If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance your back has been bothering you for a while — maybe you woke up one day, and it just hurt, or maybe it’s been building for years, and you’ve finally had enough. Either way, you’re not alone.
Research shows that 8 out of 10 people will experience low back pain at some point in their life, and it’s actually the leading cause of disability worldwide. That statistic still blows me away, especially when I see how many people come into our office having lived with it for years — trying medication, rest, maybe a little physical therapy — without ever really getting to the bottom of it.
I usually explain it to patients this way: think about your teeth. If you brush, floss, and see your dentist regularly, your teeth stay pretty healthy over time. Your spine works the same way. It’s designed to last — but it needs care to do so. When back pain is ignored, and the root cause is never addressed, the spine behaves like a neglected tooth. It decays. We call it degeneration and arthritis, and once that process starts, it doesn’t stop on its own.
Here’s why that happens. Your spine depends on movement. Each segment needs to move properly to stay healthy. When an injury occurs — even a minor one — those segments can stop moving the way they should. Over time, that lost motion triggers a degenerative process that shows up on X-rays as disc degeneration, bone spurs, abnormal curves, and postural changes. The pain medication commercials on TV will tell you to take something and move on, but all that does is numb you while the problem gets worse underneath.
That’s why we take low back pain seriously from day one and why getting checked sooner rather than later really does matter. At our office, we start with a thorough consultation — we want to know everything. How long has this been going on? What makes it better or worse? What activities are you avoiding? How is it affecting your daily life? The more details we have, the better we can identify what’s actually causing the problem, put together a plan to resolve it, and then make sure it doesn’t come back.
Our goal isn’t just to get you out of pain. It’s to get you well, keep you well, and make sure you still have your mobility, freedom, and independence when you’re 105. Spines are built to last — and with the right care, yours can too.
$49 New Patient Special
Includes consultation, examination, x-Ray (if needed) & 1st chiropractic adjustment. This offer does not apply to federal beneficiaries, auto accident cases, workers’ compensation or if filing health insurance.
How Our Care Plan Works
1. Better
In the first phase of care, our priority is simple: help you feel better fast. We work to reduce pain, improve mobility, and support better sleep so your body can begin healing the right way. This is where we calm the irritation, begin restoring proper motion, and lay the foundation for lasting results — not just temporary relief.
2. Stronger
Once pain has decreased and mobility begins to return, we shift our focus to restoring proper function and stability. This phase is about correcting the underlying issues, rebuilding strength, and improving the way your spine and body move — so progress sticks. We work to help you return to the activities you love with confidence, not caution.
3. Healthier
It doesn’t make sense to get you better, just for it to all go bad again! We want you feeling and functioning your best for years to come. This phase ensures that you maintain all of the amazing progress you have made.
How We Treat Lower Back Pain In Cary, NC
Comprehensive Consultation and Exam
When a new patient comes in with low back pain, the first thing we do is slow down. Everyone is busy these days, so if you’ve taken the time to come in, it must be a big deal — and you deserve my full attention. We sit down together in a quiet room, just the two of us, and I ask you to tell me what’s going on. Then I listen. How long has it been there? Has this happened before? What makes it better or worse? What have you already tried? Who else have you seen? How is it affecting your daily life? What are your goals? The more I understand about your situation, the better equipped I am actually to help you.
After we’ve talked through everything, we move into the physical exam — and I want to be clear about something: this is a hands-on exam. In many healthcare settings today, doctors don’t even touch their patients anymore. That’s not how we do things here. I start by asking you to show me exactly where the pain is — point to it with your hand. Then I use my own hands to palpate the area, identify the problem, and reproduce it. That’s important because if I can find it and recreate it, I can understand it.
From there, we move through a series of specific orthopedic tests to gather more data, followed by a neurological exam — checking sensation, muscle strength, and reflexes — to determine which nerves may be involved and how long they’ve been affected. We also go through range-of-motion testing, which is really just a fancy way of saying I watch you move. There’s a tremendous amount of information in how and where your movement is restricted, because it almost always points us directly to the source of the problem.
By the end of the exam, I have a very clear picture of what’s going on and why. The goal isn’t just to treat your symptoms — it’s to find the root cause, because that’s the only way to actually fix it and make sure it doesn’t keep coming back.
