Back Pain

Many patients present to our clinic every week with back pain. In fact, this is the most common reason to visit our Tulsa Clinic. Although Chiropractic Physicians treat more than just back pain, many patients initially visit chiropractors looking for relief from back pain.

Facts About Backs

• Low back pain is the single leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the Global Burden of Disease 2010.
• Back pain is one of the most common reasons for missing work.
• Pain in the low back is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections.
• One-half of all working Americans admit to having back symptoms each year.
• 31 million Americans experience back pain at any given time.
• Experts estimate that as much as 80% of the population will experience a back problem at some time in their lives.
• Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic: meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.
• Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain.

Causes of Back Pain

The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, discs, ligaments and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture disks, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back issues. While sports injuries or auto accidents can cause pain in your back, sometimes the simplest of movements (like picking up a pencil from the floor) can have painful results when there is an underlying issue. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity, and psychological stress can cause or complicate back pain. Back pain can also fool you: it can be the result of disease of the internal organs, such as gall bladder issues, kidney stones, kidney infections, blood clots, or tumors. Luckily, these causes are rare.

The cause of most back pain is biomechanical in nature. In other words, it is a dysfunction in position and movement. The dysfunction leads to excessive stress on the structures of the spine and can cause increasingly severe damage over time. We call this degeneration (Degenerative Disc Disease & Degenerative Joint Disease). As the joints wear out, the muscles tighten & spasm, the discs are damaged, the ligaments calcify creating bone spurs, arthritis sets in, and nerves start to be compressed. It is a process that occurs little by little. It weakens the spine making it vulnerable to acute injury such as disc herniations. If left unchecked, the bones themselves change shape and a condition called stenosis can occur. This is when the spaces that the nerves pass through become narrowed producing pressure on these nerves and can result in all kinds of nasty neurological symptoms like sciatica.

Common Diagnoses for Back Pain

Below you will find descriptions and links to common causes of back problems. Click the link to see a detailed description of the condition.

• Disc Pathology (bulge/herniation)
• Facet Syndrome
• Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction
• Postural Syndrome
• Arthritis & Degeneration (Spondylosis)
• Stenosis
• Strain/Sprain
• Scoliosis
• Sciatica

Chiropractic and Spinal Manipulation

With today’s growing emphasis on quality care, clinical outcomes and cost effectiveness, spinal manipulation is receiving increased attention. Spinal manipulation is a safe and effective spine pain treatment. It reduces pain (decreasing the need for medication in some cases), rapidly advances physical therapy, and requires very few passive forms of treatment, such as bed rest.

What’s the Proof?

After an extensive study of all available care for low back problems, the Federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (Under the US Dept. of Health and Human Services) 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!

Chiropractic Vs Medication

A well-respected publication in the Annals of Internal Medicine pointed to Chiropractic care as one of the major nonpharmacologic therapies considered effective for acute and chronic low back pain. More recently, research has shown that there is strong evidence that spinal manipulation for back pain is just as effective as a combination of medical care (medications) and exercise. An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2013 also suggested chiropractic care as an option for people suffering from low back pain and noted that surgery is usually not needed and should only be performed if other therapies fail.

The Opioid Epidemic

The epidemic of prescription opioid overuse and abuse has also led many health groups to reconsider the value of a conservative approach to common conditions such as low-back pain. The American College of Physicians (ACP), the largest medical-specialty society in the world, updated its low-back pain treatment guidelines in 2017 to support a conservative approach to care. Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and based on a review of randomized controlled trials and observational studies, the ACP guidelines cite heat therapy, massage, acupuncture and spinal manipulation (a centerpiece of chiropractic care) as possible options for non-invasive, non-drug therapies for low-back pain.

The guidelines state that only when such treatments provide little or no relief should patients move on to medicines such as ibuprofen or muscle relaxants: which research indicates have limited pain-relief effectiveness and carry risk of negative side-effects. According to the ACP, prescription opioids should be a last resort for those suffering from low back pain, as the risk of addiction and overdose may outweigh the benefits.

Why see a Chiropractor?

As you can see, spinal manipulation has been proven to be effective and even recommended by the medical community. Not only this, but there is major concern regarding the use of prescription and over the counter medications due to negative side effects. In fact, medical guidelines are moving towards the use of conservative non-medication approaches to back pain. Chiropractors are trained and licensed to perform all of the recommended therapies in the above studies save for Acupuncture (which is an elective that some Chiropractors perform).

 

Tips to Prevent Back Pain

• Get checked by a Chiropractic Physician even in the absence of back pain.
• Maintain a healthy diet and weight.
• Remain active—under the supervision of your Chiropractic Physician.
• Avoid prolonged inactivity or bed rest.
• Warm up then stretch before exercising or physical activities, such as gardening.
• Maintain proper posture and form.
• Wear comfortable, low-heeled shoes.
• Sleep on a mattress of medium firmness to minimize any curve in your spine.
• Lift with your knees, keep the object close to your body, and do not twist when lifting.
• Quit smoking: which results in oxygen, and nutrient deprivation to spinal tissues.
• Work with your Chiropractor to ensure that your workstation is ergonomically correct.