Over the course of their lives, roughly one in four adults in America experiences troubling back pain — and unfortunately the issue is mishandled all too often. Between the unnecessary x-rays, painkiller prescriptions and even surgeries, chiropractic documentation software can quickly reveal that far too many patients jump through many costly hoops without attaining real relief.

As we've reported on this blog, research has revealed a widespread tendency to bypass established protocol for back pain management in favor of extreme and often ineffective treatments. Now, NPR has reported on another aspect of back pain that could transform how the general population views and addresses this issue.

Dr. James Rainville, a physician at Boston's New England Baptist Hospital, spoke to the news outlet about a novel concept regarding back pain: Namely, that it doesn't necessarily denote a slipped disk or other spinal issues. Instead, our nervous system may be the underlying culprit behind all that discomfort.

"Normal sensations of touch, sensations produced by movements, are translated by the nervous system into a pain message. That process is what drives people completely crazy who have back pain, because so many things produce discomfort," Dr. Rainville explained.

Dr. Rainville and his colleagues argue that, in some instances, the solution may be to adjust to certain levels of discomfort if they are related to hypersensitive nerves rather than a severe spinal issue. Too often, he notes, people will swear off any number of activities from golf to lifting their grandchildren because of the potential for a twinge here or there. Of course, that isn't to say that anyone with back pain should simply brush it off and carry on as usual. Instead, patients and medical practitioners should explore different approaches of diagnosis and treatment.

For chiropractors, having access to full medical records through chiropractic EMR software may shed light on existing nerve issues that could be related to ongoing pain, as well any past treatments they have undergone to remedy it.