Here at The Core, our chiropractors see a lot of acute low back pain situations similar to what one of our clients, Barb, experienced while bending to brush her teeth one day. She had not been dealing with any chronic pain or discomfort leading up to this lower back pain incident and this is what was as troubling to her as the terrible pain itself.
Barb’s Story
The chiropractor conducted an assessment of her complete history which determined that Barb was a middle aged woman in good health, though she would like to lose some weight, and she had no previous incidents of acute low back pain. She worked at a desk all day and didn’t do much activity away from work. There was no radiating pain other than into the right buttock and no other “red flags” of concern for an underlying cause. Her ranges of motion in the low back and pelvis were reduced due to both pain and stiffness and she was bent off to the left while trying to stand straight. Barb was diagnosed with a sprain of the low back and pelvic joints and strain of the associated muscles.
The chiropractor started treatment immediately with the initial goal of reducing Barb’s acute low back pain and trying to introduce, very gently, some proper motion back to the sprained joints so that they could heal much faster. By getting the joints working better the associated strained muscles could also relax and heal quicker. After her massage therapy, she was provided with some at-home stretching exercises and some hot and cold therapy routines. After 2 chiropractic treatments Barb was about 50% improved from her pain and about 70% of her function was returned. Ten days and 5 treatments later she was pain free with full function.
Barb wasn’t done though. She was concerned with how easily the pain came on and didn’t want it to return. The chiropractor explained that even though the low back pain started with simply brushing her teeth it had been building behind the scenes due to her constant sitting and lack of activity. The chiropractor also explained that statistics show that one is 5 times more likely to have a bout of low back pain if you’ve had a first bout and this increases with each incident. So Barb was referred over to one of The Core physiotherapists to have a core muscle assessment and was then given a progressive at-home stretching and strengthening plan that was specific to Barb. The therapist also gave her some weight loss strategies. It was also recommended she get an occasional chiropractic pelvis and low back function check-up to keep the area moving well.
Acute vs Chronic Pain
Acute pain is pain that appears and goes away within a short time period. Chronic pain is pain that is ongoing and usually lasts longer than six months. This type of pain can continue even after the injury or illness has healed.
Don’t wait until you are crippled with low back pain just from brushing your teeth. Feel free to contact us here at Core Optimum Health and we can help you start your journey.
