Lower back pain and arthritis are one of the most common complaints that pervade modern health care. If you add headaches and neck pain we’ve pretty much covered 65% of the daily complaints at the doctor’s office.
Recommendations from the American College of Physicians don’t help. They say, ignore your lower back pain and it will go away. If you don’t believe me then you can read this article on their “new” recommendations in the New York Times.
Not one mention of early intervention by a chiropractor.
If you are fortunate enough to have a family doctor who recommends today’s chiropractic then you don’t need to read any further. You’ve likely already been told to take action and get to a chiropractor.
Progressive doctors don’t go by the “wait and see” recommendation because they know that spinal conditions may go “silent” for a while but they don’t go away by themselves.
Why I wrote this article
But if you’re like the majority of new patients to my office, you’ll likely need to do your own research and this is why I’ve written this article.
I’m going to keep this short because the x-ray images speak for themselves. I’ll also share with you the “short list” of symptoms this patient had. I say “short list” because he had lots of aches and pains, I’ll stay focused on the lower back pain.
John’s case of lower back pain and sciatica
John (not his real name) came in after a neighbour had encouraged him to give my office a call. He was bending over because of his back pain. John was limited to walking for 150m before he had to take a break because his pain was too severe.
He was told he had spinal arthritis and was given Celebrex for the pain. As long as he took Celebrex he was able to move around but without it he would seize up completely.
We took weight bearing x-rays to determine the damage in his spine and this is what we found. These are x-rays of the lower back from the side.
The x-ray on the right is John, the x-ray on the left is a near normal. If you look closely you can see that John has several misshapen vertebrae and several discs that have degenerated.
He also has a condition where the ligaments that hold his spine are so loose that the vertebra slides forward on the vertebrae below (anterolisthesis). This causes tremendous pressure on the spinal cord and is why he was in so much pain. Here is a close up of that section of his spine.
Fortunately we have a better plan than what the New York Times was reporting (wait and see).
Today’s technology allows us to work intelligently with the spine and slowly bring it back.
In John’s case he went from walking a few meters to walking for most of the day without being forced to sit down.
Here are his before and after x-rays. This was after just a few weeks.
And here is a close up of the anterolisthesis.
Today’s Technology in Chiropractic
More advanced chiropractic offices are equipped with technology that can deal effectively with spinal conditions. In this case, very specific spinal corrective adjustments and a Denneroll Table. I’ve included a brief video of Dr. Deed Harrison of the Ideal Spine Centre in Eagle, ID speaking about the Denneroll Table.
This was not the “set up” that John required because each Denneroll set up is individualized for the patient’s specific needs based on their spinal condition.
This is why it’s critical to have accurate x-rays and see a chiropractor that is current and has the necessary technology to help with correcting your spine.
So if you’re suffering with lower back pain, hip pain or sciatica and this is new information to you then maybe a call to Lighthouse might get you started on your road to recovery.
Today’s chiropractic is very different than 20 years ago and many people don’t know how effective today’s chiropractic has become.
I hope this article has been encouraging if you or a loved one is suffering.
There may be help, so give us a call and we’ll see if there is something that can be done to help you with your lower back pain.
If you’re not in the Okanagan Valley, we are connected to some of the most advanced chiropractic corrective offices in North America. We might be able to refer you to an office that can help, so give us a call.
Talk soon,
Dr. J
4 Comments.
Thank you so much for this great article.
Type here.. Thanks
I have been with a lower left back pain for close to 15 years.
I visited many hospitals, swallowed tabz and under gone massage but all in vein.
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been suffering for so long. I’d really encourage you to follow this link HERE and type in your location. A certified chiropractic biophysics doctor will be able to determine if the technology I have described in my post will help you get your health back.
Reading your article has greatly helped me, and I agree with you. But I still have some questions. Can you help me? I will pay attention to your answer. thank you.