Back Pain A.K.A. It Only Hurts When I Breathe

This is a sponsored post. All opinions about back pain are 100% my own.

The human body is an amazing machine. It can self-replicate, self-heal, and even be fine-tuned to achieve remarkable feats of physical prowess.

But it has a flaw if not properly used and maintained. Despite our best efforts, sometimes that flaw will bring us to our knees and leave us a quivering mass of humanoid jelly. Yes, I’m talking about that double four-letter word, back pain.

Back Pain: It Only Hurts When I Breathe

back pain

The Mechanics

The way it is designed, the back is a crucial part of the human body. It serves as the trunk of the torso, and support all of our other attachments, including arms, legs, and that infamously overrated appendage, our head. Being such an important part of our core structure, we use it every time we move practically anything.

And that is where the problem begins. As you continue to use your back, you pit joint against joint, backbone against backbone. With luck, you won’t push it beyond its normally designed operational limitations.

A Possible Protection Mechanism

But if you do push your back, the response is going to be a pain. And not just a little pain, but a searing, intense pain that jolts you in the core of your being. But we should expect it to hurt, in all seriousness. After all, we have discussed how crucial the back is to the structure of your body.

You can’t make it in a normal manner of operation without your back.

So how does the body protect the back? Simple, it is wired with a very loud and effective red alert system when it is in danger of being injured. Of course, this advanced warning system is not comprised of loud sirens and klaxons.

No, your body has something that is much more effective already in place. That mechanism is something called pain.

When your body is concerned that you might be doing something counter-productive to its optimal well being, it is going to flip that warning. That red alert is going to send pain up your spine like searing fire, and your brain goes into survival mode. You are hurting.

Try to Avoid Damage

While the body incorporates an early warning system, it is possible to go beyond the cautionary notices. After all, there are times in our history where survival depended on using every ounce of effort we could put out.  At that point, we may end up damaged but alive.

When we go beyond the warnings, we can permanently damage our parts, including our back. Sometimes overexertion (code word for ignoring the caution lights) leaves us with pain for a few days. And that pain can be intense, to say the least. But with luck, the pain will subside and we will mend, living to overexert another day.

But that isn’t always the case. Many people damage their back beyond its capacity to heal itself. When this happens, it’s not unusual for a dull ache and constant flare-ups to be part of everyday life.

One common symptom is irritation or damage to the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve found in the human body.  This causes sciatica, and it can be a very painful condition.

There are other problems that can be caused as well, and each can leave you in too much pain to move. When back damage is present, the quality of life is greatly diminished.

You could end up suffering from a bulging disc, a herniated disc, or even a degenerative disc disease. These disc issues will leave with neck pain and shoulder pain. Stenosis can put pressure on any number of nerves, leaving you in constant pain.

Luckily you can get help when problems arise.  Places like the Vancouver Disc Center are specialists when it comes to the treatment of the intricate elements of our backs. But you are best off in avoiding the damage in the first place.

The Bottom Line About Back Pain

When it comes to staying healthy and maintaining a high quality of life, there is one rule that we should always try to follow – listen to our body’s warning alerts whenever possible.

This is especially true when it comes to the major components, such as and in particular our back. Otherwise, we may find that it only hurts when we breathe. And that, my friends, is one exercise that we all tend to do very, very often.

You can, however, develop a good exercise routine that includes yoga to help build a strong back that can keep you from ever suffering from back pain, to begin with.