Chiropractic Blog

With over 80% of the population suffering from low back pain at some point in their life, there is no doubting that this affliction has become a major problem.

Low back pain affects everyone whether you suffer it yourself, know someone who has, or pay for low back pain treatments via the healthcare system and taxes.
So what’s the problem?

Well there has been a significant increase in spinal MRI’s, fusion surgeries, spinal injections as well as opiate & anti-depressant use for those with back pain. Unfortunately we have not seen any improvement in patient outcomes. In fact chronic, disabling low back pain has actually increased roughly five-fold in the last 15 years.

Because low back pain is a broad term used to describe many different types of problems from muscle spasms, to disc herniation’s & joint irritations not all back pain can be treated the same way. Exercises and lifestyle modifications and plan of management will be different based on what type of back pain you have. For example, if you have a disc herniation, extension exercises are recommended while twisting movements should be avoided, if you have a joint irritation, the knee to chest stretch is recommended while extension exercises should be avoided.

So what does the research and clinical practice guidelines tell us works for low back pain? This is what they say…

If you have a sudden attack of back pain, it is recommended to;

1. stay active
2. visit a health care practitioner and get educated about what exercises & lifestyle changes you should do
3. Employ a short course of NSAIDS or paracetamol (which is a type of pain medication like Advil or Tylenol– make sure to consult a doctor or pharmacist before taking).
4. Spinal manipulative therapy; get your spine adjusted by a chiropractor or another health care provider.

The same conservative treatments are also recommended for those with chronic back pain (longer than 6 weeks) and sometimes sciatica.

In appropriate and high risk cases which include deteriorating neurological involvement, there are secondary recommendations for weak opioids, steroid injections and back surgery.). So how can you tell if you have neurological involvement?

Back pain with neurological involvement is associated with some of the following signs & symptoms; weakness in the muscles of your legs, numbness into your legs or feet, sharp shooting pain down your leg. It can also be associated with loss of control of your bowel or bladder; this is an emergency situation.

So why the recommendations for expensive surgeries and addictive pills? The first line of care for the management of low back pain should focus on patient education, exercises prescription, advice on lifestyle modifications, the short term use of a pain medication, and spinal manipulative therapy.
For more information or to book an appointment contact Dr. Jen at Georgina Chiropractic,

Office: 905-535-6000 ext. 815 Cell: 647-985-3735 E-mail: jdickieson@georginahealthcentre.ca