Alleviating Mechanical Low Back Pain with Chiropractic Adjustments

Understanding Mechanical Low Back Pain and Chiropractic Relief

Low back pain is a common ailment that affects millions globally, significantly impacting daily activities and quality of life. Mechanical low back pain, characterized by pain primarily due to issues with spinal movement and alignment, can be particularly debilitating. Chiropractic care offers a promising solution by addressing the root mechanical causes of this pain.

Symptoms of Mechanical Low Back Pain

Mechanical low back pain is typically influenced by physical movement and posture. Symptoms may include:

• Pain that intensifies with specific movements or positions, such as bending or lifting.

• Discomfort that alleviates when lying down or resting.

• Muscle stiffness or spasms in the lower back.

• Limited flexibility or range of motion in the lower back.

• Occasionally, pain may radiate from the lower back into the buttocks or upper thighs, though it rarely extends below the knee.

Chiropractic Adjustments: A Path to Relief

Chiropractic care provides a non-invasive, drug-free approach to treating mechanical low back pain. Here’s how chiropractic adjustments can help:

1. Restoring Proper Alignment: Misalignments in the spine, known as subluxations, can restrict movement and cause discomfort. Chiropractic adjustments help realign the vertebrae, restoring flexibility and easing pain.

2. Reducing Pressure on Nerves: Misaligned vertebrae can also exert pressure on spinal nerves; adjustments relieve this pressure, alleviating pain and improving nerve function.

3. Improving Mobility: By restoring normal movement to the spine, chiropractic care helps decrease stiffness and improve mobility, making everyday activities more manageable.

4. Enhancing Muscle Function: Adjustments can reduce muscle tension, which in turn helps to decrease pain and prevent muscle spasms.

Integrating Chiropractic Care Into Your Routine

For those suffering from mechanical low back pain, incorporating regular chiropractic adjustments can be a game-changer. Many patients experience significant relief after just a few sessions, though ongoing care may be recommended to maintain optimal spinal health.

Conclusion: A Natural Solution to Low Back Pain

Mechanical low back pain doesn't have to limit your life. With chiropractic adjustments, you can regain mobility, reduce pain, and improve your overall spinal health, all without the need for medications or invasive procedures.

Low Back Pain Compression & How to Ease it

Low back pain is the most common mechanical type pain in all of North America. Low back pain symptoms usually cause stiffness, aches and generalized fatigue, but there are many different reasons why you can get these symptoms.

One of the main causes of this discomfort is repetitive strain for a rounded low back. This rounding of your low back makes it susceptible to injury and you guessed it, low back pain.

If you are suffering from low back pain with acute onset then it’s important to know what type of injury it is and what you exercises and stretches you can do and which ones you should avoid.

In the video below I discuss how you can identify if the low back pain you are experiencing is getting irritated with compression, as well as three exercises which you can start today to help get relief.

How to Get Out of Bed and Avoid Low back Pain

Low back pain first thing in the morning is very common. Unfortunately there are many contributing factors that cause low back stiffness first thing in the morning. The underlying cause is usually low back arthritis or an existing injury to a lumbar disc. However, there are many aggravating factors that can contribute to the morning low back pain and stiffness. These include but are not limited to the mattress, you sleep position and finally the way you sit up out of bed.

This last maneuver is similar to a sit-up which puts a ton of strain and compression through the lumbar spine,.

This is made even worse by the fact that your discs re-hydrate overnight and increase your risk of low back injuries with certain movements.

Below is a video explanation of a better way to get out of bed, or off the couch when you are laying on your back.

Is Your Problem Mobility or Flexibility?

Have you ever watched a baby roll around and grab their feet and put their toes in their mouth.  

Their flexibility is incredible. I would love to have flexibility like that, and no, not to put my toes in my mouth :)

Flexibility VS Mobility.

Flexibility is the passive range of motion through a joint. For example if you were to bend your wrist back with the opposite hand, forcing it as far as it can go.

Mobility on the other hand is our ability to move actively with control through different ranges of motion.  

Mobility is more important as it stabilizes your movement so you don’t injure a joint structure.

When you get adjusted by your chiropractor the initial goal in most cases is to get the stuck joints moving properly again.  Once you have slightly better motion the next step should be learning to engage the muscles that support that joint. This is done through mobility exercises specific to that area.  A good example for the low back can be found here “3 simple low back exercises”.

The problem with mobility is that we lose it over time due to lack of movement through specific ranges.  For example, our constant day to day activities consisting of constant sitting at work, in the car and at home will tighten your hip flexors, hamstrings and low back.

The bottom line is good mobility is yours to lose since you can see when observing a baby, we were all born with it.  

The cool thing is that if you do mobility movements regularly you can see amazing changes.  First how quickly the mobility comes back as well as how good you feel once you continue improve.

This is why so many people seek out yoga or pilates as it requires active muscle control through different ranges of motion.

Squatting deep and creating movement while squatting is one of the best ways to help combat the chronic tightness from sitting.

Doing this regularly will help to create good movement patterns and increase mobility.

I will post a video of a morning mobility routine that you can do to add movement to your mornings.

Symptoms - the tip of the iceberg

Thank goodness for symptoms!

If you didn’t have symptoms you wouldn’t know if you were sick or injured.

Symptoms are like essentially your body’s fire alarm, they go off when something is wrong.

If the fire alarm goes off in your home it is because it detects smoke, alerting you to take action.

Symptoms such as headaches, low back pain and shoulder tightness are your body’s alarm signal when it detects change, like injured tissue, inflammation and more.

If you listen to the symptoms usually you can put the fire out pretty quickly.

All too often however, you don’t get to the root cause of your symptoms, and we take minor actions to suppress the symptoms so you can make it through your day easier.

This is the equivalent of the fire alarm going off in your house and to solve the problem you take the batteries out so the alarm stops.

CRAZY RIGHT?!!

You would never do this to your home without looking for the cause of the smoke, yet people do it to themselves all the time.

Next time you have new symptoms, dig a bit deeper to find out what the root of the problem is rather than “removing the batteries” just to feel better.