Archive for Tailbone & Back Pain

What Causes Back and Tailbone Pain?

June 27, 2011 Clear Passage Physical Therapy 3 comments

Causes of Chronic Back Pain

Often times chronic back pain is caused by adhesions that form after a trauma, surgery, infection or inflammation. These traumas could include a fall from a horse when you were young, a kidney infection, or an inflammation. There are a number of healing events that could be contributing to your chronic back and tailbone pain. When adhesions form, they often attach to nearby tissues and organs causing restriction and pain.

Treatment for Chronic Back Pain

There are three main treatments for chronic back pain:

  1. Pain killers (medication)
  2. Surgery
  3. Physical Therapy (the Wurn Technique)



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Book Preview: Chronic Pain

March 23, 2009 Clear Passage Physical Therapy No comments

By Jackie

Long before Clear Passage Therapies existed, Belinda and Larry Wurn opened a physical therapy clinic to help people with chronic pain. The Wurns helped so many patients that their clinic grew to five clinics across the state of Florida. The Wurns eventually sold their clinics and opened Clear Passage Therapies to address infertility and chronic pain.

Chronic pain remains near and dear to the hearts of the Wurns and they continue to treat patients in debilitating pain. An entire section of their upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain, is devoted to pain, including chapters about chronic pain, post-surgical pain, endometriosis pain, and menstrual pain.

In the chronic pain chapter, the Wurns begin the chapter with an explanation of what lead them to treat chronic pain and their initial success in this area. They also explain the foundation of their treatment: adhesions. They then share two patient stories that illustrate the importance of adhesions and treating the body as in interconnected puzzle, instead of separate parts (see An Unexpected Cause of Chronic Headaches). The Wurns then dive into specific conditions, explaining how the Wurn Technique can help. The conditions include:

To learn more about our upcoming book, visit our book page here. You can also sign-up for our newsletters that feature stories by former patients and share free e-chapters from the book. To learn more about our treatment for chronic pain, you can visit our chronic pain page.

Miracle Moms Book, Recent Posts, Tailbone & Back Pain

Immediate Imaging Tests May Not be the Best Option for Those with Low-Back Pain

March 3, 2009 Clear Passage Physical Therapy No comments

By Jackie

People who suffer from low-back pain often wait to see their doctor because they think they may have “temporarily strained” or hurt their back. No one wants to spend extra time or money seeing the doctor if the condition will just go away by itself.

But if weeks go by and the pain still persists, it is a smart move for you to consult your doctor. Depending on the severity of the pain, the location of the pain, and what caused the pain to occur, he or she may suggest you undergo lumbar imaging (radiography, CT scan, or MRI).

If you doctor doesn’t suspect any serious underlying condition, you may not need the lumbar imaging. A recent study published in Lancet (Feb 2009) examined the use of lumbar imaging for patients with low-back pain. The study examined patients with low-back pain who had no history or clinical features suggestive or serious low-back problems. They then divided the patients into two separate groups: those who immediately underwent lumbar imaging and those who were treated with regular clinical care. When the study followed up with the two groups in the short term (3 months) and long-term (6 months), they found no differences in quality of life, level of pain or function, mental health, overall improvement, or satisfaction with treatment.

The study was so sure of its results that it recommended, “Clinicians should refrain from routine, immediate lumbar imaging in patients with acute or subacute low-back pain and without features suggesting a serious underlying condition.”

What this means for you, as a patient with low-back pain, is that you do not have to immediately undergo lumbar imaging if your doctor doesn’t suspect an underlying condition. This may be a hard choice, especially because in American culture we want answers immediately. However, you may be better served to follow the clinical treatment options first, save the extra money, and try other alternative treatments (try reading Yoga Can Decrease Your Low Back Pain). If your pain continues to persist, your doctor can schedule you for any tests you may need.

Recent Posts, Tailbone & Back Pain

Your Mother Was Right: Stand up Straight!

January 31, 2009 Clear Passage Physical Therapy 3 comments

By Jackie

Whose mother hasn’t told them to stand up straight? Most mothers remind their children of proper posture so that they stand taller, breathe deeper, look stronger, and because, well, their mothers told them to do it too.

Mom’s advice does far more than make you look good; it’s pivotal to good health. Improper posture can lead to numerous problems including:

  • Decreased lung capacity
  • Neck pain
  • Ligament stress
  • Back pain
  • Shoulder tightness
  • Abnormal joint wear
  • Increased muscle fatigue
  • Constricted blood flow
  • Adhesion Formation
  • Chronic pain throughout the body

How does all of this happen just from poor posture? First, poor posture happens a lot more than you think. Improper posture can occur while seated at a computer, eating lunch, driving a car, walking, or even leisurely sitting. A person can go through an entire day with improper posture.

Improper posture puts unnecessary stress on ligaments and muscles in the body. This eventually leads to fatigue, soreness, pain, and inflammation. When inflammation occurs, cross-links begin to form within the muscles. These cross-links can continue to build, causing tightness, pain, and adhesions.

When your body isn’t in its natural alignment, blood vessels and nerves can become constricted – leading to decreased blood flow and fatigue. Improper posture also puts unnecessary pressure on joints and organs that weren’t designed to experience that pressure day after day.

What can you do if you experience symptoms due to improper posture? First step: change your posture! To learn how to sit properly at your computer, read our article on Seven Tips to Limit Back and Neck Pain. Second, understand that your body may not be able to naturally return to its proper alignment. Chronic poor posture can lead to adhesive patterns that prevent the ligaments and muscles from relaxing to their natural position. Clear Passage Therapists frequently see this in patients who come to the clinic for chronic neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain, and headaches. To learn more about our treatment for these conditions, please visit our chronic pain page.

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An Unexpected Cause of Chronic Headaches

December 27, 2008 Clear Passage Physical Therapy No comments

A tailbone pushed forward can pull on the spinal cord, causing tension at the base of the skull

By Jackie

If you experience chronic headaches and are currently sitting, the answer to your problem may be directly underneath you – your tailbone.

Although you may never have thought of your tailbone and skull as connected, they are in fact united by the dura. The dura is the thick collagenous covering of the spinal cord that runs from the base of the skull all the way down to the tailbone. When a person experiences a serious trauma (such as a car accident or fall), the tailbone can be pushed forward or to one side. When it is out of its correct position, the tailbone can pull on the dura, creating tightness at the base of the skull and recurrent headaches.

Years ago, Belinda and Larry Wurn treated a patient, Michael, who was in a serious construction accident. When Michael came for treatment, he experienced chronic pain throughout his body, walked with a severe limp, and had minimal function of his hands. The Wurns enabled Michael to walk properly, regain full use of his hands, and break free from the constant pain throughout his body. However, Michael still experienced severe headaches daily.

Determined to help, the Wurns paid special attention to the tissues around Michael’s head. While tractioning his head, Larry noticed an “anchoring sensation.” Larry explained, “It felt like the tissues of his neck and at the base of his skull were anchored much further down.” After discussing his findings with Belinda, they decided to treat Michael’s tailbone. After treatment, Michael never experienced headaches again.

If you would like to learn more about how adhesions may be causing your chronic headaches, please visit our headaches page. To learn more about treatment for tailbone pain or dysfunction, please visit our tailbone page.

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