The Impact of Stress on Lower Back Pain

Quick Intro - My wife and I just had our second child last week! Mom and baby are doing great, in case you were wondering. Since this blog documents my chiropractic journey, I wanted to write a post about the effects of stress on lower back pain.

On my last visit to my chiropractor in Pennington prior to our son arriving, Dr. Pagano explained that when the baby arrives, my stress levels will naturally go up and this can impact my back. It's an exciting time, but also one that brings a lot of extra stress. The lack of sleep isn't going to help matters either! So how did my back respond to the added stress? Pretty good, actually. I wasn't completely without pain, but it held up nicely. Even when I slept in the hospital on a makeshift bed, my back felt pretty good.

When we came home from the hospital, the constant running around started to bother my back. I wanted to spend more time with my daughter also, since this was a big change for her, but that also meant more running around with a three year old! Fun, yes, but I'm not 25 years old anymore! So it was about 5 or 6 days in that my back started to feel a little funky. That said, it hasn't been bad and my stretching has really helped matters. I plan to start exercising again soon, so we'll see how the combination of a second child, more stress, lack of sleep, and working out impact my lower back issues. :-)

Here are some quick tips for those of you with bad lower backs who will be experiencing additional stress:

1. Prep before the stress hits! I knew that the baby would arrive soon, so I upped my exercise program and my stretching. I didn't want to be in a situation where I couldn't work out or stretch properly for a few weeks straight.

2. Limit the stress, if possible. Sounds funny, right? What I mean is stay away from additional drivers of stress, when you know that one area will be bringing most of it. For example, if a certain someone special really bothers you, stay away from them until the stress dies down. Then you can handle their hijinks like you normally would.

3. Even if you are tired, keep an eye on activities or movements that will bother your back. For me in the past, lying a certain way or bending a certain way could throw out my back. I haven't had that issue in a while now, but I was conscious of this during the high stress time. You might be able to catch something before it negatively impacts your back.

In closing, the stress only slightly impacted my bad back, especially since I followed the tips I mentioned above. Above all, stretching and keeping an eye on bad form really seemed to help.

Good luck.

The Patient

The Common Pitfall of Chiropractic Patients - Don't Get Overconfident Says My Chiropractor!

I've been going to a chiropractor now for about 7 weeks and I must say that I feel great! My back is doing well, I'm working out, and I'm able to do things painlessly that once caused a lot of problems. I've been jogging, lifting weights, circuit training, etc. with no major problems. I'm blown away with the results of going to the chiropractor. So at my last visit to Dr. Pagano, I asked "Why do you think I'm doing so well so quickly?? My back feels incredible and I'm only 6 to 7 weeks in!" Dr. Pagano looked at me and said, "You are definitely doing well, but chances are that you'll do something careless as you test your back..." This comment stems from a lot of experience. So I asked him to explain.

Basically, as people start to feel better, they test the limits of their back, neck, or whatever problem they were once facing. Think about it, I'm doing it now. I've been increasing my running over the past few weeks along with weight training, I'm picking up my daughter more, carrying more weight, shoveling snow, etc. I wake up and feel great, but very easily I could wake up and not feel so great... Dr. Pagano knows that I'll do something in the future that doesn't agree with my back, so I shouldn't get overconfident. Good advice and I'll take it!

So for now, things are going extremely well. I'm going for a chiropractic adjustment every other week and will hopefully push that to once a month. That is, until I do something stupid!! :-)

The Patient

What to Look for in a Chiropractor

Once my blog went live, I have received several questions about how to choose a chiropractor. Since I was in that position less than 2 months ago, I thought I would write a quick list of items that I think are important when looking for the right chiropractor for you.

1. Complete Transparency - Up front and honest about everything.
After I threw my back out and decided to go to a chiropractor, I really didn't know where to start. I initially ended up visiting a chiropractor in my area that has been around for a long time. To make a long story short, he wasn't right for me. It had nothing to do with how good of a chiropractor he was, but had everything to do with how he ran his practice. Then I visited Dr. Pagano in Pennington and I understood the difference between finding a chiropractor and finding the right chiropractor. Within 45 minutes, we covered pricing, his philosophy about frequency of visits, he reviewed my x-rays with me, and we are all set for my first adjustment. This is the way I work in my business and it felt right to have someone treating me the same way that I treat my clients and customers. The core point to take away from this bullet is to make sure you feel comfortable with the chiropractor. Are they personable? Are they up front with their pricing? Do they seem honest? How many times do they want to see you? If they cannot answer these questions, run. :-)

2. Philosophy About Frequency of Visits
I briefly mentioned this in my first bullet, but it's important enough to have its own line item. I'm sure you have heard stories about people that start receiving chiropractic treatments and then find themselves going back time and time again for years. They don't have much pain anymore, but they still keep going! I didn't want to find myself in that situation. Dr. Pagano's philosophy matched my expectations. Once my back started feeling better, he wanted to me to visit him every other week. Then if that worked well, I could visit him once per month. Then if that worked well, I could probably come every other month. That made sense to me... Make sure you understand your chiropractor's philosophy about frequency of visits. If you don't, you may find yourself at his office 3 times per week for the rest of your life!

