Lower back pain affects millions of Americans. It can be acute (lasting from a few days to a few weeks) or chronic (lasting three months or more), caused by a sudden injury or simply by long-term stress. When the pain begins to radiate to other parts of the body, your day-to-day activities can become extremely difficult. When looking for the right low back pain treatment, consult a doctor of chiropractic to help determine the cause of your back pain.
When your back pain starts to interfere with your daily life, you realize how important getting the right low back pain treatment can be. Gaining a basic understanding of what causes that pain can help you manage it more successfully. Take a few moments to consider the facts below:
• Back muscle strain: This can be severe or aching pain in the lower back that starts after activity, a sudden movement, or lifting a heavy object, caused by muscles or ligaments that stretch or develop microscopic tears. One may have difficulty moving, even walking or standing, severe muscle spasms, and experience soreness and tenderness to the touch.
• Facet Joint Osteoarthritis: Also called degenerative arthritis or osteoarthritis of the spine, this condition develops gradually over time with the breakdown of the cartilage between the facet joints in the spine, resulting in lower back pain and stiffness, most pronounced in the mornings and evenings. The pain can interrupt sleep, cause local tenderness, along with aching, steady or intermittent pain that is aggravated by extended activity, and stiffness or loss of flexibility in the back.
• Lumbar Spinal Stenosis or Degenerative Spondyloisthesis: This condition also develops over time into leg pain that can occur primarily when walking and standing upright. The pain is caused by pressure on the nerves at the point where they exit the spine. Sitting can relieve the pain (which may fluctuate between mild and severe). Weakness, numbness, and tingling sensations may radiate from the low back into the buttocks and legs through the sciatica nerve.
• Spinal Compression Fracture: This type of fracture can result in a sudden onset of back pain, limited flexibility, and height loss. The pain will worsen when standing or walking, but lying on one’s back may help decrease the intensity of the pain. Limited spinal flexibility, deformity and/or disability may occur. The possibility of a compression fracture should be considered after any sudden onset of back pain in adults over age 50, especially in post-menopausal women with osteoporosis and in men or women after long-term corticosteroid use.
Low Back Pain Treatment Options
Most low back pain can often be treated without surgery using exercise, stretching and various medications. Another non-invasive, non-surgical low back pain treatment option is available—the DRS Protocol™. Following a thorough examination by a certified doctor of chiropractic, a course of low back pain treatment will be customized uniquely for you. A slow gentle process, the DRS Protocol™ is a slow gentle process, using motorized and computerized spinal decompression to target the injured disc, allowing the muscles and tendons to respond to treatment.
The chiropractors at McKim Chiropractic specialize in low back pain treatment with the DRS Protocol™, a non-surgical alternative treatment for back pain associated with spinal and disc problems. Call McKim Chiropractic today for more information and to schedule a consultation. Our licensed and certified staff is happy to help the residents of Nampa, ID take the first step on the road to recovery.
