Back pain
Diffuse, chronic or acute back pain
Almost everyone is familiar with back pain. As a real widespread disease, it is one of the most common reasons for sick leave in Germany. Lack of exercise, one-sided strain at work and being overweight are generally high risk factors for back health. As an orthopaedist in Münster, many people visit us with back pain. As part of our integrative medicine, we get to the bottom of the causes of these often chronic complaints. For effective cause-oriented therapies.
Specific or non-specific back pain
When we talk about back pain in everyday life, we usually mean pain in the lower back. If a clear cause for the pain in the back can be identified, such as a slipped disc, then we are talking about “specific” back pain. However, the causes of back pain are often anything but clear-cut.
Acute and chronic back pain
Back pain can also be categorized according to its duration:
- Acute back pain: duration up to 6 weeks
- Subacute back pain: duration 6-12 weeks (transitional stage to chronic back pain)
- Chronic back pain: lasting longer than 12 weeks.
Chronic back pain in particular often proves to be highly unspecific. This means that doctors cannot easily diagnose the cause of the back pain – or simply do not want to embark on the often detective-like search for the cause. In such cases, the only option is purely symptom-driven therapy – i.e. numbing the pain with painkillers. For many people suffering from chronic back pain, this is not a satisfactory solution. Especially as all painkillers have undesirable side effects.
At Z.O.R. am Roggenmarkt, we take a different, holistic and above all cause-oriented approach.
Complex, holistic therapies for non-specific back pain
Back pain is not a distinct complaint, but merely a symptom. Treatment using the Dawos method – i.e. where it hurts – is not always promising. This is because there are many different reasons for back pain. Treatment strategies aimed at eliminating these causes must be just as individual as the causes themselves.
Focus on the cause – or “unspecific” means not yet correctly diagnosed
As an orthopaedic surgeon in Münster with decades of experience, Dr. Ulrich Frohberger treats his patients according to the motto: “There is no such thing as “non-specific” back pain!” The symptom “back pain” always indicates a neurological or biochemical regulatory disorder – possibly also caused by tissue damage. And it is precisely these disorders, from which the pain originates, that need to be identified.
If, for example, a back pain patient only has a blockage, we can usually eliminate 100 percent of the pain after targeted manipulation. However, this is rarely the case. There are often additional contributing factors that we take into account at Z.O.R in Münster when aiming to restore health.
Back pain – tracking down the causes
Medical history – what causal factors accompany back pain?
Before the examination, Dr. Ulrich Frohberger’s practice always takes a detailed personal history of the type, onset and course of the pain, stress dependency and psychological stress. We are interested in your previous illnesses as well as any medication you are taking, your general well-being, your performance, the quality of your sleep and, last but not least, various psychological and social factors. All of these can be closely related to the extent of your back pain.
Statics & posture – manual whole-body examination
Close examination of your physical structures and a manual full-body examination enable us to assess your statics and posture, mobility and functionality. For example, a pelvic misalignment, whether congenital or functional, always leads to a lateral bending and rotation of the entire spine – with effects up to the cervical spine and the upper cervical joints.
Malfunctions
Incidentally, a large proportion of the causes of back pain are functional disorders of joints and muscle chains and not diseases that can be diagnosed using manual physical examinations and only insufficiently using imaging procedures. In addition, there is the search for systemic functional neurological disorders and inflammatory changes in the connective tissue.
Metabolic disorders, vital substances, hormones, gut and microbiome
Systemic inflammatory influences, for example due to metabolic disorders such as gout and diabetes mellitus, diet-related increased abdominal fat as a risk factor for “silent inflammation”, but also deficiencies in important vital substances and hormones with an influence on the body’s ability to fight local inflammation, often go undiagnosed. Failure to recognize otherwise asymptomatic psoriasis, a rheumatic disease or a disorder of the intestinal microbiome (leaky gut) can also be the cause of chronic “non-specific” joint complaints in the spine and other joints.
Teeth and oral health
Not only chronic infections of the nasal sinuses, but also the mouth is a pronounced “mirror of health” and often a “major construction site”. Teeth have their own blood and nerve supply. They are closest to the brain and, under the guise of longevity, receive a wide variety of metals, some of which are highly toxic (mercury, gold, silver and others), which have been processed with often serious consequences for the entire organism.
