There are a lot of different reasons that many of us are struggling with back pain. One of them might actually be linked to our genes, according to a talk given by Daniel Dyrstad, chiropractor and CEO at Nor Klinikken avd. Sandnes in Norway. The talk was live-streamed on their website on June 21, meaning last month, and we haven’t gotten to share what we learned with you until now. Let’s dive in!
Back problems may stem from past generations
In his talk, Daniel spoke of how most of us use things that are in our control to explain why we’re having back troubles. “Oh, I shouldn’t have made those heavy lifts,” we say, or “I really need to get into shape and strengthen my core.” Now, however, tendencies show that our problems are starting to get more and more linked to the problems of previous generations.
Young people are having back pain as well
It’s obvious that the average age for people with back problems is quite high. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that more and more young people are also starting to experience back pain.
According to Daniel, it’s not that rare anymore to see family members of several generations who come to his kiropraktor Sandnes clinic to get help with back problems. In one extreme example, he treated a man, the man’s father, and the man’s son, who were all struggling with their backs. That’s three generations, where they were aged, respectively, 54, 82, and 25.
The genetic link
Another tendency that is starting to emerge, is that young people who suffer from asthma and frequent headaches are also more likely to suffer from lower back pain. All of this is pointing to a common denominator, which is that some people are more prone to back problems and that this may be explained by genetic causes.