Let me start this article off with “the small print”:
If you have just done something like fall from a height, experience a car accident, or some other obvious trauma, then your low back pain may in fact be something serious like a fracture. If you think you are in a medical emergency, then by all means CALL 911 NOW. I really don’t want to be responsible for someone failing to seek appropriate medical attention. If you are bleeding, bruised, or otherwise obviously physically-maligned, then seek help from the proper medical professional right now. In fact, if you are older then 60 or younger than 20, go ahead and see a doctor if your back hurts.
Where do I go for my back pain?
If you bent over to tie your shoe and suddenly you are experiencing sharp, stabbing pain in the low back, then you are most likely not in any danger despite the intense pain. If you were just getting out of a chair and then BAM! you are in serious pain, then you’re one of hundreds or thousands of people in the same shape today. If you are having difficulty standing up from being seated, unable to get comfortable in a chair, or if you are literally bent sideways at the hips, then you are experiencing “acute” low back pain. Maybe you just coughed and suddenly your back hurt, or maybe you even just woke up in pain. People find themselves suffering from acute low back pain for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s an obvious cause, such as lifting something too heavy without good form. Other times it’s when you are trying to put the peanut butter back in the pantry.
What is it that actually is injured that is causing my low back pain?
One of a number of things happened to you, and it’s not always easy to figure out which one:
-sprained facet joint or SI (sacroiliac) joint
-irritated, bulged or herniated lumbar disc
-strained low back muscle
Why does my back hurt so much?
The intensity of the pain is probably related to the nerve involvement. Facet joint sprain, disc disorders, and muscle spasm can all irritate your spinal nerve root. Nerve pain in general can be pretty uncomfortable, and is often unresponsive to narcotics. Honestly, most people in your shape either go to “urgent care” or “walk-in medical”, or they go to the hospital emergency room. Half of those people probably scare themselves half to death by reading a bunch of horror stories on the Internet.
What will happen if I go to walk-in medical or the hospital emergency room?
Both those routes (urgent care or the hospital) will get you pretty much the same thing as far as back pain treatment goes. The hospital will probably get you a much bigger bill related to diagnosis if they use MRI or take too many x-rays. Urgent care may take x-rays, but other imaging is less likely. At either place you will leave with a prescription for painkillers (like oxycodone or vicodin, maybe ibuprofin) and probably a muscle relaxer (like skelaxin or flexeril). You may be handed a back brace that may be a piece of junk and probably costs your insurance company 3x what it should.
It’s highly unlikely your doctor at urgent care (or the hospital) will have an in-depth understanding of the spine or any good ideas about how to prevent this debilitating pain from happening again. Most of the time the patient is just told it’s a “sprain” and told to ice it or take medicine. The end result of that is quite likely a recurrence of the pain, but worse.
Hey, I have an idea. Next time your engine is smoking, just ice it.
You are unlikely to go to urgent care and get much of a physical exam to determine the precise nature of your injury, by the way. It’s practically guaranteed that if you go to urgent care they will get your weight, height, and blood pressure written down. Buuuuuuttttttttttt, you will not be examined physically in any meaningful way. Someone will ask you about 10 questions about how you hurt your back then prescribe you a painkiller based on your pain description or your physical appearance. You may get the strong stuff or the not-so-strong stuff depending on what your occupation is and on how much of a potential user you look like, or depending on the price and insurance coverage you have.
Chiropractic
Since you are on a chiropractor’s website you may be trying to figure out if chiropractic is safe for someone in your condition. And it is. At this office we will apply some pain and spasm-reducing modalities and then adjust your low back or neck, or both.
We see new patients walk in every week, or day, in your shape. It’s not uncommon at all. Many times we help these people get out of pain and teach them how to prevent it from happening again. Some people we end up referring out to consult with neurologists or pain management, or for x-rays or MRI’s if they haven’t already been through that joyous process. Most people we treat on day one, though. Most of the time that’s all they need. Most people don’t need x-rays or MRI’s on day one, or ever. It costs less and wastes less time by just getting started with adjustments rather than taking too many pictures and blowing the insurance money on pills. And since both of the doctors at this office have physical therapy credentials on their Maryland state chiropractic licenses, some physical therapy modalities like heat, TENS, PIR/PNF stretching, rehabilitative exercise, etc may be used.
Long story short: we can probably help you, and if we can’t we will at least tell you as much. We understand your pain is severe and we will focus on getting you out of pain. Our main goal is recognizing something to be worried about, and when nothing is worrisome the job becomes making your body start working right again. When the body works as designed, it doesn’t cause pain as it works. When it comes to getting dysfunctional bodies out of pain we are pretty good at that.
We take most insurance and have affordable cash rates for those without insurance. Call us today and schedule an appointment.
Yeah, but my back really, really hurts
And yes, it is scary to be in the pain you are currently in. It is intense. The shooting pain with certain movements is almost crippling. Getting out of a chair is unnecessarily challenging. Rolling over in bed can be quite a production. Sometimes just hitting a bump in the road while driving in a car can be exquisitely painful. You are moving in this weird way just to avoid causing that pain. Normally, pain doesn’t really get to you, but now it is. We get it.
The important part of the decision is actually very simple for you: do you want to see a doctor who doesn’t specialize in the back? Because that’s what you get at walk-in medical or the hospital. No one goes to the E.R. and gets to see someone who specializes in the treatment and prevention of back pain, that’s just not how it works out. If you want a back doctor, go to a back doctor. Go to a chiropractor. Call some friends or family or read some reviews and then go see the person who actually is trained and prepared to deal with back pain patients.