Pleasant Hill Chiropractic can help with low back pain 

Whether you or someone you love is suffering with low back pain, this information can help explain the cause of your pain and we can help you in the office to treat it.  

Common Low Back Conditions 

Lumbar strains and sprains 

A lumbar sprain is an injury to the ligaments or joints of the low back. A strain, on the other hand, is when an injury occurs to muscles and can have a similar pain and symptom pattern. These can lead to pain and dysfunctional movement in the low back causing difficulty with walking, sitting or even sleep. The main causes of this condition are from poor posture, falls, poor movement mechanics, or overexertion. 

Lumbar Disc Disorders 

In between each vertebra are flexible intervertebral discs which can be a cause of low back pain. The discs are composed of a tough outer ring of fibrous tissue (annulus fibrosis) and and an inner ring of loose fiber suspended in gel (nucleus pulposus). Disc injuries typically consist of disc bulges and disc herniations which put pressure on the outer ring of the disc or even on spinal nerves causing sciatic leg pain, weakness, numbness or changes in sensation in the legs. Conservative care should be your first course of treatment to manage lumbar disc disorders and typical treatment will consist of joint mobilization and manipulation, soft tissue therapy, home care and corrective exercises. 

Lumbar Stenosis 

This condition occurs when there is a narrowing of the spinal canal in the lumbar vertebrae (low back). This results in compression of the spinal cord and nerves leading to pain, numbness, leg cramps or other radiating symptoms. Lumbar stenosis is usually caused by age-related changes, but there is a lot that can be done to help manage your spinal stenosis conservatively.  

Facet Syndrome 

Facet joints are the small joints in the spine that are responsible for much of the rotation movement and can be a cause of your low back pain. This is often worst when moving from a sitting position to a standing position or moving from a bent-over position back to an upright standing position. The main causes for facet syndrome include but are not limited to: overuse (sports injury, work injury, etc.), whiplash/motor vehicle accident, arthritis, excessive weight, prolonged periods of sitting. Treatment for this condition is very successful with chiropractic care and may include adjustments, therapeutic exercises, soft tissue mobilization as well as posture and ergonomic recommendations. 

Chiropractic care should be your first option 

• After an extensive study of all available care for low back problems, the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality) recommended that low back pain sufferers choose the most conservative care first. And it recommended spinal manipulation as the only safe and effective, drugless form of initial professional treatment for acute low back problems in adults.¹ 

• In 2017, the American College of Physicians released updated low back pain guidelines that recommend first using non-drug approaches to pain management including spinal manipulation, a centerpiece of chiropractic care, before resorting to over-the-counter and prescription pain medications.² 

• Worldwide, back pain is the single leading cause of disability, preventing many people from engaging in work as well as other everyday activities.³ 

If you are having back pain or want some help on how to prevent back pain please call the office to schedule an appointment.  

Exercise videos below for low back pain by Dr. Owen: