The Connection between Back Pain and Emotions
Pain of any kind is so common, but back pain is THE most common pain and definitely what we see most of in the clinic at Tao to Wellness.
There are three main types of back pain, low, middle or thoracic and upper which usually involves the neck.
While back pain can be from a structural issue, for example stenosis which is a narrowing of the vertebrae that can impinge on the nerve or a massive muscular and fascia tightening in the area that causes inflammation or even the tendons surrounding can be tight and twisted which can cause pain. All of these can also cause radiculopathy or sciatica, which is a nerve type of pain that goes down the arm or leg, it can go down the side, the back or even the front and can result in numbness, most commonly in the hand or foot.
When the issue is a physical one, a patient will respond to massage, chiropractic and/or physical therapy. When someone is not responding the way they should to these modalities, the culprit could lie in your emotional state! We especially see this in situations where pain often “flares up” suddenly. When things “flare up” we think it’s your body’s way of saying that it needs attention, or you might need rest, or you’re not handling your emotions successfully, whether it’s overwhelm, stress, worry, grief or anger. Think of back pain as a map letting you know what might need adjusting in life.
As I mentioned, there are three main sections of the back, upper, middle or thoracic and lower.
Upper Back (upper shoulder blades and lower neck) –This is the area of the Lung meridian which is associated with emotion grief. Sadness, grieving a loss or the feeling of not being able to move, feeling stagnated, the age old “wallowing in grief”.
Middle Back (lower shoulder blades, thoracic): This is the area of the Spleen. In Chinese medicine the Spleen emotions are worry or pensiveness. When these emotions get triggered, it can cause stuck energy in the middle back and shoulder blades.
Lower Back (lumbar Spine, hips): The lower back is connected with the Kidney meridian, which has so much to do with a sense of security and stability. This makes total sense as the hips and low back are the foundation for the spine and in some ways the entire body. Unexpressed frustration or feelings of being unsupported can create blockages in the Kidney which can manifest as stiffness and pain in the lower back and hips. Maybe it can even be associated with a fear or inability to ‘walk’ through life because everything feels unstable.
With acupuncture we can enhance circulation to the area, hereby bringing down inflammation, but also moving stagnation of energy. Because acupuncture works on the whole body, everything gets addressed. Every acupuncture session treats the physical, emotional and spiritual plane, we can’t separate it even if we wanted to. So the musculoskeletal system (muscles, tendons, bone), all the internal organs (impacting sleep, digestion, immunity, etc) and the mind (impacting the hormones, neurotransmitters and emotions), everyone gets balanced.
If you are struggling with pain and curious to see if acupuncture could be that key that opens the door, feel free to make an appointment with us, we’d love to help!