Rest and muscle relaxors for low back pain in Everett?

Good day and thanks for looking at my Blog on back pain. I have been in practice for over 21  years and a substantial part of my practice is patients with low back pain.  Most of time in practice here in Everett.  I have see it all, strained muscles, joint pain, hip pain, disc injuries, pre surgery and post surgery.  What always amazes me is that I see relatively few patients with low back pain that have true muscle spasms.  Yet a huge amount of people will walk in to the office and the only thing they have been doing for their back pain is taking muscle relaxants!

My average patient that does not know the benefits of active care like chiropractic will come in the office with a two or three week duration of low back pain.  They will tell me they saw an MD and the MD told them to rest and take muscle relaxants for a couple weeks.  Usually I will also find out the MD never examined the patient and never touched them!  This patient is also usually off work and is resting.  They have also been told to not exercise. In the consult I also find that this patient is usually getting worse and was told to stay on this regime of care for four weeks and then come back.

The problem here is this does not work and is very outdated treatment.  Worse yet is this patient will have usually developed secondary problems by the time they come into see me.  Secondary as in hip pain, upper back pain and sometime leg pains. This is due to poor education on why they are in pain, poor body mechanics due to the low back pain and no education on how to move and lift.

So what is the answer?  First have a good consult with a chiropractor to find out your history.  A good history will usually tell a good doctor what is wrong with you.  Then have a complete exam of the spine and hips.  Chiropractors do a great job with low back exams. After the exam you yourself will most likely know exactly where your pain is coming from. Then maybe have X-rays to see if there is an underlying problem that may slow your healing.  With all this information create a plan for your short and long term healing.  In the short term you want to get out of pain. That can be done with ice, stretching, walking, chiropractic adjustments and proper lifting.  Long term you can heal with more of what is just listed along with exercise for the core muscles and the low back.

If this sounds appealing to you, or you know someone who has low back pain that has been around for a while and is taking muscle relaxants please call our office.  I would look forward to the opportunity to help you not only get out of pain, but also get your life back.

Thanks

Dr. Beasley