How Lower Back Pain Builds Up Over Time
If you’re dealing with lower back pain, there’s a good chance it didn’t come from just one event. You may have felt it happen while lifting something or twisting a certain way, working out, or just even getting out of bed in the morning. But most of the time, that movement was just the final straw.
You see, in my experience, lower back pain is usually caused by an accumulation of stresses over time. Things like prolonged sitting, repetitive lifting, twisting, old injuries, or just everyday wear and tear can all gradually place stress on the spine, and eventually, it just all adds up. And that’s when one relatively normal movement can suddenly cause your back to just lock up or become painful.
Now, sometimes that pain will settle down on its own, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the underlying problem has gone. If there’s damage to the tissue or an underlying biomechanical issue, the pain may improve temporarily while the actual problem is still there. And then a few weeks or months later, it just comes right back.
And what we typically see is that the longer someone ignores the problem, the more frequent and intense those flare-ups can become. They may also start taking longer to go away.
Lower Back Pain as a Warning Light
I often compare lower back pain to a warning light on your car. You wouldn’t want to just get a piece of tape and just cover up the warning light. You’d wanna actually find out what’s going on. You don’t wanna ignore those signs.
And pain medication can sometimes help temporarily, but that’s often doing the same thing as just covering up that warning light. It may mask the symptoms, but it doesn’t necessarily address what those underlying causes are.
You see, here in our office, our goal isn’t just to provide a quick adjustment or temporary relief. We really want to understand the underlying condition, help you feel better in the near term, and really work toward longer-lasting results.
The Structures of the Low Back
You see, the low back is made up of several structures. We have the vertebrae, the joints, the muscles, the ligaments, the discs in between, and the nerves that exit the spine. And each one of these structures plays a very important role.
Your spinal discs act as the shock absorbers between the vertebrae. And over time, increased pressure can cause a disc to become compressed, lose hydration, bulge, or even herniate. And those changes can create localized lower back pain.
Sometimes they can even irritate the nerves that exit the spine, causing things like radiating pain down the leg, numbness, tingling, all the way potentially into the foot. And that’s what we refer to as sciatica.
When a nerve or joint becomes irritated, the surrounding muscle may also tighten up or go into spasm to protect the area. And that’s why the area may feel extremely tight, even if the muscle itself isn’t the actual original source of the problem.
The Consultation: Understanding Your Pain
So on your first visit, the most important thing we do is actually the consultation. That conversation often tells me about 90% of what I need to know.
First, we’ll talk about when the pain began and how it started, things that make it better, things that make it worse, and what you’ve already tried that hasn’t worked so far.
More importantly, I wanna know what the pain is preventing you from doing. Is it affecting your work? Is it keeping you from exercising? Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you having to say no to activities with your family?
Because for most people, it’s not just about the pain. It’s about what the pain is preventing them from doing or what they’re missing out on in life.
The Examination and Digital X-Rays
So after the consultation, we perform a thorough examination to help pinpoint exactly where the symptoms are coming from. And then, when appropriate, we’ll also take digital X-rays to help evaluate the overall condition of the spine.
You see, the X-rays show us the bones rather than the discs themselves. But by looking at the disc spacing, the alignment, any arthritis, and other structural findings, we can gather valuable information about what may be happening.
The X-rays also help us identify underlying conditions or anatomical differences that may require us to modify our approach, ’cause not everybody should be treated in the exact same way. And of course, patient safety is our top priority, and we don’t want to guess when it comes to your health.
Chiropractic Adjustments to Restore Motion
So once we understand the condition, we can determine which treatments are most appropriate. With the chiropractic adjustments, our main focus is restoring motion and mobility to restricted areas of the spine.
And when a spinal joint becomes locked up or stops moving properly, it can irritate the surrounding joints, nerves, and muscles. So by restoring that motion, we can help reduce the irritation and allow the patient to move and function better.
Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression
If the symptoms suggest that we’ve got a bulging or herniated disc, especially when the pain is shooting down a leg or into the foot, we may also recommend our non-surgical spinal decompression.
With the decompression, we’re gently reducing the pressure in the disc to take the pressure off the nerves. And the table creates a pumping action, which helps to draw water and nutrients back in to help rehydrate the discs and make them healthier over time.
I often like to compare a dehydrated disc to a raisin. Typically, we have a nice, healthy grape, and when it loses its fluid, it turns into a raisin. So with our decompression, by drawing the water back in, we can turn that raisin back into a grape.
SoftWave Therapy
So in addition to that, we may also include our SoftWave therapy. And what SoftWave does is use acoustic sound waves to help produce a therapeutic response within the tissue.
So early on, patients may notice some soreness, stiffness, or inflammation. But what’s cool about the SoftWave itself is when we get over normal, healthy tissue, you don’t feel anything at all when we’re doing the therapy. And then when we get over areas that are damaged or inflamed, you may feel some discomfort with it.
So it really helps us to pinpoint exactly where the problem is coming from, so it kinda helps us diagnose and treat at the same time.
Approaching Low Back Pain From Three Different Directions
And depending on what we find, we can use chiropractic care, spinal decompression, and SoftWave therapy either together or individually.
Our office was the first office in Gaston County to combine all three of these treatments to get the best results. And that allows us to approach low back pain from three different directions instead of just giving everybody the same thing.
Don’t Continue to Ignore That Warning Light
If your low back pain keeps returning, is becoming more severe, or is preventing you from working out, exercising, or doing the things that you enjoy, don’t continue to ignore that warning light.
Let’s find out what’s actually causing the problem and determine what it’ll take to help achieve real lasting results.
At Elite Spine Center, our goal is simple. It’s just to help you move better and live better.
