direction of our Country. Has he really become a traitor, like the Ventura City Council? Come on! Hey, what if we gave him a hand, rather than a fist? Maybe, as he has requested repeatedly, we could work together; the only way that things can be accomplished for the greater good. What got me going on that? :) So, I’m with you, with him, and trying to be with me.

DAY 68 - Simple Understandings #3 – I Carry My Stress in My Shoulders

“I carry my stress in my shoulders.”

You may not hear this as often as I do, because chances are that you aren’t a chiropractor, but tell me that this statement isn’t incredibly common. It is common, and it is ripe with danger.

Let me make it quick, cuz I know you are getting ready for a holiday party.

For clarification, when we say “shoulders” in this case, we are talking primarily about the trapezius muscles that run between the shoulder joints and the neck (see photo - with strap crossing the trapezius).

Stress can, and often does cause tightening and discomfort in the shoulders. One can often feel the shoulders get better and worse as stresses wane and wax. A conclusion is natural; stress causes the problem.

When one believes that stress is THE cause of shoulder tightness and discomfort, the only answer to the condition is stress reduction. But stress is rarely, if ever, THE cause.

An extremely common cause of tight shoulders is food allergy. This isn’t a guess or premonition; I have seen this in hundreds of cases since 1983. The most common single offender that I have observed, is dairy products. Most people are allergic to a number of foods; without knowing it. These foods, or combinations of foods can gradually tighten muscles and cause pain.

Take charge of your health and life and do a little experiment; take all dairy (%100 – read labels and ask what was put in everything you are about to eat) out of your diet for one week. Then put it back for a week. Repeat this on and off for 3 cycles. Most people will realize in the first cycle that they, and their shoulders, feel better off of dairy.

This self testing is not the final word, but will provide valuable feedback for many people, and may “cure” their shoulder problems. Others have more complicated physiology and will need the help of a wise doctor to sort out the causes and effects.

The fact that you don’t stretch, exercise, or get enough sleep may also play a role in your shoulder problems, but don’t miss the chance to employ this simple understanding, and experiment with dairy.