Back Pain
Find the source of your back pain, treat it directly, and get back to the activities that actually matter to you.
Book a first visitMost back pain is treatable. Most treatments miss the source.
Back pain is the most common thing I see in my practice, and the most commonly mistreated. Patients come in after months of muscle relaxers, ibuprofen, generic stretches handed out at a PT office, and clinics that adjusted them quickly and pushed them out the door. They are still in pain. The work I do is built around the part that all of those approaches skipped.
First visits take about an hour. I listen to your story. I do a real exam. I tell you what I think is actually causing the pain and what we are going to do about it. We start treating the same day. There is no second appointment to come back and hear results, no week-long wait between diagnosis and the start of care.
What is actually causing your back pain?
Back pain is a symptom, not a diagnosis. The most common sources I see:
Muscle strain and overuse
The most common cause, and usually the most responsive to manual treatment. A lifting incident, a long day in the yard, an awkward sleep position, or weeks of sitting at a desk in the wrong chair can leave back muscles locked up. Soft tissue work and adjustments usually bring this down quickly.
Disc-related pain
Bulging or herniated discs press on nerves and cause both local back pain and pain that radiates into the hips, glutes, and down the legs. Many patients with disc problems do well with conservative care if the work is targeted to the specific level involved.
Sciatica
Sciatic nerve irritation creates pain that travels from the low back through the buttock and down one leg. The cause is almost always in the lumbar spine, but the symptom shows up in the leg. Treating the source is what brings the leg pain down.
Degenerative disc disease
Discs naturally lose hydration and height with age, which can change how the lumbar spine loads. Conservative care will not regrow disc tissue, but it can often manage the symptoms and slow the functional consequences.
Spinal stenosis
Narrowing of the spinal canal that puts pressure on the nerves passing through it. Common in older patients. Manual care does not reverse the narrowing, but it can ease the muscle tension and joint restriction that often amplify the symptoms.
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
The joints where the spine meets the pelvis can become locked, irritated, or unstable. This often shows up as one-sided low-back pain that does not respond well to typical low-back treatment because the source is the SI joint, not the lumbar spine itself.
Pinched nerves
Nerves can be compressed at any level of the spine, causing pain, numbness, or weakness in the area the nerve serves. The treatment depends on which nerve is involved and what is compressing it.
Where it hurts is not always where it is broken
This is the part most clinics get wrong. Patients come in with one problem and the source is somewhere else entirely.
A common example: hip pain. Patients arrive with months of hip discomfort, clean x-rays, clean MRIs, and no clear cause. What is often happening is the lower back is compressing nerves, the pelvis is loading wrong, and the hip is taking the weight of a problem that started in the spine. You cannot fix that with a hip injection. You have to identify the back issue and treat it directly.
The same pattern shows up with knee pain that is really a hip stability issue, with shoulder pain that traces back to the upper neck, and with leg pain that turns out to be sciatica from a lumbar disc. The diagnostic work matters. Skipping it is why so many patients spend months cycling through treatments that do not target the actual source.
The symptom. The hip, the knee, the leg, the spot you point to.
The source. Often higher up the chain, in the spine or how the body loads.
What treatment looks like
Treatment is whatever combination of tools fits the specific problem. For most back pain patients, that is some mix of chiropractic adjustments to restore joint motion, hands-on soft tissue work to release muscle tension and break up scar tissue, rehab and corrective exercises to rebuild the strength and movement patterns the injury took away, stretching and mobility work, and taping when it will help.
I do not use injections, prescription medications, or surgery. If you need any of those, I will tell you that directly and refer you to a specialist I trust. The work I do is hands-on, manual, and conservative.
Pain stopping is not the same as healing
Just because your pain stops does not mean you are done. The pain going away is the first 90 percent of healing. The last 10 percent, where the tissue is actually rebuilt and the movement pattern is corrected, takes longer than most patients expect. Soft tissue research puts full functional healing closer to 12 to 18 months. You hit 90 percent in the first six months. The last 10 percent comes over the year that follows. If you stop the work when the pain stops, the underlying issue is still there, and the next time something stresses it, you are back at the start.
I will tell you when we have hit the point where you can manage it on your own. I do not stretch out care plans for the sake of it. But I also will not pretend pain relief is the same thing as a fix when it is not.
Pain leaves before healing finishes
90% healed
fully healed
Most patients stop when the pain stops, around the 90% mark. The last 10%, where tissue actually rebuilds, is the part that prevents re-injury.
Ready to figure out what is actually going on?
If you have been dealing with back pain for weeks or months, if you have been to other clinics and nothing has worked, or if you have been told surgery is your only option and you want to make sure that is really true, book a first visit. The diagnostic conversation alone is usually worth the time.
Book a first visitCommon Questions
Do I need imaging before I come in?
Not necessarily. If you already have recent x-rays or an MRI, bring them or send them ahead. If imaging would change the treatment plan and you do not have any, I will tell you what to get and where.
How quickly will I feel better?
Many back pain patients feel meaningful relief after the first visit. Others have layered problems that take a few weeks of consistent work. I will give you a realistic timeline at the first visit based on what I find, not a generic care plan template.
Will I need surgery?
Most back pain does not. Surgery is sometimes the right answer, but it should be the last step, not the first. If your situation truly needs surgical evaluation, I will say so on the first visit and refer you to a surgeon I trust. If conservative care has a real chance of working, that is what we will try first.
Is this covered by insurance?
Pure Health & Wellness is in network with Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO, Aetna PPO, PHCS PPOs, and United Healthcare PPO. You may also see the practice listed in your insurance directory as Hunter Family Chiropractic, PC. Same practice, same doctor. Call (630) 435-0100 to confirm coverage for your plan.
Do you treat back pain during pregnancy?
Yes. Pregnancy-related back and pelvic pain is common and responds well to manual care. The techniques are modified for safety throughout pregnancy.
Do I need a referral?
No. You can book directly.