As human beings, we walk on two legs. This is probably why there is quite a lot of pressure and strain on our low back. If we compare this with people who often sit in a deep squat position (the hollow back now becomes convex) as people often do in Asia, we do see that in this group the spine is less subject to wear and tear. Even in animals that walk and move on 4 legs, we see wear in the areas of the spine where the curvature is sharpest. But even if it were the case that in the Western world we would see more wear and tear develop because of the way we sit and move, this does not mean that we also experience more pain in the low back. The degree of wear and tear is not a measure of the degree of pain experienced.
This brings onto us the other often stated cause for your back pain. Wear and tear! A great example of this is the twin spine study:
Twins from the United States, Canada and Finland were followed over an entire period of time. This study looked at several factors that could potentially play a role in the development of osteoarthritis symptoms, or wear and tear. This study specifically deals with osteoarthritis located in the spine. The conclusion of the study is that wear and tear in the spine is largely hereditary. This hereditary factor weighs many times heavier than, for example, a heavy profession or a sport where one can expect where the spine is loaded a lot. Now you're probably thinking; great then! But what also turns out is that more physical activity and muscle mass actually have a beneficial effect on not developing more osteoarthritis in the spine. In twins of which one smokes and the other does not, we do see more of osteoarthritis.
The belief that our spine is a fragile block box that needs to be straightened or just gets crooked has often led people to have less confidence in their own bodies. They are truly convinced that something is wrong while in 99% of all cases we speak of a normal anatomical variation. The danger is that people risk becoming their "diagnosis. What you can do about your symptoms though we are going to discuss in our next blog!