Back FAQs

Is the cause of my back pain and spasms a muscle or nerve?

Many people think it is a muscle problem because they feel the spasms in their neck or back. Even though though you feel the spasms in your neck or back, most of the time the muscles are the bodies secondary response to protect the spine and nerves from being further injured.  The body is using the muscles to sort of cast the area of the spine so you can’t move it in certain directions and further injure yourself.

Should I use heat or ice on my back or neck?

I always recommend when in doubt rotate heat then ice.  If the muscles are spasmed because the nerve is over irritated or inflamed, which is usually the case, adding heat can increase blood flow to the area and increase the inflammation thus increasing the spasms to protect even more.  If we reduce the inflammation with ice, the body will let the muscles relax because the need for protection is less.

My back hurt really bad last week but I took it easy and it feels better now.  Do I need to get my back checked out?

If your idiot light came on in your car because the water temperature got to hot and you pulled over and “took it easy” and the light went off because the temperature reduced, is the problem gone?   If you had some slight chest pain and you “took it easy” and chest pain went away, is your heart condition gone?