It is often surprising how little things can have a considerable impact on your life. This is also true when it comes to the health of your back.
I was shopping this last weekend and the cart that I ended up getting had a wheel that was a little stuck and did not turn very well. I really didn’t even notice at first, and as I continued it was annoying, but I didn’t think much more of it. I would have to push hard and sometimes give the cart a little jolt to get the wheel unstuck so it would turn. And of course the usual way I shop is to meander through the store weaving back and forth through the aisles making plenty of turns. After ten to fifteen minutes in the store I noticed that my low back on the right was starting to get sore and tighten up. I thought to myself “What is going on? Why is my back sore? I didn’t do anything to it recently that should be causing this kind of pain.”
After a few more minutes, it dawned on me! The problem was the cart! The wheel got stuck more often turning to the right. So I was pushing with the left hand and pulling with the right hand and twisting the back to the right using all those low back muscles to try and pull my body and then the cart to make it turn. So I was putting extra stress on my low back (and unbalanced stress at that) and my back was letting me know! Well luckily we were almost done shopping and I stopped using my back to try and turn the cart, and on Monday I got adjusted and things are doing well.
To be honest, it still surprised me that something as simple as a stuck wheel on a shopping cart could be the cause of back pain. The lesson? Don’t dismiss the little things as a cause to your back problems. If you would like help figuring out what may be the cause of your back problem and how to correct it, give me a call. I specialize in providing safe, state-of-the-art care to help heal your pain without any drug and without a scalpel.
