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