Conquer Back and Neck Pain - Walk It Off! (6 page)

• Lying down relieves my back or neck pain for a while.

Yes No

More about mechanical back pain can be found in
Chapter 7
on injuries and deformity of the spine, and in
Chapter 8
on chronic back pain.

Answering yes to most of the following questions could mean you are experiencing chemical or discogenic pain — pain arising from a disc that is leaking irritating breakdown products. This type of pain is difficult to distinguish from nerve root and mechanical pain and frequently occurs along with these types of pain:

• My neck or back pain comes and goes without reason.	Yes No
• Anti-inflammatory medications give me some relief.	Yes No
• The less active I am, the more it seems to hurt.	Yes No
• The pain sometimes keeps me from falling asleep, but once I am asleep I am OK.	Yes No
• Pain medicines don’t seem to make any difference.	Yes No

Learn more about chemical discogenic pain in
Chapter 8
on chronic back pain.

Characteristics of muscle fatigue pain from spinal deformity, which causes your spine to be out of balance, can be discerned from these statements/questions:

• I have difficulty standing straight.	Yes No
• I feel as if my spine is out of balance.	Yes No
• I feel like I am leaning like the Tower of Pisa.	Yes No
• I feel like one hip is higher than the other.	Yes No
• People say I look crooked.	Yes No
• I feel as if I am tilted forward.	Yes No