I wanted to share a really cool experience with you. This is actually pretty typical in my office. I know many people have never been to a chiropractor before. They don’t know what goes on inside a chiropractic office.
I Got A Call The Other Day
The other day I got a call from an old friend of mine who I’ve known for 25+ years. I’m going to call him George (his real name was changed due to doctor-patient privacy). One morning (a couple of days ago), George bent over to tie his shoes, felt a little “pop” in his lower back, and collapsed to the floor in agonizing pain.
He Sought Medical Treatment
Not knowing what to do, he had his wife drive him to the hospital. At the hospital, the emergency department staff took a history, performed an exam, and ordered x-rays. They gave him a number of different medications (including an anti-inflammatory, a muscle relaxer, and Valium). The drugs weren’t cutting it in terms of alleviating his pain. I got him in the next day.
What I Found
I did an examination and discovered (in addition to being in considerable localized lower back pain), George had profound stiffness, muscle splinting, limited range of motion, and was shifting his posture to the left in order to take pressure off of the right side (where the pain was). Additionally, he had a functional weakness (was unable to squat, plank, or perform other rudimentary movements).
The Chiropractic Adjustment
In my mind, this was a clear case of a stability problem. He had multiple subluxations (which are bones in his back that are stuck or not moving properly). To correct that problem, I gave George a few chiropractic adjustments.
We Improved Stabilization
The next thing I found involved problems in the muscles that controlled stabilization. There are muscles that control how stable your back is. Some of these muscles are called the multifidus group. We used a device called a wobble chair (but you can use a physioball to achieve similar results. George did a few exercises on the wobble chair which challenged his stabilization and balance.
Stretching To Improve Flexibility
Next, I had George perform low back and lower extremity stretches. The goal was to break up muscle spasms by elongating the muscles which were affected. After this, I applied some Cryoderm (a topical analgesic), and used a vibration device on George’s low back to calm down the muscles, and provide some pain relief.
After just ONE treatment, George was 100% out of pain. He had normal posture, and a full range of motion and was able to perform all functional movements (including the squat, planking, etc.). No drugs. No surgery.