The amount of stress you’re under at work. The type of diet you maintain from day-to-day. The presence of a chronic illness. There are many factors that can have an impact on your quality of life. Few rival the direct impact that your spine can have, however. When it comes to your general wellbeing, your spine is central.
Ultimately, what this means is that your spine health and overall wellbeing have a strong correlation. If you tweak your lumbar spine and slip a disc, for example, it can affect you in myriad ways. Along with the pain of that slipped disc, you might also experience nerve disruption that causes sciatic pain, along with gastrointestinal distress. This quickly snowballs into secondary and tertiary ailments.
Understanding how your lumbar spine in particular affects your day to day life is important for many reasons. At Ideal Spine Health Center, we welcome patients from throughout Boise, ID who have lumbar pain. We’ve seen firsthand what even the simplest lumbar misalignment can do.
Encompassing the lumbar spine
Understanding the role of the lumbar spine independently from musculoskeletal support means examining the central nervous system. Nerves affected by lumbar misalignment include:
- L1, encompassing the intestines;
- L2, pertaining to the larger abdomen, and upper leg;
- L3, involving the sex organs and bladder;
- L4, touching muscles in the low back, as well as the prostate and sciatic nerve;
- L5, reaching the lower legs, ankles, and feet.
At a glance, it’s simple to understand how misalignment within the lumbar spine can have a direct and profound impact on a person’s quality of life. From sexual dysfunction to sciatic nerve pain, each pinched or impeded nerve brings with it a wellness issue that expounds beyond the point of origin.
Taking a toll each and every day
The chief reason spine health is so impactful to general health is because issues rarely stay restrained. Instead, they quickly branch out into additional ailments and symptoms. Consider our slipped disc example from above:
- A vertebral disc, L4, bulges, causing a nerve to become pinched.
- That pinched nerve leads to sciatic pain in the low back and legs (primary issue).
- Pain in the legs and back prevents a person from sitting or lying properly.
- Improper posture causes peripheral vertebrae to shift (secondary issue).
- Poor posture results in the inability to exercise, causing weight gain (tertiary issue).
Follow the trend even further with each new issue and it quickly becomes apparent that a single root issue in the spine can have far-reaching and profound effects on quality of life. From disruption to the central nervous system, to a lack of musculoskeletal support, to mental fatigue and more, spine issues are truly akin to dominoes falling.
Spine health is the key to total health
The lumbar spine is often a problem in today’s world. Low back pain, hip inflexibility, and leg instability are among the most common chronic issues people suffer from. In turn, they also suffer from numerous wellness issues that can be traced directly back to the lumbar spine. Without resolving the root issue, problems will persist.
At Ideal Spine Health Center, we use Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) to help Boise, ID patients maintain their best spine health and posture. Though they may come to us with different ailments and unique spines, we use CBP in an effort to provide the same result: relief. Schedule a free consultation with our team today.
Chiropractic BioPhysics, or CBP, is one of the most scientific, researched, and results-oriented corrective care techniques. CBP-trained chiropractors aim to realign the spine back to health, eliminating nerve interference and addressing the source of pain, fatigue, and disease. As with all chiropractic care, CBP is gentle, painless, and non-invasive.