Low Back Pain / Sciatica
Low back pain results in millions of dollars of lost work and untold suffering every day. Improper sitting or lifting, over-exertion, trauma, or inherited spinal abnormalities can be the cause.
Many of the pain-sensing nerves of the spine are in the facet joints, the two interlocking "fingers" at the back of each spinal bone. The normally smooth surfaces on which these joints glide, can become rough, irritated, and inflamed.
Another cause of lower back pain can be a bulging disc putting pressure on the spinal cord or a nearby nerve root. The result is often numbness, tingling, or pain down the leg. Cutting away the bulging disc tissue can permanently alter its ability to separate and cushion the adjacent bones. This rarely addresses the underlying structural cause(s) of the problem.
In the past, treatment has involved bed rest, pain medications, muscle relaxers, and even surgery. Surgical treatment often involves removing these facet joints, exposing the spinal cord! care is safer and often more effective than surgery.
Our approach is to help restore a more normal motion and position of affected spinal bones by spinal manipulation along with spinal decompression therapy. The simplicity and success of this approach has been documented in numerous research projects and has helped many patients avoid risky surgery.
Guidelines published by the Federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) concluded that spinal manipulation was one of only three treatments for acute low back pain for which there was at least moderate research-based evidence of effectiveness.