In addition, there are the classic bacterial problems of tooth decay and periodontitis with systemic inflammatory effects, also affecting the vertebral joints. According to biological dentistry, dead teeth that have undergone root canal treatment and metals in the mouth can also act as interference fields in the body, with painful consequences.
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction and CMD
A malfunction in the temporomandibular joint (cranio-mandibular dysfunction, CMD) can also be a cause of back pain. If the jaw is displaced, the joint is not positioned correctly and the bite is not correct as a result, this can lead to pain that radiates further in the medium or long term. It is not uncommon for CMD to cause so-called diffuse pain in the back. Pain that cannot be immediately and clearly assigned to a cause in the back.
What manifests itself in the jaw area through teeth grinding, clicking in the jaw joint, an unclear bite position or pain in the chewing muscles can also affect the back unnoticed! The jaw is our strongest joint and is connected to the neck, back and ear by nerves and muscles. If the upper and lower jaws do not fit together correctly, this can lead to poor posture (e.g. pelvic misalignment) and thus to numerous other complaints.
If the pain history and such a comprehensive diagnostic analysis are combined with corresponding structural and functional examinations and appropriate laboratory diagnostics, the back pain can be described and characterized more precisely. On this basis, we can adopt a more efficient treatment strategy. The non-specific pain becomes a specific pain with the chance of a precise therapy.
“Cause-oriented therapy can prevent back pain from becoming chronic.”
Dr. med. Ulrich Frohberger
More Articles on the subject of back pain by Dr. Frohberger you can read here
The multi-faceted treatment of back pain
At Z.O.R. am Roggenmarkt, we follow the “salutogenesis” approach in the fields of orthopaedics, sports medicine and regenerative medicine: unlike pathogenesis, which is dedicated to researching diseases, in salutogenesis we focus on what keeps people healthy. Our aim is to intervene to develop, maintain or restore powerful, life-affirming health.
Our therapeutic approach to back pain begins with filling recognized deficits and supporting the body’s own regenerative potential as gently as possible. We supplement this with forms of physical therapy that relax the muscles and targeted physiotherapy to restore disturbed joint functions and stretch shortened muscle groups. Not forgetting the improvement of upright posture through regular training of the trunk and leg muscles.
Holistic back therapy concepts
In the acute early phase, we as your orthopaedic surgeon in Münster will of course first ensure that you quickly become pain-free and active again – and that the pain does not become chronic. Individual pain medication, mixed injections and mixed infiltrations based on predominantly natural active ingredients as well as individual physiotherapy help us to do this. In most cases, natural pain-relieving or anti-inflammatory substances are sufficient. Physiotherapeutic measures in our practice are used in parallel. Even in the early stages, we carry out stabilizing exercises with you, combined with anti-inflammatory and relaxing therapies such as electrotherapy, underwater pressure jet massage or deep heat treatment – often supplemented by acupuncture.
For a strong back – apparatus-based muscle-building training
It may sound simple, but it’s true: a strong back knows no pain. This means that strong muscles, good posture and back-friendly behavior are the best prevention against back pain. They can be effectively prevented through regular muscle-building training. In our practice, we offer a separate, comfortable area for muscle-building training using equipment .
According to Dr. Frohberger’s specifications and accompanied by an experienced physiotherapist, our patients train particularly effectively here. Unlike in a conventional fitness studio, we coordinate your training precisely with the results of the examinations and the doctor’s recommendations for targeted muscle building. We can react immediately in the event of pain, poor posture or other problems. Incorrect training is ruled out. You can be sure that your valuable time is well invested: in 100 percent physical well-being.
And in the end, your back will work again! For a new attitude to life. Don’t wait too long. The sooner you get your back, your posture and your body system back into shape, the sooner you can enjoy an active life and exercise again.
Finally free from back pain!
Don’t put up with back pain. Book your appointment now at Z.O.R. am Roggenmarkt online or by phone on 0251 603-23 or 20251 603-24.