What do I mean when I say “Science Proven”? First, it means that this approach has been shown to yield consistent, predictable, and measurable results the vast majority of the time. That’s a good start. And, it also means there’s clinical research to support the claim. 

Here’s a bit of the research on chiropractic efficacy:

• Chiropractic Patient Successful Outcomes at 96.56%
• Chiropractic Drug Utilization Lower (55% fewer opiates)
• Chiropractic Drug Cost Lower (74% less for opiates)
• Chiropractic Gets 313% Lower Secondary Disability vs. Physical Therapy 

I personally was introduced to chiropractic many years ago to deal with chronic neck pain, low back pain, headaches, fatigue, and much more. The effectiveness of chiropractic changed the course of my life. Over my more than 35 years in chiropractic practice I have continually sought to deliver the most effective care to help people suffering with chronic health issues. 

In this article we will cover a simple yet profoundly effective approach to chronic low back pain. Studies reported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicate the prevalence of chronic low back pain to be between 13% and 20% of the adult US population. 

Like many other problems, low back pain typically triggers actions that only worsen the condition over time. 

What is the Source of Low Back Pain

In the low back there are a few very common sources of pain. In general pain comes from any pain sensitive tissue. That said, some are more common sources of chronic low back pain. Here are some common sources:

• Irritated, restricted, and often arthritic facet joints of the spine: the facet joints are the small joints of the spine that guide motion. They are rich in nerves that help fire the appropriate muscles and also nerve pain fibers. 
• Restricted and imbalanced Sacroiliac Joints of the pelvis: the pelvis is the foundation on which your entire spine and upper body rests. Your Sacroiliac joints should move with every step you take. If they do not move properly the responsibility for motion is passed up to the lumbar spine and down to the hips. This either causes pain in the SI joints or in the joints above and below that are compensating. 
• Pinched Nerves: nerves exit between every two spinal bones. Arthritis, malpositioned vertebra, and disc bulges can irritate these nerves and cause pain. Pain down the leg caused by irritation to the sciatic nerve is a common example. 
• Muscle tension: the vast majority of the time the muscles are secondary to everything else happening. They tighten up and go into spasm either as an attempt to maintain balance or due to nerve irritation. As a result, rarely do I find it necessary to treat the muscles directly. 

What’s Wrong?

Whether it’s the facet joints, the sacroiliac joints, pinched nerves, or muscle tension there are 2 common denominators with almost all chronic low back pain. And, when we correct these the result is almost always a significant reduction or resolution of low back pain.

#1 The joints of the low back and pelvis are misaligned and/or have lost their ability to move freely. This causes a couple of reactions. First, joints that don’t move properly become a source of pain over time. Second, any loss of motion causes a series of compensations with other joints attempting to move more to balance the loss of motion. These compensations are often the primary cause of pain. 

#2 The loss of proper joint mechanics coupled with decreased physical activity along with the amount of sitting we do results in a loss of muscle activity in a critical group of muscles referred to as the Posterior Chain. These are the muscles that when active, allow us to move through our day without low back pain. When these muscles weaken we experience greater instability in the mid and lower back and pelvis. 

The Proven Solution

The solution is always to deconstruct the problem and correct the underlying imbalance that is the cause of the problem. This is the primary reason why medication will never solve low back pain. It doesn’t address the problem. All the pain relievers and anti inflammatories can never correct a mechanical imbalance causing nerve irritation.

• Corrective Chiropractic Care: the first priority is to restore balance to the pelvis and lower lumbar spine. Then we need to correct misalignments and lastly restore proper joint mechanics to the area. 
• Posterior Chain Activation: after achieving a restoration of balance we implement a simple yet profound exercise that activates the posterior chain muscles and stabilizes the lumbar spine and pelvis. 

At Life Chiropractic in Grass Valley we focus on corrective care. Unless you correct the underlying imbalances the condition only worsens over time resulting in accelerated degenerative arthritis and pain. 

If you are interested in scheduling your first appointment at Life Chiropractic you can do that here: Schedule Here.