Believe it or not, you can have one or indeed several co-existing spinal disorders... and NOT feel pain. Spine pain has a very indirect relationship to spinal pathology. And this is good news.

And truth is, experience tells us if you let go of the moniker you've been given and dissociate your mind from the nitty-gritty diagnosis, invariably you get better much more readily. Of course, some people feel more comforted to have a definitive diagnosis because it makes more sense of their pain, and in a sense, they feel vindicated about taking it so badly. 

But remember, most spine pain is the result of a simple function fault – and quite easily rectified. Most back pain (over 90%) falls into the category of ‘simple back pain’ that is relatively easily diagnosed (with the hands), relatively easily treated, we hope (by spinal mobilization with the hands, or in my case the feet) and relatively easily kept at bay in the future (by you keeping mobile and doing your daily PCT or decompression regime – see the BackBlock section of this website on how to use it).

A very small percentage of spinal problems are so severe as to implicate the spinal nerves in what is known as cervical radiculopathy (affecting the nerves of arms) or lumbar radiculopathy (the legs). In these cases the malfunction of the spinal segment and the associated inflammation is severe enough to spread to the neighbouring nerve, stopping it conducting messages to the muscles and receiving sensations from the skin. And yes, if things have progressed this far, there’s a much greater need for both you and I to take things seriously – yes, even considering spinal surgery.

In a sense, spinal pain – your plain old ‘bad back’ - is the scenario or journey you go through to stop you getting to this point. In earlier civilizations, pain could be seen as a deliberate warning mechanism to stop you developing paralysis of the limbs. In the case of the neck, the paralysis that might stop you feeding yourself or wielding a club to defend yourself, or in the case of the legs, paralysis that might stop you running away from predators or dangerous situations.

 YouTube of Self-Treatment of Spine Pain with the Hands

Hard to Believe I know, But in an Evolutionary Sense, Spine Pain Has a Role in Keeping You Alive!

Of course, in your case, your problem may be no more ignominious than needing help to get your knickers on in the mornings, or stopping you running for the bus. But in the meantime - and I believe Nature at its best – the pain is there to stop you from ever becoming so feeble that you can’t fend off death. Much to your displeasure, the malfunctioning part sends out a veritable hullabaloo of pain messages - in the hope that you will finally ‘do something’: lie down, or at the very least take things seriously, or should I say, easy. The pain is there to make you focus your mind on a cure - and with it, the dawning realisation that you should perhaps stop sitting at your desk doing 16 hour days, stop jogging 30k a week, stop going to the gym and lifting weights, stop letting your belly hang out, stop filling up the willy-nilly grab bag of exercises in the hope that the latest one will eventually work. 

So this is what we’re about here, in this modern day website that the earlier Cro-Magnon man wielding his club never had. A way of explaining to you what the problems are, why they come about and what you and I  - but mainly you – need to do about them. From here, I strongly suggest you look at the series of videos I have crafted to tell you everything you need to know about exactly this - so that I don’t have to write it again here and you can just watch and listen - instead of reading it!  You’ll see it is all there, even how to mobilise your spine with your own hands, as well of course how to decompress your spine so that everything inside there rides more easily. So off you go, and happy viewing!

[Image:] The worst exercises for spine pain!