Lower Back Pain

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), up to 85 percent of all people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives. Many people attribute their low back pain to arthritis or “getting older” and just assume they have to live with it. Here at Body Mechanix, we encourage people not to believe that common misperception. You don't have to live with low back pain!

In this day and age when we spend as much time as we do using computers, the prevalence of low back pain has increased dramatically. Common belief in the past has been that only heavy laborers get low back pain, but believe it or not, sitting, especially for long periods of time, can be a major cause of back pain.

“No pain! I feel much better since I started coming for therapy at Body Mechanix. There are no longer restricted movements in my back or neck!”
-E.S. (Escanaba)

The NIH also reports that back pain has become the most frequent cause of activity limitation in people younger than 45. If you've ever experienced back pain, you know this is true. Back pain can affect EVERY aspect of your life. The good news is that something can be done about it. The days of bed rest or just taking it easy are over. At Body Mechanix, our physical therapists specialize in treating low back pain with a very logical and methodical approach. Each person's treatment regimen is individualized and developed based on the results of the therapist's evaluation of your back and the pain you are experiencing.

First time patients with low back pain will often wonder why a therapist would ask to take a look at their shoes, feet, and how they walk. In certain cases where low back pain may be dragging on for months or years and a patient is unable to determine a specific incident that caused their pain, a close look at the patient's feet and gait pattern becomes part of the initial evaluation.

As you walk, the foot hits the ground with three to five times the force of your body weight, generating a chain-reaction all the way up the skeleton. The way the foot moves affects the way everything else on up the chain moves. The foot bone is connected to the ankle bone, the leg bone is connected to the knee bone, and so on. Theoretically, improper biomechanics at the feet could create low back and even neck pain!

Inspecting an old pair of shoes also reveals evidence. The way the soles of your shoes wear down might confirm that you may be at risk for bunions, knee pain, and low back pain. Changing shoes and/or ordering custom orthotics along with physical therapy can help correct the problem and abolish the symptoms you may be experiencing.

As you can see, there is much more to low back pain than meets the eye. The staff members at Body Mechanix work to put the patient in charge and teach them how to control the pain, instead of letting the pain control the patient. Life is too short to be limited by back pain, so take charge today. If you or someone you know is experiencing back pain, give us a call. We can help! Remember, living with pain is NOT OKAY!

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