3. Find a Chiropractor with Similar Types of Patients
I exercise a lot, from jogging to weight training to playing sports like baseball, tennis, and golf. Dr. Pagano has a background in training, so when I explained the back problems I was having after working out, he immediately could give me real world examples of how other patients in the same situation dealt with it and improved. This was important to me and it gave me confidence that my treatments would help my situation. For example, once I started feeling better, he gave me good recommendations for beginning to exercise again. He also explained how to start weight training again so it wouldn't affect my back, how to start running again, how to stretch, etc. This was extremely valuable to me, and should be to you.

4. A Chiropractic Plan of Action
After reviewing my x-rays with me and explaining what was wrong with my back, Dr. Pagano explained clearly how we were going to tackle the problem. This included explaining what a chiropractic adjustment was, which areas of my back we were going to focus on, how many visits it would take to get me on the right path, what my exercise schedule should look like, so on and so forth. If you cannot map out your plan, then your expectations may be improperly set, you cannot measure your improvement against the plan, and you may end up getting frustrated. This chiropractic plan of action is extremely important. Ask about it when you visit the chiropractor for the first time. If they don't believe in setting a plan, then I would find a chiropractor that does.

I'm sure I will add to this list later on, but it's a good starting point. Again, I was in your position 2 months ago and I would have liked to have seen a list like this. Good luck and ask a lot of questions. Find a chiropractor that matches up well with your needs and you'll be in good shape. No pun intended.

Pagano Chiropractic - Vito Pagano, My Chiropractor in Pennington New Jersey

Although people are visiting this blog from all over the country, I've received several requests for my chiropractor's contact information. Therefore, instead of responding to each request, I figured I would just post his contact information here.

As you can tell in my blog posts, I highly recommend Dr. Pagano for many reasons, including his extensive background in training, his philosophy about frequency of visits, his demeanor, and his up front and honest opinions. If you live in the Greater Princeton Area (in New Jersey), including Pennington, Hopewell and Lawrenceville, then definitely give him a call.

Pagano Chiropractic Center
Vito Pagano, Doctor of Chiropractic
53 Hopewell Pennington Road
Pennington, NJ 08534
609-333-1172

Jogging and Back Pain - The Saga Continues...

My last post about lower back pain and jogging explained how I tested the waters with running and came out feeling great! So, I pushed it and ran 3.1 miles to see how my back would respond. I feel good, but I must admit that my back is a little sore. Nothing even remotely close to the back pain I felt in early December, but it's letting me know that it's not 100% yet.

I'm actually ok with that... It would have blown me away if I felt no pain at all. I've been stretching today and it feels good. My bet is that by tomorrow the second day soreness will be gone and I'll feel fine. That said, I'm not going to jog for a few days.

I was tempted to visit Dr. Pagano, my chiropractor in Pennington, for an adjustment, but I'm sticking to my schedule, which is every other week.

Until then, I'll keep chugging along.

The Patient

1.1 Miles Through Princeton. Chiropractors Are Definitely Underrated!

In my last post about my back pain and running, I explained that my chiropractor cleared me to start jogging again so I wanted to quickly follow up with the results. I tested the waters by running 1.1 miles through Princeton yesterday (about 1/3 of what I usually run). Jogging typically doesn't hurt while I'm actually running, but it's the next day that's a killer. I've been going to my chiropractor for about 5-6 weeks now and this is the first time I tried running since I threw out my back (badly in early December).

The Results:
I feel fantastic this morning! There are no after effects from my jog (none at all actually). I felt great during the run, after the run, and this morning when I woke up. Typically, I go to get up and my back lets me know it didn't appreciate the run from the day before... Not today. I'm going to keep increasing the distance over the next 2 weeks and monitor how my back responds. Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the results.

Stay tuned...

Run Forrest Run!... But Did Forrest Have to Run Through Princeton New Jersey With a Bad Back??

Today I received some exciting news from my chiropractor... I can I can start running again! My back has progressed so well that I can test the waters with jogging again. I'm going to start with just a mile or so to see how my back holds up. If all goes well, I can probably start including running in my workouts. Not to beat a dead horse here... but I could barely get out of bed 5-6 weeks ago. I really threw my back out, which had been happening for the past 4+ years!

So hold on to your hat! I'm throwing my running sneakers on and going for a jog...

--If you are in Princeton, NJ and see a jogger laying in the middle of the road holding his back, please help him. ;-)