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Ligament
Injury and Back Pain
There are many reasons an athlete will experience back pain,
in this article we will concentrate on ligament injury.
The ligaments in the
lower back,
when healthy and strong,
will stretch very little when a load is applied to them.
When the ligaments are weak, an excessive
stretching
will occur with the same load. The greater the
ligament laxity,
the faster the ligament will elongate or stretch. This
exaggerated elongation of the weak and overstretched
ligaments allows excessive pull on the non-stretchable nerve
endings. As a result, pain and/or
numbness
is felt locally over the ligaments or
referred distally
in the buttock or
in the legs, following a specific pattern for each ligament.
Ligament injury is very painful. This is, in
part, because of the nerves in the ligaments, but also
because ligament injury typically occurs where the ligament
attaches to the bone, an area called the
fibro-osseous junction.
The outside of the bone, where the ligament attaches (the
periosteum), is also full of nerve endings.
A patient with loose ligaments of the lumbar spine and
pelvis will often complain of not only nagging low back
pain, but also of an inability to maintain the same position
for a long period of time.
Here are some typical pain patterns experienced with
ligament injury to the lower back:
● Lying Down
When lying in bed, position must be changed repeatedly to
get comfortable
Sleep
is poor, and often disrupted because of the recurring back
pain
Arising out of bed and walking around often gives some
relief of the pain
● Morning
The pain is more intense in the morning
After lying down for 5 or 6 hours, the athlete gets out of
bed early (5 or 6 a.m.) because
of the pain
Stiffness and pain in the lower back upon rising in the
morning
● Standing and Sitting
Standing too long aggravates the pain (like standing and
watching a sporting event, standing too long at a cocktail
party, or in line at the grocery store or bank)
Sitting too long aggravates the pain (observing a sporting
event, sitting at the theater, taking a long drive, or
watching a movie)
Walking around after standing and sitting too long helps
decrease the pain
Anyone who has pain characterized by the above, needs to
consult a
prolotherapy doctor with special training in the
diagnosis and treatment of ligament problems with
prolotherapy treatments. You can find more
Prolotherapy information and
Prolotherapy research at the links to the right of this
article.
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