Back Pain Historical Perspective

In some respects, using non-surgical, physically manipulative, means to mechanically alter the spine may be retrospectively looked upon, in part, as a long-lost art probably practiced by Medieval Arab physicians. The Canon of Medicine (Figure 2) by Abu Ali al Hussein ibn Abdallah ibn Sina (shortened to Avicenna, A.D. 960-1037), appears to have been instructing the 11th Century reader in a not unrelated method of back pain relief. It seems to me a method remotely related to The O'Connor Technique's (tm) application of traction accompanied by manipulation was most likely practiced a thousand years ago.

In the absence of an anatomical foundation, these ancient practitioners may have been utilizing some of the basic components of what today I have independently developed as The O'Connor Technique (tm). In the upper illustration of Figure 2, a board appears to be being used to forcefully hyperextend the Thoracic spine.

In the middle illustration, an extension technique is being combined with weighted pressure to forcefully hyperextend the Lumbar spine. In the bottom illustration, the practitioner appears to be utilizing a mechanical traction device combined with an extension technique. It is not unreasonable to assume that the purpose was to mechanically remedy the same age-old problem that has plagued mankind since he began walking on two legs--the pain of a herniated disc.

In Indian Yoga, the practitioners appear to have realized centuries ago some benefit to be gained from adopting certain extension postures (Figure 3). Their efficacy was attributed to allowing energy to pour through opened nerve channels(21) and the effect, presciently claiming to exercise back muscles, "adjust any slight displacement of the spinal column, and relieve any backache caused by overwork," constipation, flatulence, and utero-ovarial (sic) complaints.(22

Comparing Figure 3 with the McKenzie-type posture in Figure 4, seems to bear out this speculation; however, McKenzie (a New Zealand physiotherapist who devised a back pain program in wide-spread contemporary use) claims that he arrived at his method of centralizing disc material by accidently leaving a patient in a similar posture for a prolonged period on his examination table only to discover that the patient's back pain was resolved when he returned to the room. McKenzie further advanced this fortuitous finding into an exercise program with which many patients get relief from back pain. However, The O'Connor Technique (tm) exponentially advances upon this age-old wisdom from the perspective of a medical doctor who has first-hand knowledge of the anatomical,

Figure 3 Swami Kriyananda adopting the Cobra (Bhujangasana) posture [used with permission: from Yoga Postures for Self-Awareness]

physiological, practical, as well as theoretical aspects of back pain. This website seeks to impart this newly found wisdom to the back pain sufferer. The O'Connor Technique (tm) rationally discards the harmful and logically incorporates the beneficial aspects of both the William's and McKenzie techniques into a unified method that succeeds far beyond the limited benefits of either method taken individually.

I make reference to the McKenzie exercises because my initial reasoning that evolved into The O'Connor Technique (tm) started with a different theoretical explanation of the origination of spinal pain than that proposed by McKenzie and because the manner in which McKenzie extension exercises claimed to centralize pain was inconsistent in alleviating my and others' low back pain.

As an interesting and factual aside, before I came to the understanding engendered in The O'Connor Technique (tm), I was helping some of my patients with a modified version of the McKenzie method (and meeting with limited success in stopping my own pain) and in my typical evangelical nature I presented it to my cousin who had all the symptoms of a chronically reducible disc herniation (that is, a piece of disc material that periodically went "in" and "out".) When he attempted McKenzie extensions, he said they only hurt him more; and he related that the only way he could get relief was by lying on his side, assuming a fetal position, and forcefully pulling his head as close to his knees as possible. This was a technique similar to that described by William's as effective; but I found that confusing because he was doing the exact opposite of the extension techniques and getting more relief. There had to be a rational explanation for why he got relief while accomplishing a bio-mechanically opposite activity. That caused me to return to the proverbial "drawing board" for the explanation of this conundrum.

When I independently looked, de novo, at the mechanical principles underlying the causes of back pain and examined them in terms of both the forces and actions resulting from those forces, I concluded that "over-stretching damage" to soft tissues of the spine (alleged to be the source of pain according to McKenzie(23)) were not the principle originating source for spinal pain. Rather, the pain comes from actual displaced disc material putting pressure on the ligaments surrounding the disc and disturbing the mechanical functioning of the disc unit. I assumed that this disc material had to have been displaced due to forces applied to the disc unit, and I reasoned that by reproducing the mechanical forces that caused pain in a reversed sequence, one could alleviate the pain using the individual's anatomy as the tool to apply those forces. Lo and behold, it worked to alleviate my own back pain much more successfully and efficiently!

I ran into inconsistencies and more conundrums but held steadfastly to the belief that the mechanical processes of spinal pain were capable of being understood and reversed. When I found contradictions to my original hypotheses and events in the real world that didn't fit my early beliefs, I reasoned out explanations. Where modification of my opinions were necessary by virtue of their being inconsistent with my observations or what patients told me of their experiences that weren't consistent with the mechanics as I saw them, I was caused to revise my method to accommodate reality. I don't feel this treatment of the subject perfectly answers the entire enigma of back pain, because I would be the first to admit that I do not have all the answers. However, I have solved enough of the mysteries to go public with what knowledge I have so as to be of enormous benefit to countless suffering people.

Article Contents:

You are not alone
The Pain
Contemporary Perspective on Back Pain
Historical Perspective of Back Pain
Science and Art
Alternative Therapeutic Modalities
Back Surgery
Comparative Programs
Not an Excercise Program
Dismissing the "Psychological" Contribution To Spinal Pain
Getting Better as a Process
Become your own Chiropractor
Hope

SUBSCRIBE NOW !

PURCHASE BOOK NOW !