Don't wait for the low back pain to go away in Everett

Good day and welcome to my blog on Chiropractic.  My name is Greg Beasley and I have been in practice since 1993.  I have been practicing  chiropractic care in Everett since 2000.  On almost a daily basis I will have a new patient come in and give me a history of low back pain that started about a month ago.  The reasons for waiting for care vary from; "I could not move so I did not come in."  "I wanted to try muscle relaxers for  a few days."  "I thought the pain would go away."  Or, "I am here now because I cannot ___________"  you can fill in the blank.  Most people, especially men, will only seek help when the pain in the low back starts to interfere with their normal activities of daily living (ADL's).  For many people it is an activity like golf or tennis.  For some it is sleep or sexual activity.  For others it is that they cannot go to work or they cannot play with their children or grand children.  Only a minimal amount of patients show up and say they are here solely due to low back pain. The average patient comes in because of what the low back pain is limiting him or her from doing.

So what can you not do because your low back hurts?  As you think about this, also consider that most low back pain is mechanical in nature.  This means that most people with low back pain have some type of dysfunction in the low back (lumbar) spinal joints or disc.  In my 22 years of practicing chiropractic I have seen a very small amount of muscle spasms.  Since most of the pain is coming from the joints or the disc and this is what chiropractors are trained to take care of, chiropractic is a great place to start feeling better.  Joint dysfunction can be diagnosed with a few simple exams and in most cases the joints will feel better after only a few chiropractic manipulations.  X-rays may be needed and in a small percentage of patients an MRI may be needed to evaluate the disc.  This is usually limited to patients with sciatica or where the low back pain is so bad they are unable to function at all.

The other aspect of good chiropractic care is instructions on home stretching and exercise for the low back pain.  I am not talking about extensive time where you have to go to the gym.  Most low back stretches can be done randomly throughout the day and may take only four minutes at a time. The most important thing with low back pain when it comes to home therapy is to stay active and avoid rest.

If you have thought of what your low back pain is preventing you from doing and would like to start on the road to returning back to that activity please give us a call and set up an appointment to speak with me.  In a few minutes of consultation I will be able to determine if chiropractic care can help you or not.  By the time you leave the office you will know what is wrong with you, you will feel better and have at least one stretch that is specific to your low back pain that will continue to provide relief.