Prevention and Treatment of Lower-Back and Leg Disorders
Lower-back and leg disorders, traumatic causes aside, arise mainly when, in a relatively static posture held too long, local muscle-and-ligament tissue is overstretched or overflexed beyond physiological limits — fatigue-injury. With time the injured region widens and worsens. The function of the tissue sits at the threshold of symptom-onset. Most of the time the patient feels only ache or heaviness; with rest or change of position, mild symptoms ease or vanish. But many patients, on coughing, sweeping, shaking out clothes, or moving items, suddenly suffer pain and serious dysfunction. That is — actions that seem too light to cause illness strongly stimulate an already overworked spot; the self-adjustment of repair fails; illness arises. Afterwards, with treatment and rest, the condition shows cyclic and seasonal swings; with time, episodes become more frequent and more severe.
A folk saying: nine in ten leg troubles come from the lower back. Lower back and legs are physiologically tightly linked — a local-whole/system relationship. A back problem need not produce a leg problem. Dysfunction and pain of the back-and-leg are differentiated by cause.
Sleeping curled like a cooked shrimp — over-extension of the muscle-ligament behind the thoracic and lumbar spine; the upper-side leg overflexed; over-extension or over-flexion of hip-and-thigh muscle-ligament groups — chain-symptoms of back and leg appear.
In semi-prone sleep (full prone injures the neck and should be avoided) — twisted back; bow-side back muscles overextended, opposite side overflexed; lower-limb over-flexion; femoral-head-region front muscles overextended, back overflexed.
In supine — over-flexion and over-abduction of the lower limb; hip-thigh front overextended, back overflexed.
From fatigue, in seated rest the body unconsciously slides down; after a while one cannot rise comfortably, the back painful — because the load-point has shifted from the ischium to the coccyx, with local muscle-ligament overextended, aggravating the back. Such a posture must be avoided.
In some back-and-leg cases, X-ray reveals spike-like or hill-like bony hyperplasia at vertebral joints. Where no trauma is involved, hyperplasia does not appear in spots that affect function. By analogy: a rope tied around a bucket rubs the well-rim — at the rubbing spot dirt does not gather. Hyperplasia is, at the meeting of muscle-ligament and bone, a physiological response to long abnormal-function stimulation of the bone surface. Hyperplasia, dependent on local load-strength and duration, does not itself cause pain or dysfunction. Physiologically, these are like the bone-prominences that form under continued stress during growth — signs of strengthened function. This explains why, in many such cases, anmo treatment, even when the hyperplasia is not touched directly, has marked effect by easing the overworked muscle-and-ligament.
In practice, severity varies. No two persons, no two illnesses, are alike. Ache and pain with some dysfunction — mild; numbness with dysfunction and persistent pain — severe. We often say pressed numb. Numbness ties to compression. The cause depends on posture; the symptom and severity depend on the kind of posture and the duration.
By anmo, with knowledge of the case, treating the affected area: qi-and-blood unblock, pain eases, function improves. To reach a satisfying result, patient-and-doctor cooperation is essential. The patient must correct bad postures so the affected tissue is no longer overextended or overflexed; new fatigue-injury must be avoided. In recovery, symptoms swing back and forth; the doctor must handle these — the patient must not stop halfway. Such illness is chronic; the latent period varies but is generally long; treatment takes time too.
Author: Wang Zhiqiang