Back Pain Treatment in Rome, GA

What Causes Back Pain in Rome?

Typically patients visiting our chiropractic clinic in Rome do not have one big injury that causes their pain. Usually the pain has been developing over many years.

We see this every week. You drive over from North Rome, spend two hours stuck on Turner McCall, and then spend 8 hours in an office at a desk. You were never meant to sit that long. Your spine loses hydration from the discs between your vertebrae and the muscles surrounding your lower back get tight and weak simultaneously. Finally something gives. You pick up a shopping bag off the floor, and suddenly your back grabs. The bag did not cause the injury, only revealed it.

Here are the most common reasons Rome residents require back pain treatment:

• Prolonged sitting at a desk, or during your commute on GA-20 and Highway 53.
• Repetitive lifting and bending in a warehouse or factory.
• Poor posture from excessive phone and computer use, that causes chronic spinal changes.
• Previous sports or car accident injuries that have not been resolved.
• General stress and tension that tightens muscles in your mid and lower back.

What most people don't realize, according to the American Chiropractic Association, back pain is the #1 cause of disability in the world [1]. It is not uncommon, or exceptional. It's simply life catching up with your body.

In Rome we have many active people who go hiking around Berry College, but also many who have physically demanding jobs at various local companies. The result is that both groups come into our office with back pain. The hiker simply hikes too far, or too often. The worker performs the same motion hundreds of times a day. The end result is the same.

The bottom line, in almost all cases, something in your normal daily living places more load on your back than it can deal with. Your body compensates, but after a while, compensation fails and the pain stays.

But when we identify what is driving your back pain, the problem actually improves.

How Can You Tell If You Need Professional Help for Back Pain?

You wake up feeling stiff. You twist to reach something in your car, or you've been sitting at a desk near downtown for 8 hours, and your back locks up. Typically, people will just live with this pain until it resolves itself on its own. A few stretches, some ibuprofen, and the pain will likely ease away before you leave work on Friday.

Often, this is the case.

Yet what our office experiences on a regular basis are patients who put it off for too long.

An ache that lingered for three weeks eventually led to radicular pain in the leg. Stiffness that was once manageable resulted in time away from work. There are many situations where back pain doesn't necessarily mean there is a significant issue, but your body is sending you an important signal. It is when this signal is ignored that difficulties can become more serious.

What are some signs that it's time to schedule an appointment?

• Pain that does not subside after 5 to 7 days
• Numbness or tingling running into your legs or feet
• Sharp or shooting pain when bending, sitting or standing up from a seated position
• Stiffness that is worse in the morning and fails to loosen up
• Pain that disrupts your sleep or wakes you up at night

It may only be necessary to call us about any ONE of the symptoms above, but if you are experiencing two or more of them, then you should not wait much longer than one week.

We have many conversations with Rome patients about believing their back pain is merely a natural part of aging. This is often the case: A treatable issue that became more challenging to correct because it did not receive early attention. Patients from the West Rome neighborhood frequently state they almost decided against their initial consultation because their discomfort did not seem "bad enough" and then express their gladness that they chose to attend anyway. Not everyone who experiences back pain requires an extensive treatment plan. It may just require the eyes and hands of a chiropractor with decades of clinical experience to examine your back, identify the problem and provide some relief before our therapy begins. This is what patients are often surprised to find.

What to Expect at Your First Back Pain Consultation

Walk in. Talk. This is the beginning.

We need to know what is happening before we examine your back, so we will inquire about your pain: its intensity, its location, its onset and aggravating factors. Patients visiting our Rome, GA location have typically had back issues for weeks or months before scheduling with us. That's why it's fine to bring all the details with you so we have everything necessary to help you properly.

Once the discussion about your background has occurred, a hands-on physical assessment will take place. We will test your motion range, check your reflexes and locate areas of tenderness or misalignment. We may take x-rays if necessary during your visit. Usually after just the physical, we have a clear picture as to what is causing your back pain.

