Are You Experiencing Lower Back Pain?
Check out this video on how back pain is caused.
Understanding Low Back Pain
Your "lumbar spine", or low back, is constructed and built from five bones that are stacked on top of each other with a shock-absorbing disc between each level.
Your low back is very much reliant on its surrounding muscles and ligaments for support. The most common cause of low back pain is "Sprains" and "strains" which are a direct result of these tissues being stretched/worked too hard, too far or too much, in the same way that a rope frays when it is stretched beyond its normal capacity.
The term "sprain" means that the tough, durable ligaments that support bones have been damaged, while a "strain" refers to when your muscles or tendons that move your trunk have been partially torn.
Low back pain from a sprain/strain injury is often described as deep, aching pain that increases with movement like changing positions, or unloading the dishwasher or while twisting to get out of your vehicle. If the injury is more severe and there is significant inflammation in the area, this can lead to more sharp, stabbing pain resutling in not being able to stand up straight or put on your shoes and socks.
More serious low back pain can be related to damage to disc. The discs are cartilage and water pads that provide shock absorption and stability for spine. Discs are injured 2 ways: acute trauma- think about lifting something really heavy from the ground, and chronic repetitive stress like swinging a golf club, having a job that requires constant bending or lifting, or a job that requires hours on end of sitting. Disc related low back pain is most often intense, sharp, stabbing and you can usually find a position that makes the intense pain go away. In some serious cases the disc can rupture resulting in compression of the nerve or spinal cord which leads to pain shooting into the buttocks or down the leg. An easy way to know if you have disc involvement in your low back pain is to cough hard. Does that cause pain? If so, then you are more likely dealing with a disc related problem.
It Is Very Common To Face Back Pain.
The majority of people will experience low back pain at some point in their lifetime, and 70% of those patients can attribute their symptoms to sprain/strain injuries.
Lumbar sprains and strains can often result from sudden or forceful movements like a fall, twist, lift, push, pull, direct blow, or quickly straightening up from a seated, crouched, or bent position. Most commonly, sprains and strains are not the result of any single event, but rather from repeated overloading.
The spine is very good at being able to manage small isolated stressors, but repetitive challenges often can lead to injury in much the same way that constantly bending a piece of copper wire will cause it to break. Examples of stress that can cause lower back pain include bad postures, sedentary lifestyles, poor-fitting workstations, repetitive movements, improper lifting, or being overweight.
Injuries to the disc require excessive amounts of force. Think about impacts from a car accident, slipping on the ice or lifting a bag of softner salt out of your trunk. In more rare cases, discs can be injured by awkard or abnormal movement involving some kind of heavier object. We see this with shoveling heavy snow or gravel, lifting a child out of a crib or moving a heavy potted plant from the table to the floor. Lifting while twisting the trunk is a recipe for a low back disc injury.
Low Back Strains & Sprains Need Early & Appropriate Treatment
Sprain/strain injuries can cause your normal healthy elastic tissue to be lost and replaced with less elastic "scar tissue" as well as lead to future disc injury.
This process can lead to an ongoing cycle of pain, damage to the discs and even result in arthritis. Patients who elect to forego treatment and "just deal with it" are known to develop chronic low back pain in 60% of cases. The best time to begin treatment for low back pain is now!
It is critical to seek early and appropriate treatment like the type we provide. Our approach to treating patients with low back pain begins with a thorough exam including special tests to understand exactly what type of problem and the severity. Most common low back pain cases respond very well to a treatment protocol of chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue therapy and rehabilitative exercises. Relief of that aching, nagging low back pain can often occur within a week with proper treatment.
Chronic low back pain, that is pain that has been present for 3 months or longer, may take a more integrated treatment plan that requires shockwave therapy, more intense rehabilitative exercise programs, nutritional support and peptide therapy. Just like the problem has been there for a while, the recovery process is often much longer.
No matter the cause, severity or chronicity of low back pain, our integrated model of care has treatment options that get results.
Recovering From Lower Back Pain
Depending on how severe your lower back injury is, you may need to modify your activity for a period of time, especially bending, twisting, lifting, and movements that cause pain.
Bed rest is not in your best interest. The latest evidence supports getting patients moving as soon as possible to help reduce the time of recovery. The more rest you take, the more deconditioned you become and the longer it takes for recovery.
All of our patients are engaged in rehab exercises duriing visits as well as prescribed exercises for at home. Early in care the focus is to improve tolerance to movement. Exercises focus on reducing muscle spasm, restoring range of motion and improving pain free movement patterns, like sit to stand and walking. From there, the focus turns to restoring stability which increases the capacity to do more activity for longer periods of time, with less discomfort.
Lastly, the focus of rehab is to help the patient get stronger and more resilient, building confidence in returning to normal activities or sports while reducing the fear of injuring the low back.
It's critical for patients to understand that recovery from low back pain is a process, not an event. Damaged tissues and spinal joints take multiple inputs and the appropriate amount of time for complete healing. Unfortunately, many patients believe that when the pain is gone, the problem is gone and that can lead to re-injry or frequent aggravations.
Think of it this way: if you have a flat tire, not only do you need to repair the tire, you need to secure the lug nuts so that the tire can function properly. The same is true with back pain.
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