Low back pain is a widespread issue, affecting millions and often significantly impacting their quality of life. While various factors can contribute to low back pain, one fundamental element often overlooked is the low back alignment. Understanding the link between low back pain and the alignment of the low back is the first step towards finding effective and lasting relief.
Your spine is designed to provide support, flexibility, and protection for your nervous system. When your spine is in its optimal alignment, weight is distributed evenly, muscles function efficiently, and nerves can communicate freely. However, when this alignment is compromised, it can set off a cascade of issues that frequently lead to low back pain.
How Spinal Misalignment Can Lead to Low Back Pain:
The way your spine is positioned directly impacts the stresses and strains placed upon its various components. Here’s how improper alignment can trigger or exacerbate low back pain:
- Increased Joint Stress: When vertebrae are out of their ideal position, it leads to uneven weight distribution across the spinal joints and intervertebral discs. This increased mechanical pressure can accelerate wear and tear, contribute to disc degeneration, and cause painful inflammation.
- Muscle Imbalances and Tension: To compensate for spinal misalignments, surrounding muscles work harder and often unevenly. Some muscles become tight and strained, while others become weak and underutilized. This chronic muscle imbalance and tension can be a significant source of low back pain and stiffness.
- Nerve Irritation and Compression: The spinal cord and numerous nerve roots exit the spine through small openings between the vertebrae. Misalignments can narrow these openings, leading to nerve compression or irritation. This can result not only in localized low back pain but also in radiating pain, numbness, or weakness down the legs – a common symptom of sciatica. Furthermore, nerves held in a chronically lengthened position due to poor alignment can also become a source of tension and pain.
Common Spinal Alignment Issues Contributing to Low Back Pain:
While there are a large variety of spinal , certain patterns of misalignment are frequently associated with low back pain. Here are the 5 most common misalignments in the low back that we find in our patients with low back pain at TrueForm Corrective Chiropractic:
Posterior Translation: Or “backward shift” occurs when the low back shifts backward. This causes loss of curvature in the low back and often increases stress on the low back intervertebral discs.
- Anterior Translation: Or “forward shift” conversely occurs when the low back shifts forward. This causes excessive curvature in the low back and often increases stress on the low back facet joints.
- Lateral Translation: Or “side shift” occurs when the low back shifts to the left or right. This often causes increased pressure on the low back facet joints, vertebral endplates, the hip, knee, and ankle on the side the spine is shifted toward. This also often causes muscle strain and nerve irritation on the side the spine is shifted away from.
- Scoliosis: This sideways curvature of the spine is often genetic. Unlike misalignments caused by postural imbalances, scoliosis involves a more fixed structural change in the spine’s shape and can create significant imbalances, leading to uneven weight distribution, joint deterioration, muscle strain, and nerve irritation.
- Pelvic Obliquity: or “pelvic side tilt” occurs when the pelvis tilts to the left or right. This is often caused by a difference in leg length and creates an uneven foundation for the spine, leading to compensatory misalignments in the low back.
Addressing Spinal Alignment for Lasting Low Back Pain Relief:
In order to achieve lasting relief for low back pain and avoid further damage to the low back, it is not only important to identify any alignment issues, but to correct these alignment issues. Identifying and correcting spinal alignment requires the right tools. At TrueForm Corrective Chiropractic, we find the most effective tools include:
- Digital X-Rays: We prioritize accurate assessment of spinal alignment using precise biomechanical analysis. We utilize in-house digital x-rays, the gold standard for evaluating spinal alignment.
- Corrective Exercises: We prescribe tailored exercises designed to strengthen weakened muscles, improve flexibility, and retrain proper posture to support spinal alignment.
- Spinal Remodeling Traction: We utilize specialized corrective traction to gently and gradually restore proper spinal curves and reduce pressure on discs and nerves.
- Spinal Adjustments and Myofascial Release: We use targeted adjustments and manual therapy to the surrounding muscles to restore proper mobility and prepare the spine for the corrective process.
- Follow-up Imaging: We use follow-up x-rays to objectively track the progress you make in your spinal alignment, ensuring your treatment is effective.
If you’re experiencing persistent low back pain, understanding the role of your spinal alignment is a crucial step towards finding lasting relief. Contact TrueForm Corrective Chiropractic today to schedule a free consultation and take the first step towards a healthier, pain-free back.
