Low Back Pain
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Low Back Pain Treatment:

Lower back pain is one of the leading causes for seeking a physician's care. It plagues more than 31 million people each year in the United States. Are you one of these people struggling day to day, trying to get through work, trying to get through the day? If so, keep reading!

What do we see when we look at the anatomy of the lower back? The lower part of the back contains 5 vertebrae (lumbars 1-5), the pelvis, and sacrum. Also an intricate set of muscles, ligaments, and fascia that stabilize the joints of the low back and allow for our upright posture. The muscles of the low back are considered part of the "core" muscles; therefore, core stability plays a role in lower back pain.

If you are in pain, I'm going to give you a few simple solutions to your problem:

First of all, don't feel as though you have to get surgery as a low back pain treatment. Conditions such as osteoarthritis, disc herniations, etc cause some physicians to jump to surgery. Most of the time pain relief from these conditions can come from alternative therapies.

There are medical emergencies with these conditions though; if you lose bowl or bladder function or are experiencing severe weakness in the legs please contact your medical doctor or nearest emergency facility.

Here is a 4 step process to low back pain treatment:

Spinal manipulation by a Chiropractor:

Spinal manipulation by a chiropractor to the lower back has been shown to be a very effective treatment. When a chiropractor motion palpates the lower back to find an area of "fixation" or "joint locking" this is the area the adjustment goes. Manipulation acts on the cellular level by decreasing pain fibers called nociceptors. Spinal manipulation by a skilled chiropractor can unlock stiff or restricted joints; thus, blocking pain fibers.

Lower Back Rehabilitation:

This is a very important part of staying pain-free. With lower back rehab we turn on the muscles that have most likely been shut off by the brain. For example, if you have job that makes you sit all day long, unless you're out there running marathons, your glute muscles are shut off. Without proper glute function the muscles of the lower back have to go into overdrive and make up for it.

This can be a significant pain generator. With rehabilitation you can wake the glutes back up, then you're on way to being pain free again. Some simple rehab exercise examples for the glute muscles are: glute bridges, bird dogs, and more advanced are tri-planar lunges.

Anti-Inflammation:

Beating inflammation should simply start with changing dietary habits. There are many foods out there that inflame your body and promote disease and pain. I go into what to eat for the anti-inflammatory diet more on other pages of the website.

An acute response to any kind of tissue injury is inflammation so cryotherapy (ice) can be used on the lower back. For cryotherapy no more than 20 minutes on at a time. So an ice schedule should look like 20 minutes on 30 minutes off and do 3-4 sets or more of this a day.

Solid Advice:

Solid advice should come from a qualified health care professional. Anyone who prescribes bed rest for your low back pain is way outdated. You should turn and run from those doctors. Recent studies have shown that bed rest is the worst thing for you. Walking and moving normally is much, much better than laying in bed worrying about your pain. Fear avoidance is what we don't want in all cases.

This is a 4 step process to low back pain treatment.

Written By: Dr. Steve Smiley

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