Lower Back Pain: How it Happens & How to Treat it
According to the American Chiropractic Association, 80% of the population will experience back pain at some point in their life. In fact, it’s one of the most popular reasons people reportedly miss work. Coincidentally, one of the leading causes of back pain are work-related environments that we cannot control. For example, someone who spends most of their day sitting at a desk with their lower back constantly compressed, will likely experience chronic aches and pains.
What Exactly is Back Pain?
Your back is a complicated structure made up of bones, joints, and ligaments that are perfectly engineered to provide your body with strength, support and flexibility. However, the stresses of every life can leave you with a variety of strains, ruptures, and irritations that range in severity, eventually leading to back pain. Even the smallest dull pain shouldn’t go ignored. What can start out as a mild discomfort can work up to a severely debilitating pain.
Signs You Should Seek Help for Back Pain:
- You experienced a trauma, such as a car accident or bad fall.
- Persisting pain that does not lessen over time
- Pain at night
- Weakness in your legs
- Abdominal pain accompanied by back pain
- Numbness or tingling in the inner thighs or legs
- Bowel issues
- Problems with balance
- Fever accompanied by back pain
- When you bend or flex your back and the pain worsens
How to Treat Back Pain
There are multiple avenues to take when it comes to treating back pain. Today, research supports seeking a chiropractor for spinal manipulation as the first choice over conventional medical doctors. Spinal manipulation is a safe, effective, non-invasive pain treatment that reduces pain and decreases the need for medication. Chiropractors are experts in musculoskeletal conditions, trained to not only treat your pain but solve the root cause of the problem.
Prevention is Key
As with most medical concerns, preventing back pains before they happen is ideal. Seeing your chiropractor on a regular basis can keep your spine in alignment and prevent future aches and pains from even starting. Your chiropractor will also provide you with exercises and tools that keep your spine in perfect condition on your own. By increasing joint mobility, you’ll improve your overall spinal health and give yourself the ability to better manage symptoms that cause back pain in the future.
