Chronic Low Back Pain in Olympia WA

Are you feeling pain in your low back in Olympia WA? Don't worry there is relief in sight. At Evergreen Family Chiropractic we treat many people with low back pain. Whether the pain just suddenly came on or if you've been suffering for years, we can help.

Low back pain can be the result of a quick injury like sneezing while brushing your teeth which sent a shockwave through your body and strained a low back muscle. Low back pain can also be long term due to repetitive motion at work or poor posture at home.

Let's get into the anatomy real briefly and then we'll discuss treatment options.

ANATOMY of the spine in Olympia WA

The lower part of your back is referred to as the "lumbar spine." The lumbar spine is made up of 5 individual bones called "vertebrae." In between each of these bones is a fluid filled disc. This disc acts as a cushion as the bones move in different directions. On the backside of bones is a ring and when stacked up, these rings form a canal that your spinal cord and nerve roots travel through. On the sides of the canal there are openings for the nerve roots to leave the canal and travel to the body. Surrounding all of this are a ton of muscles, tendons, and ligaments that help provide stability of the joints during movement.

Over time that fluid filled disc begins to wear down or degenerate. This weakens the cushion between the bones and puts a strain on the joints. If the degeneration is bad enough there could be areas where the bone is rubbing on another bone. This can be very painful.

If there has been an injury like a car accident or a fall, the ligaments that help to hold joints together, could be damaged which makes the joints unstable. Ligaments have very little blood flow and so it takes much longer to heal, sometimes more than a year. Injuries can also damage the disc and cause it to "bulge" into the spinal canal or into the opening on the sides. When the disc gets trapped like this it causes a lot of irritation in the nerve roots in the area.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Waiting for the pain to go away on its own is a bad idea. Pain is just a signal indicating that something is wrong. It's like the "check engine light" In your car. It would not be wise to just put a sicker over this light. Thankfully at Evergreen Family Chiropractic in Olympia WA, we have the tools help turn off this signal by taking care of the underlying cause.

We use a combination of therapies to attack the problem from multiple angles. We deliver a chiropractic adjustment designed to realign the bones and joints so that they heal in the correct position and function properly. We supplement the adjustment with massage therapy and low-level laser therapy. If needed, we also use a decompression table that helps to take the pressure off the discs and joints. Our combined therapies help to speed up the healing process and get you back to enjoying your favorite activities.