Back Pain

Back pain is one of the most prevalent and expensive health issues in our country, it is also one of the most misunderstood. There are people with perfectly healthy spines when viewed on an MRI, but who suffer excruciating pain, and there are people with degenerative processes and disc bulges on MRI who lead active, pain free lives. Unfortunately many people, desperate for relief, seek surgical treatments which fail to solve their pain but result in lengthy recoveries and a disruption of the normal biomechanics of the spine. There are absolutely indications for surgery, for instance when there is weakness in the leg muscles, abnormal reflexes, or incontinence of bowel or bladder.

For uncomplicated back pain, however, an expert course of conservative management should be tried before any invasive procedures are considered. Manual therapy is often helpful for pain relief and to improve tissue mobility, but the true source of lasting relief comes in retraining your body to move your spine with controlled mobility - it’s not enough to move through a full range of motion or to be able to stabilize your core, you must do both together. You must also learn what pain is, why you experience it, and when it is and is not dangerous. If you are being treated by a practitioner who is not educating you about pain science, or they simply run you through generic back pain exercises before having an aide ultrasound your back, you aren’t receiving optimal treatment. Shake and bake therapies and one-size-fits-all plans of care don’t solve back pain.

I will help you discern the causes of your back pain, develop an individualized plan of care to address it, refer out if you need assistance beyond a physical therapist, and partner with you if you pursue more invasive treatment options. Suffering back pain is not as hopeless as it may seem, and it can be solved.