Low Back Pain

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Low back pain is THE leading cause of disability in the world today. Between 1990 and 2015 it has increased disability by “54%” (Hartvigsen, 2018). It is one of the musculoskeletal injuries that all people deal with, it does not discriminate between age, race or gender. You are not alone in your pain. Keep reading to find out more about low back pain and how Vector Sport and Spine: Chiro & Rehab can help you.

Types of Low Back Pain

There are two categories of low back pain that clinicians typically look at, chronic and acute with a third less defined type called sub-acute. Acute low back pain is defined as pain that has had a length of < 6 weeks, sub-acute is 6-12 weeks and chronic is >12 weeks of pain. Pain can vary in length, severity and type. It is important if pain lasts longer than 5+ days, you should schedule an appointment with a chiropractor, physical therapist or another conservative care professional.

Factors Causing Low Back Pain

There are many contributing factors to low back pain (Ramdas, 2018)

  • Stress

  • Anxiety

  • Previous low back Injuries

  • Beliefs about your back

  • Being overweight

  • Minimal physical activity

  • Disc herniations (common and not usually painful)

  • Radiculopathy (Rare)

  • Improper preparation

  • and many others

Because of these different factors rarely is an anatomical issue like, sciatica, a slipped disc or herniation causing the only thing causing your low back pain. It could be a thoughts, emotions, lack of movement preparation and any number of other things coupled with a physical injury that causes your low back to hurt.

Treatment

Treatment options are numerous in the world of low back pain. They include:

  • Medications: gabapentin, opioids, NSAIDs, muscle relaxers, benzodiazepines, corticosteroids, antidepressant medication, antiepileptic medication etc. (recommended as limited use, with caution)

  • Surgeries: vertebroplasty, laminectomies, spinal decompression, discectomy, foraminotomy, fusion and many others. (recommended as limited use, with caution)

  • Education/Advice (the best treatment)

  • Epidural steroid injections

  • Exercise Therapy/Rehab

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

  • Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation

  • Acupuncture

  • Yoga

While all of these options are pursued in the medical field not all of these options are beneficial for every body. According to a lancet study done in 2018 these different treatments are tiered into different “lines of treatment.” (Foster, 2018) Only advice to remain active and education are considered to be first line treatment for acute low back pain. Chronic low back pain recommended education, advice, cognitive behavioral therapy and Exercise therapy as first line treatments. Everything else is considered to be a supplementary to these these treatments or unusable to use right now.

Foster, N. E., et al. (2018). Prevention and treatment of low back pain: evidence, challenges, and promising directions. The Lancet, 391(10137), 2368–2383. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30489-6

How We Treat Low Back Pain

In our Burnsville, MN practice we take a detailed history of your injury, followed by a functional exam and movement assessment. Our goal is to meet your goals as an athlete, and identify the best ways to help your body recover from your injuries. We do this in a 4 step model.

  • Step 1 - Provide evidenced-based education/advice for your complaint.

  • Step 2 - Reduce the symptoms - (pain, dysfunction, etc.)

  • Step 3 - Introduce movement back into the symptomatic region.

  • Step 4 - Introduce sport or movement-specific skill based patterns

Early on we expect your body to respond well, by reducing your symptoms. After that happens, we advance you through different stages of movement detailed below. Once this is going well, we focus on skill specific movement patterns surrounding whatever your goals are, and focus on getting you back to the activities you love.

If you would like help with you back pain click the button below, we are here to help you.

 

References:

Foster, N. E. et al. (2018). Prevention and treatment of low back pain: evidence, challenges, and promising directions. The Lancet, 391(10137), 2368–2383. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30489-6

Hartvigsen, J. et al. (2018). What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention. The Lancet, 391(10137), 2356-2367.

Ramdas, J., & Jella, V. (2018). Prevalence and risk factors of low back pain.