Specific Chiropractic Care in Cary, NC
When I talk to patients about what chiropractic actually does, it all comes back to one word: subluxation. A subluxation is what happens when one of the vertebrae in your spine becomes fixated — stuck, for lack of a better term. It loses the vital motion it needs to stay healthy and keep your body functioning at its best. I tell patients that addressing subluxations is specifically what chiropractors are trained to do. It’s what we focused on in school. We are the spine experts.
When a vertebra gets stuck, a whole chain of events happens around it. The small muscles alongside it go into spasm to protect the area. The nerve signals traveling through that region get disturbed — the body starts receiving less information, or bad information, from that part of the spine. The disc and cartilage stop moving, which kicks off a breakdown process called degeneration. The surrounding soft tissues — ligaments, tendons, muscles — become rigid and fibrotic. I describe it to patients this way: healthy tissue that moves is like a juicy chicken breast. Tissue that’s been stuck and starved of motion is more like beef jerky—dried out, stiff, and brittle. If you’re a vegetarian, think of a plump, fresh strawberry versus a dried one. Motion is life for these tissues, and without it,t they deteriorate.
In the lumbar spine specifically, subluxations can be at the root of a long list of problems — low back pain, leg pain, sciatica, herniated and bulging discs, facet syndrome, and even issues with nearby organs,s including the bowels and reproductive system. The adjustment restores proper motion to the fixated segments, allowing the surrounding tissues to heal, the nerves to recover, and the patient to get well. It really is that straightforward.
What makes chiropractic different from other treatment approaches is that we’re the only ones actually addressing the subluxation. Medications — at their best — numb you from feeling the problem. They don’t free up the stuck bones. Injections do essentially the same thing in a more targeted way, but since the underlying issue isn’t corrected, the symptoms come back. Physical therapy can be very effective when the problem is purely muscular. Still, if the subluxated joints aren’t adjusted first, the surrounding tissue simply won’t heal as well as it could. Chiropractic gets to the actual cause, restores motion, and lets the body do what it’s designed to do — with little to no side effects.
Digital X-rays
One of the tools I rely on heavily when evaluating low back pain is digital x-ray, and the good news is we have that technology right here in our office. That means we take the X-ray and I can see it instantly — no waiting, no sending it out to be processed. We get answers faster, and that matters when you’re in pain.
So what does an X-ray actually show us? A lot more than people realize. It allows me to look at the structure of your spine, assess alignment, take specific measurements, and identify where degeneration, decay, and breakdown have occurred. It tells me how long a problem has likely been there, which helps us set realistic expectations for your recovery. Just as importantly, it tells me where to adjust — and where not to. That’s information I simply can’t get from an exam alone, and it allows me to tailor your care specifically to your spine rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.
A question I get occasionally is whether X-rays are dangerous. It’s a fair question, and I’m happy to put that concern to rest. Our system is a high-frequency digital unit, which means the radiation exposure is very low, significantly lower than older traditional X-ray equipment. We also only take the necessary views—no unnecessary exposure, ever. The information we gain from those images far outweighs any minimal risk, and it would be doing you a disservice to guess at what’s going on in your spine when we can actually see it.
Spinal Decompression
Between each of the bones in your spine, there are discs — think of them like water balloons. They sit between your vertebrae, absorb shock, and are designed to last a lifetime. But life has a way of wearing them down. Injuries, poor posture, too much sitting, repetitive movements, and subluxations all put abnormal stress on these discs over time, and eventually, something gives.
When a disc is under excessive pressure for too long, it can bulge or herniate. The simplest way I can explain it is this: the jelly is supposed to stay inside the donut. When it doesn’t — when the disc material pushes out into an area it’s not supposed to be — it often presses against the nerves of the spine. That’s when things get really painful. Sometimes this happens from a sudden trauma or impact, but most of the time it builds slowly over years without the person even realizing it until one day they can barely get out of bed.
