Low Back Pain
Back Pain is the Most Expensive Problem in Canada.
Chiropractic care is the most cost-effective treatment for lower back pain. It is also under-utilized. We want to change that.
Eighty percent of people get lower back pain. This results in lost work and wages. Most back pain cases are poorly managed by medical doctors using drugs that just mask the problem without fixing it. Problems progress and require expensive surgery. This costs Canadians billions of dollars.
The cost is not only money. Back pain is the most common reason for addiction to opiates. The opioid crisis in Canada results in thousands of deaths per year in Canada, and it is getting worse every year.
Chiropractic care is not just an effective treatment for lower back pain, it is the most cost-effective, and reduces pharmaceutical use by up to 90 percent. Chiropractic is a solution to a problem that is devastating Canadians.
How does it start?
Each case is unique and requires love and attention.
Lower back problems start off with little or no pain. This is what makes it so deceptive. You may feel stiff and tight muscles, that are easy to live with, but only the well-informed will seek care at this stage.
Eventually you will feel pain that comes and goes. Maybe you will feel a short twinge here and there. The trick is to understand that as the pain comes and goes, the underlying issues are still there. A well-informed person will understand that chiropractic care must be used to prevent this from worsening.
If not treated, then the pain will become more constant. Your back pain may progress to the point where you begin to develop permanent problems like osteoarthritis and disc problems.
The Underlying Issues Causing Back Pain
Problems can begin very abruptly but in most cases will actually develop gradually.
Changes to the curve of the lower back can change the behaviour of the spinal muscles and nerves. This makes you more and more vulnerable to painful episodes.
This pain can be the result of the added stress on muscles (strains) or joints (sprains) as well as nerve pain. When nerves are rubbed or compressed this will result in tight muscles or numb or tingly legs.
Back Strains & Sprains Need Early & Appropriate Treatment
Sprain/strain injuries can cause your normal healthy elastic tissue to be lost and replaced with less elastic "scar tissue."
This process can lead to an ongoing cycle of pain and even arthritis. Patients who elect to forego treatment and “just deal with it” are known to develop chronic low back pain in 60% of cases. It is imperative to seek early and appropriate treatment like the type we provide.
Recovering From Lower Back Pain
If your lumbar spine is misaligned you will be prone to sprains and strains!
Your lower back is meant to have a gentle backward (lordotic) curve. A typical sitting posture will straigten or even reverse this curve. This straightening can become permanent over time. When this happens, your muscles become over-stretched, your discs compress, and joints become strained. This misalignment also makes your muscles work harder and this makes you more prone to strains.
Each segment of your healthy spine is also meant to move a specific amount. If it stops moving, which it often does, the joint above or below it will begin to dry out and fuse. If allowed to progress for years, this process will result in a very common form of bone deformity called “osteoarthritis.”
Luckily this is preventable by adding chiropractic care to your healthy lifestyle. Stretching and exercise are helpful to restore movement and to some degree, alignment. Unfortunately, stretches and exercises are not able to isolate individual joints, leaving your lumbar spine vulnerable to osteoarthritis in the future.
Regular chiropractic care (about once per month) restores normal movement to each specific joint and can help prevent problems from occuring. In addition, since chiropractic improves nerve flow and coordination, muscle tightness often disappears with just the adjustments.
A chiropractor trained in Active Release Techniques (ART) is able to identify and treat specific muscles that are causing your pain, sometimes providing immediate relief in just one visit.
Laser Therapy can also be used in your care program to decrease pain and speed up the healing process.
