Back Pain / Low Back Pain

Your back is a pretty important piece of the big puzzle that makes up your health.  When experiencing back pain, the rest of your body also suffers, even if you aren’t necessarily feeling it.  Both Dr. Nelsons provide the Greenville area safe and natural alternatives to western medicine that will restore the health of your back effectively.

Why Our Back Pain Patients Come See Us

Our patients struggling with back pain are by far our most prevalent kind of patient.  That being said, how they struggle with back pain runs the gamut.  Because our office invites every stage of life at every kind of athletic ability and every type of active or inactive lifestyle, our back pain patients have a multitude of problems and we have a multitude of ways to approach them. 

Patients who come to see us for their back pain usually experience one or more of the following:

• Blunt, sharp, or shooting back pain

• Sciatica issues

• Lower back pain

• Tingling or numbness in the back

• Radiating pain from the back to legs

Even if the pain our patients are struggling with isn’t severe, we know that treatment is necessary to ensure their pain isn’t heightened and that bigger, more serious problems don’t arise. 

The reasons behind their back pain range from repetitive activity to poor posture to sports injury to significant body damage due to surgeries or accidents, and everything in between.

Your body’s balance is based on the proper functioning of the spine, so you can imagine the importance of enabling the spine to work at its fullest, most valuable capacity.  When the spine is compromised, other parts of the body are as well. These problems can cause pain and lead to more significant issues.

A chiropractor has the tools and knowledge to alleviate your back pain through spinal adjustments or manipulations, these adjustments return the spine to its natural state, thereby alleviating the pain.  Usually the pain is due to compressed nerves or problems with your discs. The doctors at Carolina Active Health Chiropractic will give you back your mobility and relieve you of your back discomfort- naturally.   

We recommend visiting our office as soon as possible if you are suffering from any of the following symptoms:

• Intense back pain

• Sciatica pain

• Chronic lower back pain

• Pain starting in your back and radiating to your legs

• Weakness, tingling, or numbness in back

• Loss of range of motion in back

• Swelling of affected areas of back

The underlying cause may be serious and require chiropractic attention:

• Bulging disc 

• Sprain / strain

• Disc herniation

Perpetual back pain is a sign that help is necessary.  Both Dr. Nelsons can help you manage the pain and work to effectively treat the problem at its core.  Spinal manipulation is a safe and reliable way to encourage your spine’s health and increase your mobilization.

What is Sciatica and How Can a Chiropractor Help?

Your sciatic nerve is the longest and largest spinal nerve in the human body.  It runs through your lower back (lumbar), buttocks, and down each thigh and affects your entire lower body.  When a patient is suffering from sciatica, they are usually experiencing quite a bit of dull, nagging pain that can turn into shooting pain very quickly.  

The pain is due a pinched nerve from a herniated disc in most cases.  The herniation causes inflammation which is read by the patient as pain.  Generally sciatic pain radiates throughout the sciatic nerve, but can also cause pain to the lower legs and feet.  

Our doctors are well-versed in the holistic management and treatment of sciatic pain and sciatica.  Spinal adjustments are implemented in order to repair the misalignment and remove pressure to the sciatic nerve.

Solutions to Back Pain 

Our Greenville staff offers dozens of differing treatment plans to our patients.  After we determine the cause of your pain and have a grasp of your medical and health history, we will work with you to find the best wellness plan for your personalized treatment.  Whenever possible we also provide a filmed summary of the proper exercising and stretching techniques for your at-home use. These techniques will aid in a quicker recovery process. 

Our spinal manipulations are hands-on treatments allowing the back to heal naturally and oftentimes provide immediate pain relief. 

Some of our treatment plans may include the following:

Active Release Technique (ART)

This technique uses applied active pressure to the back, targeting the back as a whole rather than each isolated joint separately, the motion removes the adhesions found in the back that are causing the patient’s pain. 

Diversified Chiropractic Technique (DCT)

The DCT method is done by hand and offers a controlled thrust to the restricted joints, one at a time, this technique is used to help the patient regain their proper range of motion.

Motion Palpation Technique 

While the patient is moving their affected joints, we will apply subtle pressure to each joint using our fingers and hands in order to feel how they are functioning.

Flexion Distraction Technique

This technique has the patient lay on a table, when the doctor applies gentle thrusts to specific joints, that specific part of the table will slightly drop, allowing gravity to aid in the spine’s correct repositioning.  

Activator Technique

The Activator Adjusting Instrument is used on the patient’s spine, providing small, safe pulses to targeted areas for the purposes of spinal correction and to relieve pain. 

Functional Rehabilitation

Combining treatments with rehabilitation is a big win for our patients.  We focus on corrective exercises that teach the body to work as it’s meant to.

Class IV Laser Therapy 

Laser therapy allows deep tissue penetration that alleviates pain and inflammation.  This treatment is entirely safe and effective, lasting from a few to 10 minutes.  

Movement Screen / Biomechanical Analysis

Movement screening allows us to view how the body is moving and how motion is affecting the patient’s movement.  This can explain why some injuries occur, helping us fix the cause instead of only focusing on the symptoms of an injury.

Exercise Recovery 

Our Greenville team offers exercise recovery tools that speed up recovery time between workouts, improve performance, and contribute to pain reduction.  Dr. Nelson uses a Marc Pro device which provides muscle stimulation, and in turn enhancing active recovery. Additionally, we offer Normatec recovery boots which passively flush out waste and soreness.

Take-Home Rehabilitation

We want our patients to head home fully armed to take a healthy and proactive approach in their recovery.  Offering education on how to properly exercise and stretch gives the patient a core element of their health plan and helps them achieve overall balance, strength, and wellness.

Our staff will ensure that each patient feels safe, secure, and comfortable with their wellness treatment plan and goals.  

Whether your plan implements stretching, therapy, laser treatments, or adjusting, chiropractic care is a safe and effective way to quickly find what’s causing your pain and remedy it through natural means.  Having a well-balanced body doesn’t need to require surgery, seeing Dr. Nelson is a smart, noninvasive, risk-free way to gain and maintain a healthy body, mind, and soul.

When to Visit a Chiropractor for Your Back Pain and Our Process

If you are currently experiencing any level of back pain or using pain medication to manage your back pain, it’s a great time to give our Carolina Active Health Chiropractic team a call.  We understand that suffering from pain is more than a hindrance on quality of life, but it can lead to serious health problems.  

Give us a call to set up your appointment.  On your initial visit we will take a brief assessment of your medical history and discuss your current pain points.  We will provide an examination to determine what’s causing your pain and how best to move forward with a treatment plan you feel confident in.  

Visiting our Greenville chiropractic office is the first step to your safe, natural healing process.