Back Pain Treatment

chiropractor treating back pain

Chiropractic Treatment for Back Pain

Back pain is unfortunately very common – 80% of Australians will have low back pain at some time in their lives. Sometimes back pain can be short-lived, but when persistent it really impacts your quality of life, affecting physical activity, work, rest, and your general well-being.

The good news is that Chiropractic has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for low back pain. On this page I outline some of the different types of back pain and my approach to treatment to help you live free from pain and with maximum vitality.

Patients Who Receive Chiropractic Do Better

A study published in the Chiropractic Journal of Australia compared medical management vs chiropractic care for treatment of low back pain. The results demonstrated conclusively that the patients treated by Chiropractors did better:

  • Fewer took sick leave and of those that did, their absence from work was shorter
  • More experienced a complete resolution of their back pain problem – whereas more patients treated by medical management went on to develop chronic pain and long-term problems

If you are experiencing back pain, take the first step to resolving the problem by calling me on (02) 9868 2509 to arrange a consultation today.

My approach to treating back pain

For patients with low back pain, the most common of all back ailments, a visit to the GP will most commonly result in a prescription for anti-inflammatory and/or analgesic medication.

However, the detailed and thorough assessment that I do with all my new patients gives me an excellent basis for deciding the right course of treatment for you.

While the vast majority of the causes of low back are mechanical in origin, my first step is to rule out any underlying medical condition as the cause of your pain and to ascertain that chiropractic treatment is appropriate for you.

My particular approach is not only to address the underlying cause of your back pain, but to restore stability and function to your spine and minimise the chance of the problem coming back. This involves:

  • a course of treatment that is tailor made to suit you and the needs of your spine.
  • gentle, specific, low force adjustments to correct subluxations, promote healing and restore function to your spine.
  • a bespoke exercise program to help the adjustments to hold and prevent the problem from coming back.
  • follow up re-examinations to monitor your progress.

Don’t suffer unnecessarily with back pain

If you’re starting to notice that your back pain is:

  • Interfering with your everyday life, whether that be housework, concentrating/performing at work, looking after the kids or looking after yourself
  • Preventing you from fully participating in the sports that you like to play or the hobbies that you enjoy
  • Impacting your ability to play with your kids or grand-children, or to just simply spend time with your family
  • Making you grumpy and moody, and affecting your relationships with close family members, friends and/or work colleagues

Now is the time to do something about it. Call me on (02) 9868 2509 or send an enquiry to arrange a consultation and I will guide you through what needs to be done to get you back on track.

Epping Chiropractor Dr Gus Gunther

More about back pain – causes and types of back pain

If you are suffering from back pain, then it is highly likely that it is due primarily to one of three major presentations: disc (slipped, prolapsed, herniated) or facet (joints of the spine) or sacro-iliac joints (dimples at the base of your spine)

The extent of the involvement of, and damage to these structures, depends very much on how long the problem has been around for. In essence, all three of these presentations represent varying stages along a continuum of altered spinal function, starting at a lack of control and co-ordination, through decreasing spinal stability, through de-conditioning, further decreased spinal function, and ultimately leading to degeneration (osteoarthritis).

Interestingly, as is the case in many conditions that ail us, pain and symptoms may not present until the process is well underway. For this reason, whether this is your first experience of back pain or you have had several or only a few prior episodes, is not necessarily an accurate reflection of where you are on this continuum.

Similarly, in all of the above three presentations, we will have some degree of muscle spasm, as an attempt to protect the spine and nervous system. This may lead us to feeling that it is just a “muscular problem”. A thorough examination is essential to ascertain where you are along this continuum and what is required to get you back on track, to doing the things you need to do and love to do.

To arrange a consultation call me on (02) 9868 2509 or send an enquiry today.

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