Are you part of the 80% of the population who suffers from lower back pain? Pain that makes getting out of bed difficult? Pain that prevents you from enjoying the activities that you love? Pain that just won't seem to go away no matter what approach you take to treat it? If so, then I truly feel your pain. Well not really, that would be kind of weird if I could, but I can definitely relate because years ago I was just like you. My story is not much different than the same one most of my patients tell me on a daily basis (or at least three times a week-that's my work schedule-jealous?). There is one significant difference though: I found the answer to my back pain and it only had a little to do with my lower back! Let me explain.

As a teenage athlete back in the day I was susceptible to ankle sprains. This began when I was around age 15 and continued for many years until I finally got too busy, and hate to admit it too old, to abuse my body year-round. At the time I figured that spraining my ankles was a "rite of passage" to being an "elite" athlete (all 5'8" and 135 pounds of me soaking wet). It wasn't until I looked around and noticed that not a single one of my fellow athletic friends had similiar problems did I realize that this was not a normal result of being a so-called "jock". In fact, if it was, there are millions of better athletes out there than me who never sprained an ankle. Then, around age 19, the lower back problems kicked in. What began as extreme stiffness when getting out of bed that made it difficult slipping on socks eventually became so disabling that I avoided playing pick-up basketball or lifting weights just to get a good night's sleep, despite knowing that it was going to hurt in the morning anyways. This continued throughout my graduate school training and into the early years of professional practice. Imagine that, a chiropractor with a bad back! Oh the irony.

So, exactly how did I come to write this entry with my lower back problems in the past?  For one, I forced myself to sleep on my back instead of my stomach, something I advocate for most of my patients (but not all-more to come on this later). Secondly, I began to focus on my poor posture and adapted my workouts more to core strengthening rather than obsessing about having a "six-pack". Finally, and most importantly, I was introduced to the amazing capabilities of foot orthotics. These custom-molded, plastic inserts have not only had a profound affect on my health but have also transformed the results I get in treating my patients. Little did I know way back when that my ankle sprains were directly related to the bowed-legs my father so graciously bestowed upon me and that the same poor mechanics which caused those injuries also played a part in my lower back pain. In a nutshell, the instability from my structural "defects" (bowed-legs) leads me to overcompensate in order to avoid rolling my ankles with every step I take (ouch) and eventually finds its way all the way up to my lower back. And to think, if I had only figured this out years ago I may have actually lived up to my potential (once again all 5'8" and 135 pounds soaking wet) as an aspiring professional athlete (name the sport...I was going to be the next Bo Jackson). Guess it was my destiny to end up doing what I do (all 5'7" and 165 pounds of me now...I've lost an inch and put on a little weight...more on that later).

That's all for now folks,

Dr. Joe Musolino