You stand up, rubbing your lower back, leaning back slightly trying to stretch it. But the ache of lower back pain continues throughout your day and into the night. An estimated 4%-25% of adults worldwide suffer from chronic low back pain. Understanding the possible causes can help you take steps to find relief naturally.

Causes of Lower Back Pain:

A variety of elements may come together, increasing the likelihood of discomfort in the lower back. 

Your genetics could be a factor, combined with posture and trauma. As you can see in the list below, your career can also be a factor as repeated movements and postures accumulate into microtraumas.

  • Pregnancy & birth
  • Hours sitting at a desk
  • Heavy lifting
  • Hours standing
  • Obesity
  • Trauma, such as a fall or car wreck

Who May Be Affected by Low Back Pain?

Here are just a few groups of people who may be at a higher risk, based on the variety of repeated movements and situations they are in regularly. 

  • Mothers
  • Business professionals 
  • Students
  • Carpenters and masons
  • Hairstylists and estheticians  
  • Medical professionals
  • Sales and foodservice providers

Many women find that the biomechanical and hormonal shifts that occur during pregnancy to make room for a growing baby also affect the alignment of the lumbar and sacral spine. A chiropractor trained in prenatal chiropractic care can check mothers throughout the pregnancy and help to enable accommodations for their growing belly. 

Birth itself is an event requiring an Olympic amount of effort from the body, and can also affect the alignment of the spine and pelvis. Postpartum is a wonderful time for mothers to be checked by a chiropractor as the Relaxin hormone that loosened ligaments during pregnancy begins to decrease.

Whenever we spend a majority of our time in one position, sitting or standing, we are compacting the spine. This isn’t optimal; our joints were made to move! Movement helps two-fold: it fosters imbibition – essentially lubricating the spinal vertebrae endplates and spinal discs, and, it aids in drawing nutrients into the spinal cord, which also feeds our brain. Chiropractic adjustments ensure that the spinal column (protecting the spinal cord) remains mobile.

Repeated poor postures can cause the vertebrae to become misaligned. This not only puts pressure on our nerves but can cause the joints to wear unevenly and begin to degenerate.

Added weight can put pressure on the joints and may also impede our posture, causing discomfort.

Natural Tips for Lower Back Relief

  • Try placing one foot on a step or stool while standing, to shift the curve of your spine and redistribute your weight.
  • Alternate sitting and standing. Try a standing desk and set a timer to remind you to switch postures every hour; squeeze your glutes and thigh muscles to reduce low back muscle dependency
  • Avoid high heels (where possible) and find supportive shoes or insoles; time spent with bare feet (and toe spreaders) can strengthen your arch and feet.
  • Get active and fit; many of us have room for increased activity and strengthening – follow safe protocols too.

How Chiropractic Care May Help; One Example

Chiropractic is all about optimizing the neuro-musculo-skeletal system! 

Every new patient receives a thorough assessment (these happen consistently while under care too); with computerized nerve system scans and x-rays to evaluate and identify exactly what segments of your spine are most restricted and need to be adjusted.

Vertebrae can shift and rotate, so I adjust them in the specific direction and vector that they need to move. Most times, this only requires gentler forces.

This reduces pressure and promotes activation of the spinal cord and brain signaling pathways, allowing the body to communicate, heal and repair itself. 

One Annex Family Chiropractic patient came in after seeing a long list of practitioners because he had persistent issues with his low back. He wanted to get back to running after a professional running career earlier in life but was having trouble. Calling his situation frustrating is an understatement.

During the evaluation, we found fewer low back issues, and more upper back blockage/restrictions. This is why a full spine analysis with a professional trained to identify subluxations is crucial. We were able to determine that the pain zone was NOT the trouble zone.

The results have been dramatic for the short window of time he’s been adjusted. This patient is SO happy he found us, as he proclaimed “this is the best I’ve felt in a long time!” before one recent visit.  And there’s more progress to come, but this is another example of how various treatments and therapies can support each other, as he was likely helped by all the work done in the past.

Here’s to an active life, free from low back issues!

Dr. Josh

You may also enjoy reading 4 Gentle Exercises for Low Back Pain.

Ready to harness the power of time and repetition? Call 416-967-4466 for an appointment at our midtown Toronto office.

Resources:

  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5378521/ 
  2. https://www.bls.gov/ors/factsheet/sit-and-stand.htm