You probably know someone with back pain. It affects almost everybody at some time during their lifetime. Back pain may be minor for some, but extremely painful and chronic for others. It causes some people to wince as they go and makes it difficult to walk or bend normally. It may even make it difficult to balance. It is often the cause of missed days at work and restricts people's ability to enjoy the normal activities of daily life such as gardening or playing sports. Some people won't go anywhere without their pills.
They continuously take pills to help minimize the pain.
People often blame their back pain on their age, job, stress levels or weight. If this were true, why aren't all people in these categories suffering with back pain. Many people that are stressed, overweight or aged don't have any back pain at all. This just doesn't make sense. There are other causes of back pain.
There are various structures that make up the back that may be injured resulting in back pain. These structures include bones, muscles, ligaments, joints and nerves. All of these structures are in close proximity or are attached to the spine. This makes injury to the spine one of the most common causes of back pain. Misaligned spinal bones may result in tight muscles, irritated nerves, damaged ligaments or even injury to the cushions or discs between the spinal bones. Medical tests often come up negative and misaligned spinal bones remain undetected.
Common causes of misaligned spinal bones include bad posture, trauma such as from an auto accident, sporting injuries or even the birthing process. The most common medical treatment for back pain is pain medication which often doesn't correct the problem. It may help relieve the pain, but the problem remains. The bones remain misaligned and the nerves are still compressed and irritated. The muscles may continue to be tight and the problem continues into a vicious cycle.
Chiropractic physicians are specially trained to help correct back problems. They are well trained to detect and correct misaligned spinal bones. They also perform physiotherapy modalities to help heal injured soft tissue and reduce inflammation that is commonly associated with misaligned spinal bones. By correcting the misaligned spinal bones, the muscles are then able to relax and inflammation is reduced. Normal range of motion of the joints is restored.
People often report an immediate sense of relief after a chiropractic treatment. Modern techniques allow for a more gentle approach that doesn't involve twisting and racking the spine. The treatments are gentle and effective in correcting the misaligned spinal bones. They are effective in restoring normal function of the spine and removing the cause of the problem.

- Nathan Leavitt DC
Dr. Leavitt has been a licensed chiropractic physician since 2003. His deepest commitment is to help improve the health and quality of life of others.