It is a natural human tendency to want to define problems as having a single cause. We just want answers to be as simple as possible. It is attractive to seek the one reason why we hurt. However, a detailed approach to medical pain management can often uncover a number of causes, all contributing at the same time. This is particularly true in larger areas like the low back or upper back, or the regions around larger joints. We so want to be able to say my problem is that I have this disc or that pinched nerve, as that gives us something simple to tell people about why we are hurting.
An interesting phenomenon over the months of pain management treatment is that the pain you feel may move, maybe just in part. This is only possible if some area got better, and there were other areas ready to ask for attention. Pain in something like an upper back, neck, and shoulder blade area is often due to multiple causes. We need to patiently treat several possible causes at the same time, and to be ready to shift to other new areas if that is what your body tells us month to month.
The below song is Many a Mile, by Patrick Sky, one of the many folk singers of the 1960’s.
Below see some of the many spectacular flowers of Summer.
Dr. Jonas Skardis
