Category: Back Pain & Sciatica

In an article published in the journal Disability and Rehabilitation, the authors compared patients with back pain due to disc disease that had physical therapy only, and physical therapy PLUS INVERSION therapy.  The found that the patients that had PT PLUS INVERSION had less need for back surgery than the patients that had physical therapy…

Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine that is shaped like a “C” or an “S” when looking at the person from behind. I’m sure you’ve noticed when you’re at a beach, at a swimming pool, or walking in an airport, some people have a high shoulder, walk with a bit of a limp if…

Patient education is a very important aspect of caring for our patients. In fact, it can be one of the most important aspects of care. For example, when patients present with a brand new injury and pain levels are off the map, it’s quite common for that acute suffering patient to inappropriately think that, “I’m…

Low back pain can arise from many conditions, one of which is a mouthful: spondylolisthesis. The term was coined in 1854 from the Greek words, “spondylo” for vertebrae and “olisthesis” for slip. These “slips” most commonly occur in the low back, 90% at L5 and 9% at L4. According to www.spinehealth.com and others, the most…

Low back pain can emanate from many anatomical locations (as well as a combination of locations), which always makes it interesting when a patient asks, “…doc, where in my back is my pain coming from?”  In context of an office visit, we take an accurate history and perform our physical exam to try to reproduce…

Scoliosis is a term used to describe a curvature of the spine that is not “normal.” The normal curves of the spine include an inward curve in the low back and neck and an outward curve in the mid-back when looking at the person from the side (“sagittal plane”). However, there should NOT be any…

You may think it’s odd to discuss low back pain (LBP) from the perspective of spinal fusion because as chiropractors, we do not perform surgery and so, why discuss it?  It is important that we discuss research such as this so we can make the informed treatment decisions with our patients after we’ve considered all…

Have you ever been told (or at least heard it said): if you could just drop a few pounds, your low back pain would improve?  It’s pretty well accepted that excess weight contributes to low back pain. So, if that’s the case, which dietary approach is “…the best?” Even though weight loss is very important,…

You may recall last month, we talked about the relationship between low back pain and balance, particularly our unfortunate increased tendency to fall as we “mature.”  This month, we’re going to look at ways to improve our balance by learning specific exercises that utilize the parts of our nervous system that regulate balance or, proprioception. …

What do low back pain and balance have to do with each other?  Well, a lot!  First (and most obvious), poor balance can lead to falling, which is the number one cause of injuries after the age of 70 (which includes low back pain). Unfortunately, as we age, we lose both balance AND bone density…