subject: Resolving Lower Back Pain With Professional Chiropractic Care [print this page] Consider this scenario: you're cleaning your home. You're vacuuming, scrubbing floors, and moving a few heavy items to reach areas that rarely see sunlight. Because of the effort and strain you're placing on your body, you're working up a sweat. Suddenly, while scrubbing your kitchen floor, you feel a sharp pain in your lower back. The pain is followed by stiffness - the kind that makes routine movements agonizing.
What has likely occurred is a spinal joint subluxation. This is a disturbance somewhere along your spinal and vertebral column. The function of your spine has become impaired, resulting in stiffness and discomfort.
Millions of people suffer this type of pain on a regular basis without realizing chiropractic care offers relief. Instead, they wait for the pain and stiffness to vanish on its own. In this article, we'll explain how an experienced chiropractor will diagnose lower back pain, and describe some of the methods he or she may use to treat it.
Diagnosis By A Trained Chiropractor
When you visit a chiropractic doctor, x-rays will be taken of your back to rule out fractures or similar circumstances that may require medical care. Your chiropractor will then use palpation (i.e. examination by touch) to identify the source of your pain. He or she will feel the tissue along your spine, looking for signs of distress or tightness. Your chiropractor will also carefully inspect each set of vertebrae and their corresponding discs. The muscles, nerves, and tendons are also examined through palpation.
Once the location of the spinal joint disturbance has been identified, your chiropractor will gently move the affected joint through its natural range of motion. The goal is to determine whether any limitation exists. At this stage, locked joints that are limiting your movements will become clear, and provide your chiropractor with the necessary information for targeted treatment.
Restoring A Full Range Of Motion
When lower back pain is due to a locked spinal joint, treatment is focused on unlocking the joint to restore motion. If the muscles in the area of the subluxation are severely inflamed, your chiropractor may first try to reduce the inflammation by applying a cold pack. He or she will then perform a spinal adjustment. Note that chiropractic care addresses the root cause of lower back pain, rather than the symptoms. This is a key difference between chiropractic and medical treatment.
Adjusting The Spine
Chiropractic doctors use a number of terms to refer to similar events. For example, your chiropractor might say your spine needs to be adjusted; others may say the joint needs to be manipulated; and still others may claim your spine and vertebrae need to be aligned. There are differences, but they are subtle.
Adjustments can be performed using an assortment of techniques. Some involve a mild level of force, and others use none at all. Among the most common methods are the flexion-distraction technique, trigger point therapy (for muscle tension), and instrument-assisted manipulation.
As a side note, many patients develop misconceptions regarding spinal adjustments when their chiropractors mention they're going to move a bone into place to resolve their pain. To clarify, the bones of your spine do not technically move outside their normal range (aside from trauma). There are ligaments throughout your spine that prevent this from happening. The bones of the affected spinal joint can, however, become locked due to a variety of stimuli. The adjustment addresses this problem, and thus restores a full range of motion.
Many people who suffer severe, persistent lower back pain assume they need aggressive treatment (i.e. surgery) to correct the problem. In most cases, surgery is unnecessary. Mechanical back problems can usually be addressed with a spinal adjustment. Does this mean chiropractic care appropriate for all types of pain that occur in your back? No. But it's worth investigating whether this noninvasive form of treatment poses a solution.
