BACK PAIN

Typically in our Los Alamitos office (McMullin & Stark Chiropractic), patients seek care for the treatment of pain. Often it is due to back pain somewhere between the base of the neck and the base of the spine near the beltline. While pain between the shoulder blades or in the middle of the back can be nagging or constant in nature, lower back pain can be debilitating and unfortunately life changing.

Back pain usually has a musculoskeletal cause such as a muscle strain or a pinched nerve. In it’s more serious cases it can be caused by a bulging (or inaccurately called a “slipped disc”). Minor back strains of muscles typically heal in seven to ten days and happen when we over-exert or go beyond what the muscle can withstand (such as in an injury). Back pain that persists more than a couple weeks often has a more serious underlying cause. If a vertebra in the spine becomes misaligned, or what is termed “subluxated”, a strain is put on the muscles and ligaments around the joint (the meeting of two vertebrae). This constant strain produces pain and often pinches the nerve exiting the spinal column. This pinching can produce pain locally to the misaligned vertebra or refer pain to another area such as down the leg in cases of sciatica (pronounced “sy-at-ic-a”).

In our Los Alamitos office, our goal is to determine if you have a Chiropractic problem or if you need to be referred to another health care provider. If you appear to have a problem we typically handle, we will do an examination and take x-rays if it is indicated.  If yours is a case we can accept we will recommend what it will take to relieve the pain and more importantly resolve the cause of the problem.

Treatment will include one or more of the following: specific spinal adjustments done by hand and with a low-force instrument (to realign the spine… usually painless!), ice or heat as indicated, massage and home care recommendations such as stretching and strengthening.

Contact :McMullin & Stark located in Los Alamitos, CA for treatment of your back pain or your back pain related condition or injury.