Low Back Pain (LBP) Treatment
Extensive studies published in 2008 in The Spine Jounal, a most prestigeous medical journal, declared that most of the population will experience LBP at some point in their life and that over one third of adults are presently suffering LBP symptoms.

The most important finding? Treatment options are nearly endless, yet spinal manipulation remains one of the most utilized and is considered at least somewhat to moderately more effective than the other, most effective known methods of treatment such as pain killers and rehabilitation measures.

Your relief from pain is the most important concern we have. We use a variety of treatment methods, and along with your corrective adjustments, we may also prescribe appropriate rehabilitation and strengthening to promote ongoing support.

Let's get rid of your back pain

Approximately 85% of our population will experience disabling low back pain (LBP) at least one time during their life. About half of all working Americans admit to having symptoms of back pain each year. Back pain is the number one disability culprit in workers’ compensation claims and one of the most common reasons for missed work. It is also the second most common reason for visits to a doctor’s office, second only to upper-respiratory infections.

Yes, back pain is a big problem. It costs us a lot of money, over $50 billion each year and wastes a lot of our time! While you may not want to hear that, it’s important to understand that treating back pain is a serious matter and one that we provide great help with. The focused and extensive training in musculoskeletal conditions and neurology is the hallmark of chiropractic and why today there is a growing emphasis on the treatment and cost effectiveness from chiropractic care.

The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture discs, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back pain. While sports injuries or accidents can cause back pain, sometimes the simplest of movements – for example, picking up a pencil from the floor – can have painful results. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity, and psychological stress can cause or complicate back pain. Back pain can also come about from disease of the internal organs, such as kidney stones, kidney infections, gallbladder problems, female organ conditions, blood clots, or bone loss.

Aside from more organic causes, the treatment of back pain is most successfully achieved with more conservative care. Eighty five percent of all pain comes from the musculoskeletal tissues and in terms of back pain problems, that number is much higher. The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, a federal government research organization, recommended that low back pain sufferers choose the most conservative care first. It recommended spinal manipulation as the only safe and effective, drugless form of initial professional treatment for acute low back problems in adults.

Another recent but very comprehensive study the Task Force Study on Neck Pain, discussed in more detail [here], details the relationship between restoring joint function with better overall results and better long term outcomes.

Conventional medical wisdom overlooks the complexity of what is involved in joint dysfunction and how that ultimately affects the symptoms of muscle tension and pain. Through the various causes above, a joint or joints develop dysfunction, meaning they don’t move right or lose their normal range of movement. The loss of joint function causes abnormal signals to the nervous system from the abundance of nerve receptors in the joint tissues. The muscles related to that joint subsequently become tense or even underactive because of the improper nerve signaling. The resulting muscle imbalance places further stress on the joint which aggravates the joint dysfunction that already exists.

A second detrimental effect of loss of joint movement is degeneration. Degenerative joint disease, otherwise known as osteoarthritis, comes about from the lack of circulation of joint fluids and oxygen into the tissues of joints. Ligaments, cartilage and vertebral discs of the spine do not get their own blood supply and therefore depend on the pumping action of joint movement for their circulation.

All joints are designed (and essential to brain function) to move, even the sacroiliac joints between the pelvis and sacrum (tailbone) – which only move a small degree. When they do not, pain and degeneration occur. Conservative treatment is designed to restore and maximize motion, improve flexibility and finally maximize muscular coordination, endurance and strength.

Let me share one final reference from the prestigious medical journal, Spine. They found that when comparing chiropractic and medical care that at the end of the study, the group receiving chiropractic adjustments experienced a 450% increase in the number of patients that fully recovered versus the group that was given medication. In simple terms that means for every 2 people that fully recovered with medication, 9 people fully recovered with chiropractic care.