The other thing that happens over time is disc degeneration, which is directly connected to movement—or the lack of it. Here’s something most people don’t know: after the age of 23, your discs have no blood supply. None. They rely entirely on spinal movement to pump in the nutrients and oxygen they need and flush out the waste. A good way to understand why that matters is to think about a diabetic patient’s foot — poor circulation means the tissue heals very slowly. Discs face the same challenge. When a subluxation prevents an area of the spine from moving properly, the discs in that area become starved of the nutrients they need. Over time, the water essentially leaks out of the balloon, the disc breaks down, and degeneration sets in.
This is exactly where nonsurgical spinal decompression comes in. The decompression table gently and precisely applies a pulling force to the lower spine, and that pulling creates something called a negative pressure — essentially a vacuum effect inside the disc. That vacuum does two powerful things: it draws the bulging or herniated disc material back toward the center, taking pressure off the nerves, and it pulls water, nutrients, and oxygen back into the disc through a pumping process called imbibition. Over time, this helps the disc rehydrate, the tissue begins to heal, space opens up around the compressed nerves, and patients start to feel relief.
For a long time, there wasn’t a great option between conservative care and surgery for serious disc problems. Spinal decompression changed that. It gives us a powerful, non-invasive tool to address the disc itself — not just cover up the pain — and, for the right patient, it can be truly life-changing.
Custom Therapeutic Exercise Plan
Exercise is an important part of recovering from low back pain, but timing matters. I always tell patients — you don’t rebuild the house while it’s still on fire, and you don’t stretch a sprained ankle the day you injure it. We wait until the pain has calmed down and the spine is healthy enough to handle it, and then we add exercise in strategically. Jumping into exercise too soon can actually make things worse, so we’re very intentional about when we introduce it.
Here’s why it matters so much. Life, injuries, and repetitive motions take a toll on the muscles that support your spine. Some muscles become overworked, some get injured, and over time, imbalances develop. This is especially common today, with so many people sitting for work — certain muscles get chronically tight while others get weak, and that imbalance puts stress on the lower back joints that adds up over time.
The exercises we prescribe are designed to restore that balance. Think of it like a symphony — sitting, walking, standing, driving, playing golf or pickleball, dancing, running — all of it requires a finely tuned coordination of muscles working together. When that balance breaks down, joints suffer. When we restore it, the spine has the stability it needs to protect itself through whatever your daily life demands of it.
We create a custom exercise plan based on your specific condition and your specific needs — because what works for one person isn’t necessarily right for another. And here’s something I always remind patients: keep doing the exercises even after the pain is gone. A muscle that isn’t used doesn’t magically stay strong. It shrinks, weakens, and leaves you vulnerable all over again. The goal is to build something that lasts.
Common Causes of Low Back Pain in Cary, NC
Bulged Lumbar Discs
To understand a disc bulge, it helps first to understand what a disc actually is. Between each bone in your spine sits a disc — think of it like a water balloon. It provides cushioning, absorbs shock, and allows your spine to move freely. The disc has a tough outer layer and a softer, gel-like center. When everything is working the way it should, that gel stays right where it belongs — inside the center of the disc. The jelly stays inside the donut, so to speak.
A disc bulge happens when abnormal or excessive pressure causes the outer wall of the disc to weaken and push outward beyond its normal boundary. Think of it like a tire losing air — the side walls push out, but the tire itself remains intact. The outer layer of the disc hasn’t torn, but it’s expanding into space it shouldn’t occupy, often affecting a wide area of the disc’s circumference. This most commonly happens in the lower back, where the spine carries the most load and stress.
The causes are usually not dramatic. Most disc bulges don’t come from one big injury — they develop slowly over time from a combination of things like poor posture, too much sitting, repetitive movements, old unresolved injuries, and subluxations that cause certain segments of the spine to stop moving properly. Over time, the disc weakens and eventually gives way.
Symptoms can range from mild to significant. For many patients, the first sign is simply stiffness in the lower back — easy to ignore at first, which is exactly why so many people wait too long to get it checked. From there, it can progress to a constant dull ache or sharp pain that comes and goes. When the bulge compresses a nerve, the pain can radiate into the buttocks, down the leg, and into the foot. Daily activities that most people take for granted — sitting, standing, walking, sleeping — can become genuinely painful.
