BACK PAIN? Ways a Chiropractor can help

Back pain, and how a Chiropractor can help

Back pain is a problem that affects millions of Canadians. When your back hurts, many normal daily activities become difficult. For example, when one suffer from back pain, getting up in the morning out of bed can be challenging, bending to wash your face over the sink can become unbearable, and even getting in and out of your car can become extremely difficult. There are many causes to your back pain; some of these can be due to daily stress, sedentary lifestyle, heavy lifting/ bending, and sometimes we experiences pain due to normal wear and tear of the body.

Most of the time back pain is self-limiting, and should subside after a few days. However, if your back pain last more than a few days, consulting a chiropractor for an assessment is recommended. Based on your examination, your chiropractor would recommend a course of treatment. Your treatment might consist of the follow-up 3 recommendations:

• Soft- tissue therapy. The chiropractor would work to relax/ treat tight and sore muscles. By treating these pain generating musculatures, a chiropractor can help reduce pain symptoms. Some of the techniques a chiropractor would use to treat these pain generating musculatures would be muscle release technique (stretching the muscle while applying manual pressure), trigger point therapy (applying direct pressure over tense muscles), or instrument- assisted soft-tissue therapy (using a tool to apply gentle pressure using a sweeping motion).
• Manual therapy. When a joint is not moving as well as it should, a chiropractor might utilized manual therapy techniques in the form of mobilization or manipulation to help restore joint ranges of motions. A mobilization is a slow, gentle stretch of the affected joint; while manipulation is a quick, but gentle stretch of the affected joint. Depending on the findings, your chiropractor might use one over the other to help restore joint motions.
• Exercises therapy/ self- management. A chiropractor will be able to provide simple and effective exercises you can do at home to help with your pain. These exercises might be as simple as stretching, which helps enforce relaxation of tight muscles during your treatment; or simple exercises that helps build strengthen and endurance to weak muscles in order to prevent re-occurrence. The chiropractor might also educate you on proper lifting techniques in order to prevent future injuries to the low back.

In summary, many people opt to “tough it out,” when it comes to their back pain. But ignoring simple acute back pain, can lead to chronic back pain that is often more difficult to treat. If back pain is affecting your ability to get through your day, consider seeing a chiropractor for a thorough assessment, and appropriate treatments that would help get you back to enjoying your favourite activities.