Dr. Rachel Hamel
Experts estimate that as much as 80% of the population will experience a back problem at some time in their lives. Back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work. In fact, back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections. Other than medications, what are your options?
Low back pain can have many different causes. The whole body is a connected system, so even if your complaint is low back pain, you must look at the entire body.
Here are some causes of low back pain:
- Instability in the pelvis
- Chronic instability which leads to disc inflammation (bulge) and/or sciatica
- Restriction in the movement of the spine or tailbone
- TMJ dysfunction
- Weak Core muscles
- Stress
- Liver/Gallbladder dysfunction
- Infection in the spine
- Pathological issue (tumors, ect.)
How do we treat low back pain differently?
Looking at the whole body as a unit gets to the source of the dysfunction, which leads to a faster recovery. Many causes of low back pain are due to instability in the pelvis region, which is why pelvic wedges, not manual adjustments are used to stabilize the area. If the discs of the low back have been compromised, the pelvic wedges placed in a certain way open up the disc spaces, allowing pressure to be relieved off of the discs, and healing to occur.
Many patients need rehab after their low back has been stabilized to decrease the chances of re-injury.