At our office, we address disc bulges with a combination of specific chiropractic adjustments to restore proper movement and alignment, spinal decompression to take pressure off the disc and draw it back toward the center, soft tissue work to relieve surrounding muscle tension, and a custom exercise plan to rebuild the stability the spine needs to protect itself going forward. The goal is actually to heal the disc — not just manage the pain — so you can get back to living your life.
Herniated Lumbar Discs
A herniated disc is often confused with a disc bulge, and while they’re related, there’s an important difference. With a bulge, the outer wall of the disc remains intact — it’s pushing outward but hasn’t torn. A herniation is a more serious injury in which the outer layer tears, and the soft, gel-like center leaks out. If a bulging disc is like a tire losing air, a herniated disc is like a jelly donut with a hole in it — the filling is no longer contained.
Because a herniation tends to be more localized and protrudes further into the surrounding tissue, it’s more likely to compress a nerve root directly. That’s why the symptoms are typically more intense. Where a disc bulge might show up as chronic stiffness or a dull ache that builds over time, a herniation often announces itself more aggressively — sharp, severe pain, numbness, tingling, or a shooting sensation that travels down through the buttocks and into the leg. This is commonly known as sciatica, and for patients experiencing it, it can be completely debilitating. Simple things like sitting in a car, getting dressed, or trying to sleep can become incredibly difficult.
The treatment approach at our office for a herniated disc is the same combination we use for a disc bulge — specific chiropractic adjustments, spinal decompression, soft tissue work, and a progressive exercise plan introduced at the right time. The difference is that herniations often require more time and patience due to the severity of the injury. But the goal remains the same: heal the disc, relieve the nerve pressure, restore function, and get you back to doing the things you love without pain.
Degenerative Disc Disease
Degenerative disc disease is one of those diagnoses that sounds scarier than it needs to be — and unfortunately, it’s also one of the most misunderstood. I can’t tell you how many patients come in after being told by their medical doctor that their back hurts because they’re getting older, and there’s not much to be done about it. With all due respect, I think that explanation sells patients short.
Here’s why. When I look at a patient’s X-rays and see degenerative disc disease, it’s rarely throughout the entire spine. It’s in a specific area. Now think about that for a second — if degeneration were simply a result of aging, and every part of the spine is the same age, why wouldn’t it show up everywhere? The answer is that age is a factor, but it’s not the cause. The real cause is an area of the spine that was injured at some point and stopped moving properly — and has been that way for years.
When a segment of the spine loses its normal motion due to a subluxation or old injury, the disc in that area gets starved of the movement it needs to stay healthy. Over time, it begins to break down. The vertebral joint now has to handle abnormal stress it was never designed to manage, and the whole area starts to change. Bone spurs develop. Ligaments get stiffer and more fibrous. The muscles around the area tighten up to try to protect it. The small facet joints in the spine take on more load than they’re designed to handle. It’s a slow cascade of breakdown — kind of like a tooth that’s had a cavity for years, never properly treated by a dentist. Left alone long enough, the whole thing deteriorates.
Patients with degenerative disc disease typically feel stiffness and achiness in the affected area, sometimes sharp pain, sometimes a constant dull ache that comes and goes. One of the most common patterns I see is that they wake up very stiff in the morning — the spine has been still all night, and the damaged area just locks up. But with movement and stretching throughout the day, it tends to loosen up and feel a little better. That pattern alone tells me a lot.
As for treatment, while we can’t reverse degeneration that has already occurred, we can absolutely slow it down, manage symptoms, and, in many cases, significantly improve how the patient feels and functions. At our office, we use specific chiropractic adjustments to restore as much normal motion as possible to the affected segments — and this is really the cornerstone of care for these patients. The spine is designed to move, and as we restore that proper motion to the area, the body can finally begin to heal the way it was meant to. Spinal decompression helps rehydrate the discs and create more space, soft tissue work addresses the surrounding muscle tightness, and a progressive exercise plan builds the stability and support the compromised area needs. The goal is to stop the progression, reduce the pain, and help the patient get back to living an active life — regardless of what their x-rays show.
Spinal Stenosis
Spinal stenosis is one of those conditions that can be genuinely frustrating to live with — and I always make sure patients understand that when they come in. It’s not something that developed overnight. Stenosis is typically the result of years of accumulated damage and neglect to the spine, and understanding what’s actually happening inside helps patients make sense of what they’re feeling.
