Back pain is the biggest complaint that sends people to the chiropractors office, and can effect anyone at any point in their life. While there are many different causes of low back pain, there are a few that are very common and that I treat regularly. These are the top three conditions that I see most often in my office:

Muscle or Spinal Ligament Strain.
A fast movement, repetitive lifting, an awkward bend, or an attempt to lift something beyond your capabilities can all result in a strain that causes severe discomfort. If your job or hobbies often require you to lift and bend, such repetitive stress on your lower back can trigger painful muscle spasms. I see this a lot in athletes and manual laborers, since those all require lots of strength and movement through your low back. When recovering from a muscle or ligament strain, you have several very beneficial treatment options! Gentle movement like stretching and slow exercise will keep your muscles and ligaments working in the right directions without stressing them and allows the fibers to recover. Heat brings more blood flow to the area which will speed along the muscle and ligament healing. Soft tissue work, like massage therapy will help prevent or decrease soreness through the healing process. Chiropractic care will help prevent the joints involved from getting stiff, and will therefore keep the muscles and ligaments from getting stiff!

A Ruptured or Bulging Disc.
Between the individual bones that make up your spine (the vertebrae) are cushions of strong connective tissues known as discs. If the disc material begins to bulge, or if it ruptures, it can place pressure on a nearby nerve, causing acute pain. Your discs are covered with a material that vaguely resembles burlap -ruptures and bulges happen when the “threads” get stretched or moved apart. This happens when you put your discs under stress: bending and twisting at the same time, or in the case of many of my patients, car accidents that put stress on the whole spine.

This can happen in both younger and older adults and can be helped with both adjusting and gentle exercise! Adjusting for patients with disc related pain can vary, although any adjusting method based on patient presentation, tolerance, and comfort levels has proven helpful.

Arthritis.
There are so many variations of arthritis, so for the sake of this post, I’ll be sticking with the most common presentation in my office, which is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis comes from normal wear and tear on your joints and while it may be mostly pain free, it can make you stiff and uncomfortable. In some cases, especially cases of extreme athletes, or athletes that have trained heavily for many years osteoarthritis can appear at younger ages, but it is most common in older adults. Exercise will help your body to keep making synovial fluid (joint lubrication) which will help minimize the amount of pain and stiffness you can experience. Proper hydration also helps your body make healthy synovial fluid. Getting adjusted helps bring in new blood flow to refresh the synovial fluid, and allows the different parts of your joints to move more freely, meaning that you can feel less pain and like you can move more easily.

✨ If you have low back pain, and are looking for ways to recover, book your appointment today by calling, texting, sending a message, or booking online! ✨