In general, your first appointment should go something like this:

• Complete a medical history form when you walk into our office
• Talk with the doctor directly about your complaints
• Receive a physical evaluation of the spine and related musculature
• Look at any imaging, if necessary
• Hear a simple explanation of what we've discovered and what we suggest

We don't have any hidden agendas or difficult medical terminology. We explain things simply, as you should be able to understand what is taking place in your own body.

Many of our patients in the West Rome area tell us that they wish they would have come earlier than they did. Early stiffness when getting up in the morning, discomfort from a long day at the desk, a catch when you bend to the floor to pick something up — all of these things are signs that your body is crying out for help.

And if we feel that your back pain treatment should also include another method of care we provide, like spinal traction therapy or cold laser therapy, we will explain why, but we will never try to sell you on anything. Are you wondering if you should consider a chiropractor? Find out more about all of our chiropractor services located in Rome.

Chiropractic Methods Utilized in Treating Back Pain

Not all back issues require the same treatment. This is what we frequently convey to our patients here in Rome. One person's relief comes from a certain method, while another needs a completely different approach. We always start by determining what we are working with and then go on to determine what method to use.

Most chiropractic back pain treatment begins with spinal manipulation, which is the application of swift, regulated movement to the spine to reposition an improperly aligned joint. This procedure may result in a popping noise. The popping is quite common; it is simply gas leaving the joint. The majority of patients experience an immediate sense of looseness. However, manipulation is not always sufficient on its own for severe cases.

Here's what a typical treatment session might include, depending on your unique situation:

• Spinal manipulation, which restores joint mobility and reduces the pressure on the nerves.
• Spinal traction therapy, which provides relief from disc issues via the gentle separation of the spinal column.
• Cold laser therapy, which relieves deep tissue inflammation without the use of any heat or discomfort.
• Rehabilitative exercise, which we instruct you to do so that the spinal correction may be maintained between treatments.

We use whichever of the above best matches what our clinical exam and diagnostic x-ray reveals. More often than not, it's a combination of different methods.

We had a patient come into our West Rome office who was unable to put on her shoes. A disc pressing against a nerve root was identified as the cause. Manipulative treatment was performed and the patient was then treated with traction therapy for a few additional visits. This approach is essential.

And here's something that many people don't expect. The cold laser is barely noticeable at the time. But it accelerates healing on the cellular level. Low-level laser therapy can reduce pain and inflammation in musculoskeletal problems, in the case of patients whose recovery time was extended for many months. We add a program of rehab exercises, too. You will want strong muscles to hold in the fix you get on the table. Without rehab, back pain returns just as often. You need muscles to support your spine, after all.

Keeping Your Back Pain From Coming Back

When people start feeling well, we all feel relief. And it's important we stay well. We say the same thing to every person in Rome when we get their back pain under control. There's still work to be done after that. Back pain returns to many people within a year if you don't change things to stop it returning again. We see this often, and it's not a scare tactic. Those who maintain relief typically stay with a plan that begins in earnest at the end of their back pain treatment plan.

There isn't a single solution. But certain things work well:

• Do the rehab exercises we set out in the plan even though you're no longer in pain
• Get in for routine wellness chiropractic checkups to prevent minor concerns getting too big
• Stay moving every day — that may be a 20-minute walk around North Broad or along the Heritage Park trails
• Set your workstation, vehicle, and sleep environment to keep your spine in a neutral position

Those of us who return with pain most likely didn't do one of the above things for the past couple of months. Life gets busy. But your spine doesn't get a break for that, either. What's more, you might not know stress affects you. Tension can tighten your muscles and force them out of alignment. That's one of the reasons why we include BrainTap sessions and stress reduction therapies alongside your chiropractic care; you may not be aware you're harboring so much stress.

We'll look at how your posture might be corrected at your follow-ups, too. We might not realize you're slumped in the chair again until your lower back has a word with you. A quick checkup every so often will let us catch that before you've got another flare-up.

So should you stay with us forever? That isn't necessary. And yet, a once-a-month chiropractic session in Rome is what most of our people do for maintenance. That's what keeps them in the long haul. It's like an oil change: You'd replace it before your engine seized. Treat your back the same. We want you to rely on us less, rather than more.