By: Trisha Peterson,
RN, COHN-S

Most of us have suffered from a soft tissue injury at some time in our lives. Soft tissues are the supporting muscles, tendons, and ligaments of our body skeleton. An injury to any of these tissues can be caused by overuse, inappropriate use of deconditioned muscles, repetitive motion, or a single event, such as a collision, fall or trauma.

Soft tissue injuries can be very painful and difficult to treat because the connective tissue, muscles, tendons, and ligaments are so intimately connected. In response to an injury, the body’s own healing mechanism immediately kicks in, increasing circulation to the area to facilitate healing. This ‘healthy’ response often yields swelling, instability, and PAIN. Acute or chronic pain in the neck, back, or other part of the body can make daily activities much more difficult, interfering with work, family, and social life. This article will explore an injury to your back.

You’ve heard the lament, or perhaps have expressed it yourself, “I bent down to tie my shoe and I was in bed for two days with severe back pain.” “I just sneezed and my low back went into spasm.” “ I just can’t tolerate a  long car ride anymore, the pain starts in my low back, travels right up between my shoulder blades”, or “I can’t enjoy a road trip, my legs go numb!” According to the National Institutes of Health, 70-85% of people experience back pain at some time in their lives which significantly limits their activity. The Mayo clinic reports back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical care or miss work. It is not gender or age specific, affecting men and women equally, from adolescence through old age.

What Causes Back Pain
Back pain can be triggered by a number of things, however, the cause can basically be categorized in one of two ways: sedentary lifestyle or a traumatic injury. Under sedentary lifestyle, consider how poor posture coupled with office work and time spent working at a computer contribute to the ‘perfect storm’ of chronic back pain. These positions result in a tightness of the “hip flexors”, (the muscles that bend you in half to sit) because they remain in a shortened position. To accommodate, the muscles of the lower back are strained and pulled taut, creating a chronic overstretched position. Traumatic injuries resulting from overuse, repetitive use, accidents, sports activities and motor vehicle crashes account for the balance of soft tissue injury and back pain.

Though the causes for back pain may be different, symptoms are
the same.
•  Persistent aching or stiffness anywhere along your spine, from the base of the neck to the hips.
•  Sharp, localized pain in the lower back – especially after heavy lifting
•  Chronic ache in the middle back – especially after sitting or standing for extended periods.
•  Back pain that radiates from the low back to the buttock, down the back of the thigh, and into the calf and toes.
•  Inability to stand straight without having severe muscle spasms in the low back.

How to get relief?
Before beginning any new exercise program it is important to get the approval of your physician.
Movement is important! It helps improve circulation which brings oxygen to the soft tissues and carries away metabolic by products. Once the muscles and structures are nourished they can be ‘coaxed’
into proper alignment, relieving your pain.

To alleviate the soft tissue pain and get blood flowing in the low back region: start moving….take a break from your seated work station or hobby every twenty minutes. Stand, deep breathe and take a few steps. If your location allows, try this quadriceps stretch: Stand up, bend one knee bringing your heel toward your buttock, hold your heel and gently pull back toward hip, feeling the stretch along the front of your thigh. This stretch can also be done side lying on the floor or in bed. To stretch another hip flexor muscle called the psoas, try the following exercise. Kneel on one knee, the other leg extended in front of you with knee bent, hands on your hips. Slowly ‘sink’ into the lunge by allowing your hips to drop towards the floor, while keeping your torso upright, do not bend forward from the hips! You should feel a good stretch at the top of your kneeling leg. These will stretch the front of the hips and take the strain off the
low back.

Medical Massage, which incorporates specialized techniques targeted to specific muscle groups can further aide you in soft tissue injury recovery experienced from a work or auto accident or chronic
over use.

Conditions Medical Massage Can Treat
Some of the medical conditions that benefit from medical massage are as follows: sciatica or low back pain, neck pain, whiplash, frozen shoulder, rotator cuff or other shoulder injuries, headaches, numbness and tingling, repetitive motion injuries, carpal tunnel, and thoracic outlet syndrome. Currently in the state of Delaware, Medical Massage treatment is covered under automobile insurance and worker’s compensation, when prescribed by a physician or chiropractor. Medical Massage specialists are working diligently to get this treatment covered by all forms of medical insurance. Private pay is always available.

Trisha Peterson, R.N., COHN-S, is owner and partner of Medical Massage of Delaware, LLC, a newly established business that specializes in the treatment of soft tissue injuries related to work, personal, or auto accidents. Trisha obtained her BSN from Gwynedd Mercy College, Gwynedd Valley, PA, and has extensive experience in corporate occupational health managing disability and work injury recovery. In partnership with experienced health care practitioner, Jackie Staker, R.N., COHN-S, Medical Massage of Delaware, LLC, was opened as a complementary treatment option to assist those experiencing pain. Partner and clinician Linda Ogilvie, R.N., Nationally Certified Medical Massage Therapist and co-owner of Medical Massage of the Rockies, LLC, developed the Ogilvie Meiu Injury Treatment Program (ITP). This ITP has been extremely successful in offering pain relief. Offices in Wilmington, Newark, and Millsboro are available to serve you. For further information, or for an appointment, please call (888) 757-1951 or email mmod@comcast.net.

We understand the emotional and financial impact that injury and pain can have on an individual and their family…call us today.