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Muscle Strength, Physiology, and an Ancestral Approach to Back Pain — Matt Smith, M.D. (AHS14)

4,108 views · Published 24 August 2014 · 37:57 · Indexed 8 October 2026

Channel: AncestryFoundation · 2014 · Science & Technology

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More Than Bones: Muscle Strength, Physiology, and an Ancestral Approach to Back Pain 

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one of the most common reasons to visit a physician. This condition is often disabling to the patient and it is an enormous economic burden secondary to both direct and indirect costs. While CLBP is very common, diagnosis of its etiology is often difficult. It is widely known that there is not a one to one correlation with anatomic pathology as seen with radiographic imaging of the spine and CLBP as experienced by the patient. Surgery, percutaneous image-guided procedures, oral medication, and traditional physical therapy are widely used to address CLBP, though often with limited success. Yet, there has been little clinical attention to date on the therapeutic effect of improved physical strength and hypertrophy of the muscles surrounding the spine. Nonetheless, there is ample evidence in the literature that hypertrophy of the muscles that support the spine is inversely correlated with CLBP. There is also evidence that a wide variety of factors, physiological and otherwise, are major determinants of the nature and severity of this condition. It is thus proposed that many of the structural abnormalities commonly attributed to CLBP are only a relatively small part of its overall etiology. This implies that a normalization of muscle strength and the adoption of behaviors promoting the optimal physiological milieu of the spine may be the optimal treatment for the vast majority of individuals with CLBP. Thus while CLBP is a condition endemic to both modern and ancestral societies, there appear to be mechanisms innate to human physiology that we may better utilize to combat this condition.

Abstracts and information about the Ancestral Health Symposium can be found at www.ancestralhealth.org/ahs14-program.

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