This generation did not invent back pain. Back pain has been around probably since man began walking upright, or maybe before. Back pain sometimes starts when we bend over at an odd angle. There have been treatments for back pain long before what we know today as Western medicine was even a glimmer in the eye of the first med student. The AMA (American Medical Association) considers all medical disciplines other than their own as alternative medicine. It doesn''t matter that most of what they refer to as alternative medicine has been around many centuries longer than they have. Alternative medicine for treating back pain includes such practices as acupuncture. Acupuncture has been practiced for over 5,000 years now. Acupressure is closely related to acupuncture but without the needles. The idea of acupressure is to put pressure on specific points in the body, using only hands and fingers to restore the balance of Qi and thus relieve pain. Herbs have been used to relieve pain for thousands of years. Today''s pain-relieving medications are mostly synthetic reproductions of these long-used and natural herbs. The main difference is that the synthetic reproductions often produce a lot of side effects, but the natural herbs they are based upon do not. Chiropractors have been manipulating spines for many years. Hippocrates said, "Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many
diseases." Chiropractic medicine as we recognize it today wasn''t actually established until 1895. The AMA was established in 1847, so they do have a jump on chiropractors as such. Back pain has been around as long as man himself...and so has seeking relief of that pain. When your back hurts, you simply want to relieve the pain, and if alternative medicine can do that for you without using synthetic drugs or scalpels, then it might be a very good choice, indeed.