| A Holistic View Points Toward Skeletal | | | | Point Manual, a vast proportion of chronic |
| MusclesIt is often stated in conventional | | | | pain in the body is not due to problems with |
| literature that the cause of lower back pain | | | | damaged nerves, disrupted bursae, and |
| cannot be precisely identified. This | | | | degenerative joints, but dysfunction in the |
| perspective derives from a mechanistic, | | | | soft tissue, especially skeletal muscles.The |
| non-integrated view of the body which has | | | | cause of lower back pain can be broken down |
| been our legacy since the scientific | | | | into five primary problems which interconnect |
| revolution. When the body is viewed as a | | | | with one another. The following breakdown is |
| collection of isolated parts rather than an | | | | adapted from the St. John Neuromuscular |
| elegant, integrated whole, the cause of lower | | | | Therapy training, a method of postural |
| back pain becomes a bewildering | | | | analysis and clinical massage therapy focused |
| puzzle.However, a holistic view of the body | | | | on musculoskeletal alignment and treating |
| can begin to sort out the confusion. By | | | | compensatory muscular patterns.Five Primary |
| evaluating the relationship between the | | | | Problems1) Ischemia (pronounced: Iz skeem ee |
| body's overall structure in gravity and it's | | | | ah)The first cause of lower back pain is |
| function in movement, the causes of lower | | | | ischemia. "Ischemia" means lack of blood. |
| back pain begin to reveal themselves.A | | | | Without adequate blood to provide nutrients |
| holistic perspective guides us to one of the | | | | and oxygen, soft tissues such as muscles, |
| most overlooked sources, not only of lower | | | | tendons, ligaments, and fascia build up |
| back pain, but chronic pain in general. That | | | | lactic and other toxins and become painful. |
| source is skeletal muscles.As Drs. Janet | | | | Ischemia occurs when muscles are chronically |
| Travell and David Simons made explicitly | | | | contracted over a period of time. The most |
| clear in their exhaustive 2-volume work, | | | | prevalent cause of lower back pain, by far, |
| Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger | | | | is muscular strain and spasm due to ischemia. |