Chiropractor Discusses Improved Health in Clarksville TN
A familiar seasonal sequence: months at a desk, then a weekend spent moving soil, lifting bags and working overhead, and a back that reports on it days later. This page describes the mechanics of that sequence, and what a Clarksville TN chiropractic examination can and cannot say about it.
Unaccustomed load, not unusual weakness
Tissue tolerance is built by exposure over weeks. A body accustomed to sitting has not had that exposure, so a weekend of yard work is not a normal load for it even when the same work is unremarkable for someone who does it regularly. A change in demand is a common history behind these injuries. How much of them it actually accounts for has not been established, and the graded build-up usually recommended on the strength of it did not hold up when it was tested, which we cover on our page about exercising more safely.
Muscular support also declines as muscles fatigue, and the load that support was carrying transfers to ligament, joint capsule and disc. That is why the problem so often appears at the end of a long task rather than at the start.
The lifting geometry
Bags of soil, mulch and pots are heavy, awkward to hold close, and usually at ground level, which is close to the worst available combination. The rotational load at the lumbar spine is the object's weight multiplied by its distance from the spine, so an object that cannot be brought close to the body loads the spine disproportionately to its weight.
Bending at the hips and knees uses the hip and knee extensors, which are larger muscles acting at longer moment arms than the spinal extensors have. Twisting while loaded adds rotation to a spine already under compression, at a region with little rotation available. Turning the feet covers the same arc at the hips.
Soreness after exertion
Muscle soreness that appears some hours after unaccustomed effort, peaks over a day or two and then settles is delayed-onset muscle soreness. It follows unfamiliar loading, particularly loading applied while a muscle is lengthening. Muscle damage is the usual explanation for it, though the exact mechanism is still not settled, and how sore a person feels is a poor guide to how much damage actually occurred. Either way it is part of adapting to unaccustomed work rather than a sign that something has gone wrong.
Soreness that is one-sided and sharp, that began at a specific moment rather than gradually, that involves swelling or bruising, or that comes with numbness, pins and needles or weakness is a different thing and is worth having examined.
Ice and heat
Ice reduces tissue temperature, which reduces local blood flow and slows nerve conduction. That is the mechanism behind its numbing effect and the reason it is commonly used shortly after an acute injury. Heat raises tissue temperature and local blood flow and reduces the sensation of muscle tightness, which is why it tends to be preferred for stiffness rather than for a fresh injury.
The evidence that either changes the eventual course of a musculoskeletal injury is limited. Both are usually described as symptomatic measures, and the honest summary is that people generally find one or the other more comfortable rather than that one is correct.
Ice applied directly against skin can cause a cold injury, which is why a barrier between ice and skin is standard practice. Heat carries a burn risk, particularly where sensation is reduced, where a person cannot easily move away from the source, or during sleep.
Maintenance care, described honestly
Regular visits in the absence of symptoms are widely advertised in this profession as a way of preventing future problems. We are not going to make that claim, because the evidence for preventive chiropractic care in people who have no current complaint is limited, and describing it as established would misrepresent it.
What can be said is narrower, and the trials that exist say it about a narrower group: people who already have recurrent or persistent low back pain and who responded well to an initial course of care. In that group, ongoing care has been found to reduce the number of days spent in pain without reducing the number of new episodes. That is a real result and it is not prevention, and we are keeping the two apart deliberately. None of it has been tested in people with no current complaint.
What a visit here involves
A first visit is a history and an examination: what you were doing, what you felt, where it is, whether it travels, and what movement, reflexes, sensation and strength show.
We will take your history, examine you, and tell you what we find, including when what we find is not something we treat. If we are not able to help you with your problem or are unable to reduce your pain levels, we will make sure to give you a recommendation to another experienced provider.
Seek emergency medical care immediately if you have:
- Loss of bladder or bowel control, or new difficulty passing urine
- A change in the sensation of passing urine, such as not feeling the flow, or losing the sense of when the bowel is full
- Numbness in the saddle area: the inner thighs, buttocks, or around the genitals
- New sexual dysfunction, including new numbness in the genitals
- New or worsening weakness in both legs
- Severe back pain with fever, or an unexplained fever with new back pain. Either alone is enough
That is cauda equina syndrome, a surgical emergency. Our disc injury page describes it in full.
If you have overdone it in the yard in Clarksville TN, call our team at Source Chiropractic.
Follow the evidence
Research, with context.
Published sources behind the discussion. Read the findings alongside the limits; a study is not a diagnosis or a promise of a result.
World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour
Recommendations for children, adolescents, adults and older adults, including people living with selected chronic conditions or disability.
What it foundThe guideline recommends regular activity, strength work and less sedentary time. For adults, the general target is 150–300 minutes of moderate activity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity weekly.
What it cannot tell usPopulation targets need adaptation to health, capacity and recovery. Some activity is better than none; this guideline does not test chiropractic treatment or prescribe rehabilitation for an injury.
Publication details & citation
Bull et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955.
Read the publication recordPrevention of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
21 randomized trials involving 30,850 participants, examining interventions to prevent low-back pain.
What it foundExercise with education reduced the risk of a low-back-pain episode. Education alone, back belts and shoe insoles did not show a preventive effect.
What it cannot tell usEvidence quality differed by intervention and outcome, and the search ended in 2014. This does not mean every injury is preventable or establish a preventive benefit from routine adjustments.
Publication details & citation
Steffens et al. Prevention of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2016. DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.7431.
Read the publication record
Read our editorial policy for how sources and clinical review are identified.