5 ways to address back pain through chiropractic care

If you were to ask someone what a chiropractor does, their answer would likely have something to do with back pain. Back pain can feel debilitating. It can control your whole life and stop any progress you’ve made to better your habits. Back pain is an extremely common condition that affects up to 90% of people at some point in their life. The good news is that although back pain feels serious, it’s not usually due to a medically serious condition. 

Most people who come in to see me with back pain say that they have been resting, taking pain relievers, using creams, and not exerting themselves. While this is sometimes necessary, avoiding activity and taking pain relievers long term is actually the most dangerous aspect of chronic back pain. Often times, providers are quick to attribute back pain to one particular issue or problem that—coincidentally—only they can solve. The truth is that back pain is actually extremely complex, so taking a systemic approach is necessary to make sure people can get their life back as quickly as possible. Every visit with me involves a plan of action, because action and initiation is the only way to make long-term, sustainable changes in your life. This is what I do when people come in for their first appointment, and I’m the only chiropractor in the Bay that has a free first visit.

Here are the five steps I use in my practice to help patients recover from back pain:

1. Find out what happened
   As much as you would think back pain is caused by falls and accidents, that is not usually the case. The biggest factors that cause back pain in my opinion are not actions, but inactions: lack of quality sleep and increased sedentary lifestyle due to stress and depression. With a global mental health crisis and many still spending most of their time at home, inaction is unavoidable; however, our bodies have mechanisms that increase our perception of pain when we are under these conditions. Unfortunately getting out of pain isn't going to be as easy as taking a pill, but with incremental changes you can start building strength and resiliency both physically and mentally.

2. Provide a chiropractic adjustment
   It’s important to help your system calm down enough to decrease not only the pain, but to decrease your fears about over-exerting and reinjury. A chiropractic adjustment can lead to an adjustment of your current state of mind and body, leading to increased awareness within yourself—and therefore the world. By using chiropractic techniques to help temporarily alleviate pain or restore function, we can remind your brain of possibilities available to us once that injury is fully healed. When everything is working the way it was designed, you carry yourself with confidence and your body functions at a higher adaptive state. 

3. Work on soft tissue
   Soft tissue work increases neurological perspective of the area of concern and aids in circulation. Your brain is going to naturally focus on what hurts. When I do my exam, I focus on the entire body, not just the area of concern. Working on other areas that are tight can actually divert attention away from the problem area. Sometimes there are other areas that need to be focused on. Other times, soft tissue surrounding the injury may need support. 

4. Recommend exercises
   After injuries, you need a custom exercise and stretch program to prevent reinjury and help your body heal stronger than you were before. Sometimes complex problems require simple solutions. Even adding a 15 minute walk to your day could help reduce your risk of repeated back pain. When you come in for your first visit, you’ll get an individual set of exercises and stretches in a PDF and in app video demonstration to help keep the patterns we set in office. These exercises are designed to challenge the areas that will help your body be more resilient and adaptive. I will work with you to come up with a plan at a pace that works best for you.

5. Create a plan to reduce stress
   The hardest part of recovering from back pain is figuring out how to adapt your lifestyle so that your brain is as healthy as it can be. Part of my job as your chiropractor is to come up with a plan outside of our appointments, so you’re not stuck with me too long.  If you’re curious about my strategy, it’s based on what science has discovered over the past 20 years. 

My overall approach to this form of healthcare is simple.  I will do whatever I can so that you will eventually not need me.