Conditions We Treat

Low-Back Pain

Four out of five adults deal with it at some point. That does not make it normal, and it does not mean you have to live with it.

What Is Actually Causing It

"Low-back pain" describes where it hurts, not what is wrong. The lumbar spine is a stack of five vertebrae, the discs between them, a web of ligaments, and layers of muscle that stabilise every step you take. Pain can come from any of those structures - and the treatment that helps one will do very little for another.

Joint restriction

Spinal joints are built to glide. When one stops moving properly, the muscles around it tighten to protect it, and the joints above and below take on extra work. This is the classic "my back went out" presentation - sharp, localised, often worse first thing in the morning.

Disc irritation

Discs sit between the vertebrae and act as shock absorbers. When a disc is irritated or bulging, it can press on nearby structures. Disc pain typically feels worse with sitting, bending forward and coughing, and often eases when you stand or walk.

Muscular strain and guarding

Lifting something awkwardly, a hard training session, or simply sleeping wrong can strain the muscles that support the spine. Strain pain is usually diffuse, achy, and worse with movement in one particular direction.

Weak or poorly timed deep support

The deep abdominal and hip muscles are supposed to brace the spine before you load it. When that timing is off - common after pregnancy, surgery, long periods of sitting, or an old injury - the spine takes load it was not braced for, over and over.

How It Usually Shows Up

Morning stiffness

Twenty minutes of stiffness on waking that eases once you start moving points toward joint restriction rather than muscle strain.

Worse after sitting

Pain that builds through a workday and bites when you stand up often has a disc or hip-flexor component.

Pain on one side

Asymmetric pain usually means one joint, one muscle group, or one side of the pelvis is doing more than its share.

Recurring episodes

Pain that resolves then returns every few months is the signature of an underlying cause that was never addressed.

Pain into the buttock or leg

When symptoms travel below the knee, a nerve is likely involved. That changes the exam and the plan.

Catching or locking

A back that catches partway through a movement suggests a joint that is not tracking the way it should.

How We Approach It

Find the driver

Dr. Nario takes a history and puts your spine, hips and pelvis through a hands-on movement exam. The goal is to identify which structure is generating the pain and what movement pattern keeps provoking it - not simply to confirm that your back hurts.

Calm it down

Early care is aimed at relief: chiropractic adjustment to restore motion to restricted joints, soft-tissue work for muscles that have been guarding, and clear guidance on which positions and movements to avoid while things settle.

Rebuild the support

Once pain is manageable, corrective exercise addresses why it happened - retraining deep core timing, restoring hip mobility, and loading the spine progressively so it tolerates real life again.

Keep it gone

You leave with the specific exercises and habits that hold your result, plus a realistic sense of what to do if a flare-up ever starts.

A note on imaging. Most low-back pain does not need an X-ray or MRI, and imaging early can be misleading - disc changes show up on scans of plenty of people who have no pain at all. We image when the history or exam gives us a specific reason to, and we will explain exactly what that reason is.

What Recovery Realistically Looks Like

Most uncomplicated low-back pain improves meaningfully within a few weeks of consistent care. Longstanding pain, disc involvement or a significant strength deficit takes longer - and the honest answer is that the rebuilding phase is usually the part that determines whether it stays gone.

  • Early visits are closer together, then space out as you improve
  • You should notice change within the first handful of visits
  • Home exercise is not optional - it is most of the long-term result
  • If you are not responding as expected, we reassess rather than repeat
  • If the problem is outside our scope, we say so and refer

Stop Working Around Your Back

Book an evaluation and find out what is actually driving the pain - then do something about it.

Book Now Call (949) 796-4639