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Lower Back Pain Treatment in Aurora

man with severe low back painFrom toting a heavy object to dealing with a disc condition, back pain is extremely common; in fact, up to 80% of all people in the US will suffer from low back pain at some point in their lives. This leads to it being the number one cause of disability in our country. While low back discomfort may be common, it is not normal.

Common Causes

Here are some of the main causes of low back pain:

  • Bulged Discs
  • Herniated Discs
  • Degenerative Disc Disease
  • Spinal Stenosis
  • SI joint pain

The Diagnosis Process

At Buchar Family Chiropractic, we know it’s crucial to address low back pain quickly to keep it from becoming more severe.

Our comprehensive consultation and examination involves chiropractic, functional, orthopedic, and neurological tests designed specifically for your condition. We aim to uncover the root cause of your pain, and we may also use digital X-rays to further pinpoint any abnormal postures, functional deficits, or degenerative changes that could worsen your condition.

Our Holistic Approach

A key part of our chiropractic approach revolves around subluxation, a condition where misalignment in the vertebral body triggers neurological dysfunction, tenderness, and discomfort, ultimately resulting in low back pain or sciatica, among other symptoms. Our primary objective is to alleviate this nerve pressure, reducing the stress and damage and allowing your body to heal and function naturally.

Exercise and Spinal Decompression

Our customized therapeutic exercise plans are based not only on your X-ray findings and exam results but also on your personal goals. We address muscle imbalances, weaknesses, and posture-related issues through both office-based exercises and supportive at-home practices.

Spinal decompression is an adjunct therapy when the progression of your chiropractic care has slowed or plateaued. It’s beneficial in keeping issues from progressing further by relieving any radicular symptoms, spinal compression issues, or herniated or bulged discs. Spinal decompression works by pulling apart the discs axially, taking pressure off the nerves, and allowing the discs to rehydrate and heal.

Considering Lifestyle Factors

We also look at lifestyle factors that might contribute to your low back pain, like your job, daily activities, hobbies, past injuries, and even nutrition. Whether your pain is acute or chronic, our treatment plans are specially tailored to decrease symptoms, improve your quality of life, and prevent future complications.

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Common Causes of Low Back Pain

The disc is the space in between the bones of your vertebra that allow for padding and cushioning as well as space for the nerve to exit from the spinal cord and travel to the rest of your body.

When this disc gets damaged it can start to bulge or press out through a weakened area on the outside of that disc. This puts pressure on the nerves and causes pain. This damage can happen from degeneration over time, traumas, dehydration, spinal subluxations, or curvature issues.

A herniated disc is a more severe progression from a bulged disc. Not only has the disc started to push and stretch the outside of the disc, but now it’s torn through the fibers and is breaking through to the outside of the disc. The goal with any herniated disc is to focus on low-invasive conservative care, like chiropractic, to avoid surgery.

Degenerative disc disease is a very common condition we see in our office. This is an age-related disease as the body begins to break down, but your lifestyle plays a large role in the process and how quickly it starts to happen. When the discs shrink, becoming smaller and compressing the nerves, it causes loss of mobility, bone spurs, pain, and weakness. Degenerative disc disease cannot be reversed, but we can slow it down. That’s why it’s so important to take care of things early versus waiting until it gets bad enough to force you to take action.

Another age-related, wear-and-tear condition is spinal stenosis when the inside of the spinal column starts to degenerate and squeezes the spinal cord. This can also affect the nerve roots. As spinal stenosis can’t be seen on a standard X-ray, we must rely on an MRI or CT scan. This is very concerning because once it gets to a certain point it can cause major organ issues not just pain-wise but also affect organ function.

Where the sacrum and pelvis meet is the SI joint. About 30% of low back pain cases are from a dysfunction of this joint. The sacroiliac joint absorbs shock between the upper body and the pelvis, so it takes a lot of pressure. This can cause leg length issues, or the perception of a leg length issue, through an abnormal pelvic rotation. Pregnancy can also affect the SI joint due to hypomobility or hypermobility.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I be worried about low back pain?

Low back pain is something you should be concerned about, even at the early stages, due to the chronicity of it progressing in the future. Any small symptom is a sign that the body has already undergone damage or dysfunction. It’s trying to warn you of something more severe. So the goal is not only to decrease the symptom but treat and address the cause.

How do I tell if lower back pain is a muscle or disc issue?

Muscle issues manifest themselves with tension, tightness, and more of a dull type of pain. It may be something that has slowly gotten worse over time. You may notice it more after doing certain activities like maybe it’s worse right in the morning when you wake up.
With disc issues, it is very common to have radicular pain, sharp/nerve pain, numbness or tingling coming down the leg. The pain may be a bit sharper. A concern is that you have all the symptoms of a muscle issue along with the more severe disc-related issues.

Why won’t my lower back pain go away?

You probably never treated the cause. Instead, you may have only patched things up with ibuprofen or acetaminophen, did a stretch or massage (which is great), but the reason it never went away was that you didn’t address the underlying cause. You may have needed to be more proactive and consistent with follow-up and prevention. Our bodies break down and heal on a daily basis so we have to keep up with that.

When should I see a chiropractor for lower back pain?

Anytime, but ideally, we would see you before you even had pain. That’s why we see so many families in our office. That’s also why so many of our patients are in wellness or proactive care. The goal with anyone is to see them before they’re in pain before it’s gotten bad enough where it affects all parts of their life–before it’s gotten so bad that they’re routinely taking medications or considering orthopedic consults or other more invasive treatments.

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Lower Back Pain Treatment Aurora, Naperville IL | Buchar Family Chiropractic