Causes of Back Pain

One of the most debilitating conditions that one can experience in life is back pain. When upper or lower back pain affects you, it affects your entire life. Suddenly, even the simplest tasks like sitting or standing become a chore. Instead of letting back pain stop your life, get the knowledge you need.
Whether your back pain is the result of soft tissue damage, pulled muscles, improper alignment, or even broken vertebrae, Absolute Life Wellness Center is able to identify it. Our team of trained experts can evaluate your condition. Together, we can see if you are a candidate for chiropractic care.

While pain management is the focus of many patients with lower back pain, at Absolute Life Wellness Center, our goal is to help you live the fullest pain free life you can in Austin.

When you think of a chiropractor, you think of pain in the spine and neck – and, if you’ve ever been to a chiropractor, adjustment to correct this pain. A chiropractor probably isn’t the first person you think of when it comes to pain in the arm or shoulder.

What might surprise you is that a chiropractor is actually one of the best medical professionals you can see when you experience pain in your arm and/or shoulder. As one of Austin’s best chiropractors, I can both diagnose and treat arm and shoulder pain.

Herniated Disc

Trauma to the back, including those associated with lifting injuries, can cause a herniated disc. A herniated disc is a tear in one or more of the discs in the back. These tears can progress to a bulging disc and subsequent excruciating back pain. Neck pain can also result from a herniated or bulging disc, depending on the location of the trauma. Chiropractic treatments can help improve a herniated or bulging disc in many cases. You can visit our Austin chiropractor office to see if you are a candidate for upper or lower back pain treatment.

Sciatica

One of the main sources of lower back pain is sciatica. The lower back contains a series of nerves that comprise the sciatic nerve, the longest circuit of nerves in the body. Sciatica can happen when a disk in your back begins pressing on one of the bottom nerves of the back. If the sciatic nerve is interfered with, sciatica symptoms begin to flare up, causing tremendous pain.

Sciatica mostly happens on a single side of the body. In some cases, it can happen in both sides. The pain caused by sciatica is incredibly profound. Individuals who deal with sciatica pain may experience pain and numbness down one or both legs and, may not be able to lift their leg up to walk. If left untreated, sciatica can cause permanent nerve damage, leaving loss of feeling or loss of bladder control.

Disc herniation is a typical cause of sciatica, but tumors, cysts, and more serious conditions can also cause sciatica symptoms, too. These are typically rare, but should still be protected against if prolonged sciatica should occur.

Strained Muscles

Some back pain is associated with strained or overextended muscles. Strained muscles can appear as pulled or torn muscles. This means some of the muscle fibers and blood vessels within the muscular system have been affected, temporarily debilitating them until the body repairs them. These affected areas can become apparent through bruising, muscle weakness, and all around general pain.

While not normally permanent, strained muscles can still be incredibly painful. Various chiropractic treatments have shown to give back pain relief to many patients. Additionally, the temporary use of anti-inflammatories have been shown to give temporary relief while the healing is done.

Degenerative Disc Disease

As our body ages, we begin to lose some of the flexibility we once had. A prime example of this is the onset of degenerative disc disease, which is the process of the loss of disc material. Degenerative disc disease can cause massive amounts of upper and lower back pain.

Discs function as a miniature suspension system for your body. They are able to help calibrate the body for when unusual forces suddenly apply themselves. This is why, instead of moving in a stiff way, you are able to bend and stretch your entire body. However, since the brunt of all pressure is put onto the back, the disc takes on a lot of stress in its lifetime, which can lead to its gradual degradation. External factors such as poor diet, strenuous physical activity, the environment, and more can completely affect the quality of your discs.

Bad discs can also cause a lot of problems, not the least of which is upper and lower back pain. If you’re suffering from degenerating discs, you could have general tingling, muscle weakness, and numbness in your extremities. Although, depending on the location of your bad discs, you might be suffering from pain in other parts of your body. For example, if your disc is back in the upper spine, you could have pain in your shoulders, arms, or neck. If you have lower back pain because of a bad disc, you could also have pain in the legs and buttocks.

Scoliosis

While the spine should typically be straight, scoliosis makes your spine curved outward. If the curvature of the spine is too severe, this can result in mild to severe upper or lower back pain.

Scoliosis is most common during the adolescent years. It also affects more women than men. Typically, those diagnosed with scoliosis are afflicted due to “growth spurts.” Once out of the adolescent years, most people will grow out of their scoliosis. If it persists or begins to get too severe, typical physical therapy may not be good enough. Surgery may then be an option in order to repair any damage.

There are numerous other ways that upper and lower back pain can manifest itself. Whatever the diagnosis, Absolute Life Wellness Center is ready to help you. Don’t think that you are alone in your struggle with back pain.

We are able to formulate the right plan of action in order to treat your back pain. We conduct a thorough consultation, along with a serious discussion, in order to get the best picture of your pain. After this, we will craft a treatment to help you cope with, and hopefully end, your daily struggles with this pain. Austin chiropractor Dr. Shaddock is highly skilled at helping patients achieve relief from back pain. By placing your confidence in us and our team at Absolute Life Wellness Center, we aim to get you moving again and get back into the swing of life!

Lower back pain can be incredibly debilitating to live with. Our practice has 3 locations in the greater Austin area for your convenience.

Whether you need to see a chiropractor in Kyle or Austin, we have 2 locations for your convenience. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.