Chiropractor Discusses Improved Health in Clarksville TN
It's a familiar story every time the weather turns: months at a desk, then a weekend of moving soil, lifting bags and working overhead, and a back that complains about it a few days later. We're chiropractors in Clarksville TN. Here's how we explain what happened, and when it's worth having it examined.
Why does yard work hurt a back that's used to a desk?
Tissues build their tolerance to load by being exposed to it over weeks. A body that's mostly been sitting hasn't had that exposure, so a weekend of yard work is a big load for it, even though the same work is nothing special for someone who does it every week. A sudden change in demand is a common story behind these injuries. How much of them it actually accounts for is still an open question, and the gradual build-up usually recommended for it didn't hold up when researchers tested it, which we go through on our page about exercising more safely.
Fatigue plays a part too. As muscles tire, they give less support, and the load they were carrying shifts onto the ligaments, the joint capsule and the discs. That's why the trouble so often shows up at the end of a long job and not at the start.
Why are bags of soil and mulch so hard on your back?
Bags of soil, bags of mulch and pots are heavy, awkward to hold close, and usually sitting on the ground. That's close to the worst combination there is. The rotational load at the lumbar spine is the object's weight multiplied by its distance from the spine, so anything you can't pull in close loads your spine out of proportion to what it weighs.
Bending at the hips and knees uses the hip and knee extensors, the big muscles of your hips and thighs. They're larger than the muscles along your spine, and they work with better leverage. Twisting while you're holding something adds rotation to a spine that's already under compression, in a part of the back that has little rotation to give. When you pivot on your feet, your hips make that turn so your lower back doesn't have to.
Why are you sore two days after yard work?
Soreness that shows up some hours after unfamiliar effort, peaks over a day or two and then settles has a name: delayed-onset muscle soreness. It follows loading your muscles aren't used to, especially work done while a muscle is lengthening. Muscle damage is the usual explanation, though the exact mechanism still isn't settled, and how sore you feel is a poor guide to how much damage actually happened. Either way, it's part of adapting to unfamiliar work. It isn't a sign that something has gone wrong.
Soreness that's one-sided and sharp, that started at a specific moment instead of building gradually, that comes with swelling or bruising, or that brings numbness, pins and needles or weakness is a different thing, and it's worth getting examined.
Ice or heat for a sore back: what each one does
The evidence that either one changes the eventual course of a musculoskeletal injury is limited. Both are usually described as ways of managing symptoms. In practice, people tend to find one or the other more comfortable, and neither is the correct one.
Ice lowers tissue temperature, which cuts local blood flow and slows nerve conduction. That's where its numbing effect comes from, and it's why ice is commonly used shortly after an acute injury. Heat raises tissue temperature and local blood flow and eases the feeling of muscle tightness, so it tends to be the pick for stiffness, not for a fresh injury.
Ice straight against the skin can cause a cold injury, which is why a barrier between ice and skin is standard practice. Heat carries a burn risk, especially where feeling in the skin is reduced, where someone can't easily move away from the heat source, or while they're asleep.
Can seeing a chiropractor regularly prevent back problems?
Some chiropractors suggest regular visits when nothing hurts, as a way to head off future problems. We don't make that claim: the evidence for preventive chiropractic care in people with no current complaint is limited.
The research that does exist looks at a narrower group, people who already have recurrent or persistent low back pain and who responded well to a first course of care. In that group, ongoing care has been found to reduce the number of days spent in pain, though not the number of new episodes. That's a real result, but it isn't prevention, and we keep the two apart on purpose. None of it has been tested in people with no current complaint.
What happens if you come see us after overdoing it
At a first visit you'll sit down with one of our chiropractors and go over what you were doing, what you felt, where it hurts and if it travels. Then we examine your back: how the joints move, where the muscles are tight or swollen, and any signs of an irritated nerve. We'll tell you what we find, including when it isn't something we treat. If we are not able to help you with your problem or are unable to reduce your pain levels, we will make sure to give you a recommendation to another experienced provider.
Some symptoms that come with back pain are an emergency, whatever caused them. Get emergency medical care right away if you have any of these. That means an emergency room, not an appointment with us:
- Loss of bladder or bowel control, or new difficulty passing urine
- A change in the sensation of passing urine, such as not feeling the flow, or losing the sense of when the bowel is full
- Numbness in the saddle area: the inner thighs, buttocks, or around the genitals
- New sexual dysfunction, including new numbness in the genitals
- New or worsening weakness in both legs
- Severe back pain with fever, or an unexplained fever with new back pain. Either alone is enough
That's cauda equina syndrome, a surgical emergency. Our disc injury page covers it in full.
If your back is still complaining about last weekend's mulch and soil, give our Clarksville office a call. We'll start with what you were lifting and where it hurts.
Follow the evidence
Research, with context.
Selected published sources behind what we've written, each with what it found and what it can't tell us. We give you both halves because no paper can diagnose you or predict how your own care will go.
World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour
Recommendations for children, adolescents, adults and older adults, including people living with selected chronic conditions or disability.
What it foundThe guideline recommends regular activity, strength work and less sedentary time. For adults, the general target is 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity weekly.
What it can't tell usPopulation targets have to be adapted to a person's health, capacity and recovery, and some activity is better than none. The guideline doesn't test chiropractic care, and it isn't a rehabilitation plan for an injury.
Publication details & citation
Bull et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955.
Read the publication recordPrevention of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
21 randomized trials involving 30,850 participants, examining interventions to prevent low-back pain.
What it foundExercise with education reduced the risk of a low-back-pain episode. Education alone, back belts and shoe insoles did not show a preventive effect.
What it can't tell usEvidence quality varied by intervention and outcome, and the search ended in 2014. It doesn't suggest every injury can be prevented, and it doesn't show that routine adjustments prevent back pain.
Publication details & citation
Steffens et al. Prevention of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2016. DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.7431.
Read the publication record
Our editorial policy explains how to read these sources and what our clinical-review labels mean.