Dr. Mike Evans illustrates a great visual video depiction on the negative impacts of a sedentary lifestyle on our health. Staying on top of our health by making responsible and preventative choices is the proactive way to achieve lifetime wellness. Exercise and physical activity stimulates our heart and bodily systems to stay in good function. Any amount of physical activity is better than none, so no more excuses, lets get active! 

Chances are that you or someone you know has been affected by back pain at some point in your life. The statistics are stacked against you and I, as low back pain affects at least 80% of us some time in our lives, perhaps 20-30% at any given time.

Back pain can be debilitating and can affect each person differently. Some people only experience discomfort for a few days while others suffer from it for months or even years. Acute back pain can last anywhere from days to weeks and is usually mechanical in nature. Symptoms may range from muscle ache to shooting or stabbing pain, limited flexibility and/or range of motion, or an inability to maintain proper posture.

The good news is that these acute episodes generally respond well to conservative therapies and have the ability to resolve relatively quickly. Albeit some acute pain syndromes can progress to become more serious if left untreated.

Chronic back pain is classified as pain persisting for three months or greater. It is generally more complicated and multi-faceted in nature. In some instances, pain may travel or radiate to another part of the body causing distal numbness, tingling, and/ or weakness. Chronic pain syndromes can involve physical, chemical, and/ or psychological components which can require more therapy time and more in-depth treatment protocols.

At any rate, back pain is debilitating and can be a lingering nuisance in our daily routines. The key to successful treatment and recovery starts with the ability to determine the primary reason(s) causing the problem.

A symptom such as pain may seem urgent but pain is merely a residual effect to a primary dysfunction. Pain fibers only make up less than ten percent of body's overall nerve fibers. This means that there can be a dysfunction, pathological problem, and/or biomechanical imbalance occurring somewhere in the body without pain being present. Therefore, basing wellbeing on pain-symptoms alone does not effectively measure one's overall health.

Getting a detailed examination by a qualified health practitioner will help determine the root cause of pain generators which accordingly can help better one's prognosis. Let's explore the viable treatment options for low back pain and the efficacy of each.

Let us first start with a visit to our primary care physician. Typically, after a short-lived appointment, the medical doctor may suggest some rest and avoidance of strenuous activity. He or she may opt to write out a prescription for a few pain killers and muscle relaxants for your back pain. Having trust in our physician, we take the medications sometimes without questioning: "Is this natural? Are pharmaceutical drugs the best solution to a small case of back pain?"