Here’s the best way to think about it. Running through the center of your spinal column is a canal — essentially a tunnel that houses your spinal cord and nerves. In a healthy spine, that tunnel has plenty of room. But over time, several things can happen that cause that space to shrink. Degenerative discs can push outward into the canal. The ligaments inside the canal thicken and take up more space. The facet joints — the small joints in the back of the spine — can become damaged and arthritic, leading to bone spurs that further crowd the canal. It’s usually not just one thing but a combination of several, all slowly closing in on the space the nerves need to function properly.
The symptoms are fairly recognizable once you know what to look for. Lower back pain, stiffness, leg pain, numbness, tingling, and sometimes weakness in one or both legs are all common. One of the telltale signs of lumbar spinal stenosis is that walking or standing — even for short periods — brings on or worsens the symptoms, while sitting down or bending forward provides relief. That forward flexion slightly opens the canal. It takes pressure off the nerves, which is why patients often find themselves leaning on a shopping cart at the grocery store or needing to sit down after walking a short distance.
When it comes to treatment, I’m always honest with my patients — our goal with stenosis isn’t necessarily to cure it, because in many cases the structural changes that have occurred can’t be fully reversed. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do. Using a combination of specific, gentle chiropractic adjustments and targeted nonsurgical spinal decompression, we can increase the space in the canal, reduce pressure on the nerves, and significantly increase the time a patient can walk, stand, and get around comfortably. For most patients, that means more freedom, more activity, and a much better quality of life — without surgery.
Muscle Strain
A muscle strain in the lower back is one of the most common reasons people come through our door, and it’s also one of the most underestimated. When a muscle strain occurs, the actual muscle fibers or tendons are overstretched or partially torn — usually from lifting something too heavy, lifting improperly, overdoing it physically, or a sudden, awkward movement. Symptoms typically include localized pain, stiffness, muscle spasms, and difficulty standing up straight or moving freely. Most straightforward strains will calm down within a couple of weeks with rest, ice, and heat therapy, and some basic self-care.
But here’s what I want patients to understand — muscles don’t work in isolation. They attach to bone, and their entire job is to move those bones. So when a muscle is strained, the structures it attaches to are almost always involved as well. In the lower back, that means the vertebrae, the surrounding ligaments, and often the discs. In my experience, when someone comes in convinced they’ve “just pulled a muscle,” a thorough exam frequently reveals that there’s more going on beneath the surface — a subluxation, an irritated disc, or a joint affected by the same force that strained the muscle.
There’s also a deeper question worth asking — why did the strain happen in the first place? Often, it’s because the muscles and supporting tissues simply weren’t strong enough to handle the demand placed on them. The body had become deconditioned over time, and something as routine as picking up a laundry basket or reaching into the back seat became too much to handle. That’s not just a muscle problem — that’s a whole body stability problem.
This is exactly why a proper exam is so important. Treating a muscle strain without understanding the full picture might get you out of pain temporarily, but it won’t set you up for long-term success. We want to know what’s actually going on so we can build the right plan — one that addresses not just the muscle but everything connected to it.
Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction (SI Joint Pain)
The sacroiliac joint — or SI joint as we commonly call it — is one of those areas that often gets overlooked as a source of lower back pain, but it can be incredibly painful when it’s not functioning properly. Here’s a simple way to understand where it is: you know those small dimples some people have on their lower back? That’s right where the SI joint lives. The sacrum — the large triangular bone at the base of your spine — connects on both sides to the ilium, which are the large bones of your pelvis. The SI joint is where those bones meet, and its job is to transfer load between your upper body and your legs while providing stability through your pelvis and lower back.
What’s interesting about SI joint dysfunction is that it can go wrong in two opposite directions. The joint can become stuck and stop moving properly — and, just like anywhere else in the spine, a lack of motion can cause problems over time. But the joint can also become hypermobile, meaning it moves too much. This often happens in patients whose jobs or daily activities place excessive demand on the joint. Over time, the surrounding supporting tissues weaken, the joint is subjected to more stress than it was designed to handle, and inflammation and pain result. Pregnancy is another common trigger, as hormonal changes significantly loosen the ligaments around the joint.
