Luis no longer knows what to do. He is a little over fifty years old and gets “stuck” every now and then. Who has not suffered lumbago may not know very well what is that about staying “stuck”, but the expression could not be clearer: the person literally cannot move, the pain immobilizes them. It happens without warning.
The first time the traumatologist is usually visited and, with x-rays, magnetic resonances and other diagnostic tests in hand, the specialist doctor usually prescribes rest, in addition to anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants and pain relievers. In the worst case it suggests a surgical operation.
The first thing happened to Luis. He was diagnosed in a Barcelona outpatient clinic with a disc protrusion. He followed the established guidelines, but after a while his low back pain returned. The situation kept repeating and escalating, and he was eventually referred to a Red Cross pain clinic. The traumatologist diagnosed joint veneers and, among other things, they did infiltrations. On the second day he had to stop because instead of getting better he was getting worse. They told him there was nothing more they could do for him.
Back pain without clear cause
Dr. Maite Angulo, from the traumatology service of the Hospital de Cerdanya, in Girona, assures that the incidence of emotions in back pain is common, except if its direct cause is traumatological. In extreme cases, “clinical-radiological dissociation” occurs: the tests carried out give an objective result that does not reflect the symptoms presented by the patient.
“Of the spinal pathologies, cases of low back pain are the hardest and most difficult; it is in this area where this decorrelation between pain and the results of the tests performed most frequently occurs.” Angle assures that there are people with functional disabilities whose tests come out totally fine.
But without going to those extreme cases, “There are more and more patients with chronic back pain whose emotional state plays a major role.” David Ponce, physiotherapist, collaborator of the Sant Cugat High Performance Sports Center and author of Back pain and emotions (Ed. Plataforma), explains that, ruling out pain of traumatic origin, due to congenital problems or pain associated with serious pathologies, it is possible to find the active participation of emotions in the origin and perpetuation of many back pains .
In addition, as stated by acupuncturist Carlos Alsina, based on the fact that It is not things that affect us but the way in which each one lives them, back pain is always singular, personal and non-transferable.
Interpret the message of the body
Álex Cuéllar, osteopath, psychotherapist and expert in neurolinguistic programming, assures that we manage our lives through emotions. “AND an emotion can cause a blockage of the entire system and therefore lock joints, tense muscles, etc. “.
Alfons Vinyals, osteopath, chiropractor and co-founder of the Professional Association of Independent Therapists, was part of the natural therapy pilot program at the Mataró hospital, where the team verified the incidence of emotions in back pain.
Vinyls specifies that fear causes an increase in adrenaline and stress raises cortisol. The conjugation of the two hormones in the bloodstream is usually Synonym of contracture state of pre-alert, tension.
For Ignacio Montero-Ríos, a clinical psychologist and specialist in bodily and functional re-education, back pain forces us to stop activity or slow it down and, on the other hand, makes us feel that we are also a body. For this expert, it is not so much a question of the body therapist analyzing what the emotional meaning of back pain may be, but of provide the means for the consciousness of the body to reveal to his patient what he is trying to express to him.
And what can it reveal? Rosa Briones, a bioenergetic analyst and expert in the Damun body rebalancing technique, gives an example. Body rebalancing treatment for scoliosis affects the emotional information that has been blocked in the different energetic layers of the body structure, especially in the stages of childhood and puberty.
Low back pain and creativity
In sciatica or lumbago, Alfons Vinyals recommends take into account the relationship with the sacrum. After all, the word sacred means sacred. And what does something sacred embedded in the pelvis do? “Relate to the kundalini for the Easterners, or to the sexual energy for the Westerners.” Sexual energy is creative, creative energy.
But we not only use that energy in sexuality, but also to be able to generate all those tasks related precisely to the aspect of the will, with what we want to do, with what we want to put into the world, at work, in the family, in life as a couple.
In fact, everything related to this energy is associated with pleasure: sex satisfies, and doing things well, bringing them to a successful conclusion, too. And what is the opposite of the creative, the creator? The frustration of not getting what you want.
The “tight ass” generation
The quadratus lumborum, which is a formidable fan-shaped muscle that straddles between the iliac crest and the lumbar lateral processes, shortens, the powerful gluteals with their three layers rotate inward, the latissimus dorsi yields to the pressure of both and the lumbar region loses its natural lordosis. Result? The “tight ass” generation.
Carlos Alsina explains that the back is part of our support structure, and, as such, constitutes the first defense system against external, physical and emotional aggressions, together with the skin. What is hidden behind that symptom, many times, is the expression of soul pain.
“We don’t want to face to this because it is easier to handle physical pain than a painful emotion”. There are people who express anger clearly and expeditiously, while others repress it. It is the latter who tend to present more painful pathologies because they are “so inflamed” that “explode” inside.
Anger shows itself in different ways depending on the person. Sometimes it does so in the form of pain in the trapezius (upper back and shoulders), sometimes accompanied by an increase in blood pressure. On other occasions, he does it with a strong stomach ache or with a very sharp pain between the right scapula and the spine.
Fear (the most primitive emotion) or the excess of responsibilities, With the consequent feeling of powerlessness, they can manifest with pain in the lower back, since it is the one that houses the kidneys and, in traditional Chinese medicine, fear is associated with this organ. Other times it usually presents as a knot in the stomach with a strong feeling of anguish or with a feeling of instability and dizziness.
Living scared and in pain
The fact is that there are more and more people with back pain. According to Ignacio Montero-Ríos, this is because we live more and more scared. Álex Cuéllar adds that there is a lot of pain in our lives and a lot of resentment. We carry them on our shoulders and do not let go. And he gives an example: “One day a patient complained that his father once embarrassed him in front of his friends. He said that he had never forgiven him. I told him that this had happened thirty years ago and that it had lasted five minutes. He had been carrying it for thirty years, with which he had kept himself ridiculous all that time. We must learn to forgive the past and forgive ourselves for wanting to keep it alive.”
Jorge Carvajal, doctor and pioneer of bioenergetic medicine, remembers that although back pain can come from unprocessed emotions, not expressed or repressed, “we have to accept the disease because we are human. Many people who are very valuable humanly and spiritually have fallen ill. We must explain it to those who believe that getting sick is failing. Failure and success are two teachers, but nothing more”.
It is not always achieved with an unlock; contractures and discomfort may persist. “People often come to the consultation whom we cannot unblock or, simply, the relaxation that we achieve is temporary. In these cases, a myofascial treatment which consists of ‘unscrewing’ the tissues”, explains David Ponce. It is the weight of a distant past. “Traumas from a long time ago can remain in the myofascial system”.