Many people suffer from low back pain.  Whether you have chronic low back pain or acute low back pain, NUCCA has been shown to help tremendously.

If your posture is less than ideal, your weight distribution is putting more pressure on one part of your low back (and hip and knee and foot) than the other.

  1. It could be that you have a pinched nerve, causing sharp pain shooting into a part of your low back or leg, for example, sciatica.
  2. It could be that the disc is injured, protruding, or degenerated.
  3. It could be that your muscles are spasming to protect the joints and to keep you upright so you don’t fall over.
  4. It could be that the stabilizer muscles in your low back (or the core muscles in your abdomen) are weak, and are fatigued from an activity you performed.
  5. There are other possibilities as well, which are less common.
  6. It could even be a combination of more than one of the above.

Some of the options (not all are created equal) for pain relief are:

  1. Bed rest.  This can be helpful for short periods of time, or with the advice of your doctor.  The problem is that your muscles atrophy extremely quickly and if the muscles are weak, the pain can get worse, and the joints can more easily be damaged.
  2. Ice or Heat.  These can be very helpful in combination with other things.  The ice can help reduce inflammation and the heat can relax the muscles.  Don’t overdo it, though.  Never leave heat or ice on for more than 20 minutes.
  3. Pain relievers.  These can give temporary relief, but can cause problems with the stomach, the liver and the kidneys.  Pain relievers including OTC (over the counter) ones can cause you to overdo your activities, leading to more damage to the body.  They usually reduce the healing capabilities of the body as well.
  4. Anti-inflammatories.  These can be helpful.
  5. Muscle relaxants.  These can be helpful, depending on the injury.  However, the spasms may be protecting the joints, therefore without them, you may further damage your body.
  6. Muscle strengthening exercises.  These can be very helpful, but usually not in the acute (first) stages of the injury.  Back extension exercises and using an unstable surface such as sitting on an exercise ball can be extremely important for keeping low back pain at bay.  This is because they (and not most of the other exercises) can strengthen the multifidus muscles in the low back.  Weak multifidi have been shown to correlate with recurrent low back pain.  Be careful when doing these exercises that you do them correctly and don’t do further damage.
  7. Weight loss.  Don’t forget that if you are overweight, the weight on your abdomen causes extra force on your low back, making all other pain relieving measures less effective.
  8. NUCCA improves your posture, re-balancing the distribution of weight and taking the extra pressure off of the joints.  NUCCA also improves the function of the nervous system, and allows the nerves and tissues to heal.  NUCCA can also improve metabolism and increase your ability to exercise without pain, aiding in weight loss.

Call Dr. Pritchett today at (925) 829-7900 for relief of your chronic or acute low back pain!