Regardless of the direction the problem is coming from, the symptoms tend to be similar — pain in the lower back and buttocks, and sometimes into the hip or upper leg. It can be easy to confuse with a disc problem or a hip issue, which is why a careful consultation, a hands-on exam, and specific orthopedic tests are so important. X-rays can also provide valuable information about the structural changes in that area.
Once we’ve identified the SI joint as the source, treatment is very straightforward. Specific chiropractic adjustments to restore proper motion and alignment to the joint, soft tissue work to address the surrounding muscle tension, and a targeted exercise plan to build stability around the area so it can handle the demands of daily life. Most patients respond very well and are often surprised at how much relief they get once the right area is actually being addressed.
Facet Joint Dysfunction
Facet joints are the small joints located in the back of your spine that connect each vertebra to the one above and below it. Every level of your spine has two of them, and their job is to guide movement and provide stability. They allow you to bend, twist, and move freely while keeping everything in check. Most people have never heard of them until one becomes a problem — and when it does, it can be a very real source of lower back pain.
Just like any other joint in the body, facet joints can become injured, inflamed, and arthritic over time. This usually happens gradually — poor posture, repetitive movements, old injuries, and subluxations all place abnormal stress on these joints over the years. When the cartilage inside the joint wears down, the body responds by creating inflammation, thickening the surrounding ligaments, and sometimes developing bone spurs around the joint. The whole area just starts to break down, and that breakdown causes pain.
The symptoms can feel a lot like other types of lower back pain — a chronic dull ache, stiffness, especially in the morning, and pain that tends to get worse when you arch your back or twist. Sometimes it radiates into the buttocks or hip. What makes facet joint pain tricky is that it can mimic disc problems or muscle issues, which is exactly why a thorough consultation and hands-on exam are so important. I want to make sure we’re treating the right thing.
Once we’ve identified the facet joints as the source, our approach is the same philosophy we apply throughout our care — get to the root cause and address it directly. Specific chiropractic adjustments restore proper motion to the affected joints, relieving abnormal stress on the area and allowing it to heal. We combine that with soft tissue work to address the muscle tightness that almost always develops around a painful joint, and a targeted exercise plan to build the stability needed to protect those joints going forward. The goal, as always, is to get you out of pain, keep you out of pain, and help you keep doing the things you love.
Subluxation
A subluxation is something I talk about with nearly every patient who walks through our door, because it’s really the foundation of what we do. Simply put, a subluxation is a misalignment of a vertebra in the spine — it can be slightly out of position or significantly out of position, and it can also just become stuck and lose its ability to move properly. That loss of motion is just as much of a problem as the misalignment itself, because joints are designed to move, and they stay healthy through movement. When that movement is taken away, the trouble begins.
The effects of a subluxation go beyond what most people expect. The obvious symptoms are pain and stiffness — sharp pain, a dull ache, or pain in the lower back, pain that travels down into the buttocks or leg. But here’s what most people don’t realize: the nerves coming out of your lower spine don’t just go to your legs. They go to your organs. The large intestine, small intestine, the male and female reproductive systems, and the prostate — all of these organs receive their nerve supply from the lower back. When a subluxation puts pressure on those nerves, the body can’t communicate effectively through them, and the organs they supply can’t function as they’re designed to. You may never connect your digestive issues or other symptoms to your spine, but the connection is very real.
Subluxations are identified through a combination of careful consultation, hands-on palpation, range-of-motion assessment, and specific orthopedic tests. I use my hands to feel the spine, assess movement, find where things are stuck or misaligned, and identify the source of the problem. It’s a skill that takes years of training to develop — and that’s exactly why a chiropractor is the best-equipped provider to address this problem.
Frankly, most other practitioners aren’t even aware that subluxations exist, which means they can’t find them, let alone fix them. Chiropractors undergo extensive hands-on training focused on detecting and correcting subluxations through what we call the chiropractic adjustment. The adjustment is a precise, controlled force applied to the affected vertebra to restore its proper alignment and motion. When we do that consistently and long enough for the body to adapt and heal, patients get real lasting relief — without unnecessary medications, injections, or surgery that only mask the symptoms. At the same time, the underlying cause continues to do damage.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I be worried about lower back pain?
