Did you know 88% of people seeking care from the medical system are doing so due to back pain. If you’re reading this, it’s affecting you too. Though the pain can range from a mild annoyance to debilitating pain, it’s rare that the cause is due to anything sinister. Only 6% of back pain is caused by a red flag like cancer, fracture, or other serious illness.

So what’s the cause of low back pain? That’s a challenging question. To simplify, injury tends to happen when the demand of a task exceeds the capacity of your body. Your capacity is dictated by your overall health, lifestyle factors (like sleep, nutrition, and stress management), and the strength/mobility of the back itself and its neighboring tissues. No one wants a glass back and weak backs tend to hurt at some point. Unfortunately the common response to back pain is to take it easy, pop a few Advil, or if it hurts bad enough end up with imaging+injections. Did you know Physicians have a clinical guideline established in 2018 defining the best protocol for low back pain? Here it is…..

• Avoid Unnecessary Imaging for non-traumatic low back pain (It’s a known fact that normal changes in the body (degenerative discs, arthritis, ect) aren’t consistently related to our pain experience.)

• Utilize Manual Therapy to decrease pain

• Advise of returning to activities and exercise including low back strengthening

• Education on which tissues are irritated and how to modify your life (hobbies, exercise, daily tasks) in the short term to fit the stage of healing you’re in

• Manual Therapy Techniques such as Spinal Manipulation (sometimes referred to as an adjustment), Dry Needling (thin needles with electric stimulation), Myofascial Decompression (cupping), and Soft Tissue Mobilization (massage, trigger point therapy) to decrease pain and allow a window of time for your body to move better and speed up recovery

• Progressive improvements in low back strength and fitness so you can leave better than when you got hurt.

• Routines and Tools to dial in workouts and recovery to stay healthy for the longterm.