Hey there, I’m Michelle, an active 51-year-old woman, a work-from-home copywriter, an avid traveler, a mom, and a chronic back pain sufferer. I just joined the marketing team at SpineZone this month and I’m starting their treatment program next month. I’m convinced my back will thank me.
When did my back pain start? Well, a strong case could be had for 1994, the year I was pregnant with my first daughter. My sciatic nerve was angry, screaming, and keeping me awake at night. Was this a foreshadowing of momming a newborn? Probably.
But there’s more.
In my life I’ve also been an avid gardener, a fired up Jazzerciser (who else loved this 90’s workout gem?), a high-heel wearer, a snow skier, a heavy toddler lifter, and a compulsive furniture rearranger. All ordinary things, right? Sure. But also all things that can cause low back pain… neck pain… sciatica… and missed work days because of it.
Sound familiar?
An incident three years ago was the real kicker. I was working part-time as a cross-utilized agent for a regional airline. Translation: in addition to customer service duties I was required to lift and load lots and lots of really heavy baggage I had no business lifting. This is where I really injured my back like a champ. I mean, hello free flights all over the world, but dang, years later my back still hurts.
What if I end up developing kyphosis, or spondylolisthesis, or some other hard to pronounce and remember spine condition???
Can you relate? Have you had back pain you’ve just settled for, fingers crossed it’ll just go away sometime soon?
It doesn’t though, does it? A Georgetown University study found that 8% of all adults (16 million, that is), have limited everyday activities due to chronic back pain. In the United States, costs related to persistent back pain are reported to be over $12 billion per year– bringing it in as the sixth most costly condition. This includes the indirect costs of missed work days and disability payments.
Surgery is scary. It’s a choice that should be taken very seriously. The doctors here at
SpineZone seem to be more than aware of this fact, which is why SpineZone was created in the first place.
Dr Kamshad Raiszadeh did the heavy lifting (pun intended) on uncovering and discovering an alternative to surgery. He wrote a book about how to heal your spine without medications or surgery. He teamed up with and hired the best practitioners he could find to make his natural healing and prevention concepts a reality. I mean, he seems committed.
Dr Kian Raiszadeh, Dr Kam’s brother, also saw the immense value in science-backed alternatives to spine surgery and joined the team. He actually sends out emails reminding the SpineZone staff to take care of ourselves, our life stressors, and our health. He attaches links to helpful mindfulness meditations for us to use in our daily lives.
If they’re this diligent about the continued wellbeing of their staff, which is not required, how diligent must they be about the treatment of their patients, which is required?
Company culture can tell you a whole lot about the ethics, integrity, and transparency of the people in charge. And the trickle down theory actually applies in this context. Positive company culture helps retain staff and fosters less turnover. This in turn helps patients so funds are spent on care rather than constantly hiring.
Your favorite physical therapist and your nutritionist and your mindfulness coordinator are more likely to be there for quite awhile if the atmosphere is healthy and positive.
The team at SpineZone is fully educated on and fully committed to offering the latest science-backed evidence-based protocols in healing. With nutrition coaching, stress management, mindfulness guidance, sleep counseling, and alcohol and pain medication counseling all included in the specialized treatment programs offered, SpineZone is determined to set the bar for orthopedic care.
I’m particularly excited about implementing nutritional changes on my back healing adventure. I always thought I was in-the-know about nutrition and what was best for my body, but after reading SpineZone’s eBook on nutrition, written by Beth, our registered dietitian, I learned I was more unaware than I thought. I knew that skipping meals wasn’t a great idea, but I didn’t know how damaging it really can be to your body.
I didn’t know we needed to think of feeding our body its nutrition the same way we feed our cell phones their power. We can’t just ignore the low battery indicator on our phones all day long, expecting them to function well, and then plug them in at night for twice as long to charge. You can’t charge past 100%. Recharging our cell phones doesn’t work that way, and neither does recharging our bodies. Did you know this? I didn’t, but I do now, thanks to the research done at SpineZone.
And remember earlier, when I mentioned kyphosis and spondylolisthesis? I learned about those too.
Kyphosis (aka “roundback”) – my sweet little grandma had it, and she just kept shrinking the older she got. I always assumed it was inevitable that I’d probably get it, but it turns out there’s prevention available. (Hint: it’s with us, and you can sign up for info)
Spondylolisthesis and spondylolysis (aka “the spondys”) are a lot to explain here. Lissa, our clinical director with a doctorate in physical therapy, explained them to me. But I’m a writer not a doctor, so let’s just say if you have them, you don’t have to live with the pain of them. And you don’t necessarily have to have surgery. The SpineZone team can help. Why not let them?
Over the next few months I’ll fill you in on my experiences. I’m excited for my journey. Stay tuned, ok?
Right now I’m going to sign off and go have a nice little anti-inflammatory snack of almonds and dried cherries, to help my back heal even faster. Guess where I learned that from?
Sources:
https://www.spinezone.com/about-us