If it doesn’t go away fairly quickly on its own, is getting progressively worse, or is traveling into your leg, that’s when I’d start paying close attention. The last thing you want to do is take medication to cover up a real problem while that problem continues to get worse underneath — the sooner we find the cause, the easier it is to fix.
What can I do to relieve my lower back pain in Cary, NC?
The best thing you can do is come into Kosterman Chiropractic for a proper evaluation so we can determine exactly what’s causing it and put together a plan to fix it. As a chiropractor, I am literally a lower back specialist — it’s all I study, practice, and help people with every single day. Don’t waste time bouncing around to providers who aren’t as focused or educated on it. In the meantime, gentle movement, ice for acute pain, and heat for muscle tightness can help take the edge off while we get you in.
How do I know if my back pain is serious?
If your pain is constant or worsening, radiates into your leg, or is accompanied by numbness, tingling, or weakness, it’s a sign that something more serious is going on, and you should get evaluated right away. Pain that interferes with sleep, work, or daily activities is also a signal that your body needs attention.
What causes lower back pain? Lower back pain can come from many sources — subluxations, disc bulges or herniations, muscle strains, degenerative disc disease, SI joint dysfunction, facet joint problems, and spinal stenosis are among the most common. That’s exactly why a thorough exam is so important — the cause determines the solution.
How should I sleep with lower back pain?
Side sleeping with a pillow or two between your knees is usually the most comfortable position for lower back pain because it keeps your spine in a more neutral alignment. If you prefer sleeping on your back, placing a pillow under your knees can significantly reduce pressure on your lower back.
How do I tell if lower back pain is muscle- or disc-related?
Muscle pain tends to be more localized, achy, and related to specific movements or activities. Disc-related pain often radiates into the buttocks or down the leg and can be accompanied by numbness, tingling, or sharp shooting pain. That said, these two problems frequently occur together, which is why a hands-on exam and x-rays are the only reliable way to know for sure. If we need to order an MRI as well, we are well-equipped to do so.
How does a slipped disc feel?
Most patients describe it as a sharp, intense pain in the lower back that can shoot down into the leg, sometimes all the way to the foot. It can also feel like a constant deep ache combined with numbness or tingling, and simple things like sitting, standing, or even sneezing can make it significantly worse.
Why won’t my lower back pain go away?
Because the root cause has never been properly identified and addressed. Medications, rest, and temporary fixes don’t correct subluxations, heal discs, or restore proper spinal motion — they just quiet the symptoms for a while. Until the underlying problem is found and treated, the pain will keep coming back.
Can a Chiropractor in Cary, NC help with lower back pain?
Absolutely — chiropractic care is one of the most effective and well-researched approaches to lower back pain available. At our office, we combine specific chiropractic adjustments, spinal decompression, soft-tissue work, and customized exercise plans to not only get you out of pain but also keep you that way.
What is better for lower back pain: a chiropractor or a massage?
Both are valuable and can work extremely well together if warranted. Massage addresses muscle tension and soft-tissue components, while chiropractic adjustments correct the underlying structural and neurological causes — combining the two produces far better results than either alone. Knowing when to add massage is key because it can sometimes aggravate the situation. We can help to identify when it’s best for you.
When should I see a Chiropractor in Cary, NC, for lower back pain?
Honestly, the moment it starts. The longer a problem goes unaddressed, the more the spine compensates and degenerates, making recovery more complicated. If your back is hurting, that’s your body telling you something needs attention — don’t wait. It’s easier to stay well than to get well. Would you wait to go to the dentist when all of your teeth are rotted out?
How can you tell if your spine is out of alignment?
Sometimes you can, and sometimes you can’t. Common signs include persistent stiffness, uneven posture, one hip or shoulder sitting higher than the other, restricted range of motion, and recurring pain in the same area. The most reliable way to know is to come in for an evaluation — we can feel it with our hands and confirm it with X-rays.
$49 New Patient Special
Includes consultation, examination, x-Ray (if needed) & 1st chiropractic adjustment. This offer does not apply to federal beneficiaries, auto accident cases, workers’ compensation or if filing health insurance.