John came to see us after being treated by another chiropractor, 2 times a week for 9 months. He went to see the chiropractor for low back pain, and pain in the left hip. He was referred to massage and none of the treatments offered any long-term relief.
On our first visit, I identified a left leg weakness in the smaller muscles around the foot, weakness through his gluteal region and hamstring muscles. He had indicated that there were times he would get pain down the back of his leg to his foot, but it wasn’t constant. Most of his pain was in his left buttock, caused him pain with sitting, sleeping, walking and most daily activities. The low back was also painful, more on the left than right.
What was shocking to me was that John’s left leg weakness was identified quite easily, and if he had been re-evaluated during his treatments, this should have been caught. I sent him for an MRI, which came back with a lumbar disc herniation to the left (which is what I suspected), putting pressure on the left L4-5 nerve roots, most likely the source of his pain. Now that we had a specific diagnosis, we had a clear path as to how to treat this.
We started with basic prone extension to mechanically push the disc back into place, known as the McKenzie Method. Then, we added core awareness exercises, starting carefully to not aggravate this injury. Over a period of several weeks, his low back pain started reducing, and his left hip pain was becoming less constant. His pain now is in his low back, not constant, and not nearly as bad. His left hip pain is also much better, and comes and goes with much less disturbance to his daily activities. He is trending upward, recovering, learning about what to do right to protect and preserve his low back.
I forgot to mention that he also had chronic neck and mid-back stiffness that was a daily, constant issue with working on computers every day, and this issue we took care of long ago!!
Why do I tell a glory story?? Not to make me look good, but to illustrate the difference in the type of care most patients see. Most get a lot of chiropractic care without a lot of teaching, exercises, or direction if the problem continues. My obligation to my patients is to teach you, help you and get you back to life functioning with the best chance of limiting future injuries and pain.
Tell a few friends what we do. We appreciate referrals!
If you read this story to the end, call and say you read the “Patient Story of the month”, and receive $10 off towards your next wellness massage, if scheduled in the next month!
