Healing That Pain In Your Back

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NATURAL HEALTH

(Without going under the knife)

By James A. Duke, Ph.D.

Both my wife and I share a propensity for back problems. Peggy is a good example of how back problems often run in families. She and her two sisters (like their late mother) have a peculiar kink in the same area of their backs that causes them grief, especially following extended kitchen work at sink height.

Scrooge that I am, I blame my most serious back problem on Christmas. It was December 23, 1991, when Peggy and I went to a nearby Christmas tree farm to select a living tree. Wanting to replant the tree, I dug a big ball of earth with it and managed to heave the whole thing into the wheelbarrow the owner had lent me. I successfully wheeled that 100-pound load 100 yards up the hill to my station wagon, but when I attempted to lift it from the wheelbarrow to the wagon's trunk, something snapped.

Agony ensued. It grew worse as we drove home. Santa's back was ruined. I could not lie, sit or stand comfortably. I slept terribly, sideways on a couch with three pillows under my left side. The only help we could find the following day, Christmas Eve, was a chiropractor. He took a $95 X-ray, declined to do major manipulations and said I should see an orthopedist.

A week later the orthopedist said I should consult a neurosurgeon. Not surprisingly he said I needed surgery. He insisted this was my only option, given my X-rays. So ultimately (two months later), I had surgery, followed by physical therapy. I also used healing herbs and had acupuncture treatments. I think the alternative treatments gave me more relief than the physicians.

BACKACHES ABOUND

It seems everywhere I look, people have back problems. That's not surprising, since aching backs are one of America's most prevalent health pr oblems. Estimates vary, but the experts generally agree that somewhere between 2 million and 5 million Americans suffer serious back pain each year.

At some point in life, about four out of five Americans experience back pain severe enough to require medical intervention-anything from taking aspirin to having major surgery. And at any given moment, something like one-quarter of the country is dealing with previous back trouble by taking medication, doing exercises or making other lifestyle adjustments to convalesce and keep from reinjuring their backs.

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