Chiropractic care is one of the most effective treatments for back pain, addressing the underlying cause rather than just masking symptoms. Research shows that patients who receive chiropractic care experience greater pain relief and functional improvement compared to those who rely on medication alone. At Hometown Family Wellness Center in Freehold, NJ, we’ve helped thousands of patients find lasting relief through spinal adjustments, therapeutic stretching, and corrective exercises.
The Scope of the Problem
Back pain is everywhere. According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 80% of adults will experience back pain at some point in their lives. At any given moment, roughly 26% of American adults are dealing with it right now. That’s not a small number.
What concerns me more is the trajectory. The prevalence of chronic back pain has more than doubled over the past few decades. People aren’t just hurting temporarily. They’re staying stuck in pain cycles that affect their work, their sleep, their relationships, and their overall quality of life.
I’ve practiced chiropractic in Freehold for over 27 years. In that time, I’ve performed more than 185,000 adjustments and seen just about every type of back problem you can imagine. The good news? Most back pain responds well to conservative care when you address the actual source of the problem.
Why Your Back Hurts
The spine is a remarkable structure, but it’s also vulnerable to dysfunction. Your back pain could stem from any number of causes:
Mechanical problems make up the majority of cases. The joints of the spine can become misaligned or restricted in their movement. When vertebrae don’t move properly, the surrounding muscles tighten up to compensate. Nerves get irritated. Discs experience uneven pressure. Pain follows.
Disc issues like bulges and herniations put pressure on spinal nerves. The pain often radiates into the buttocks or legs. We’ve written extensively about herniated disc treatment and how chiropractic compares to other approaches.
Muscle strain and ligament sprain happen from improper lifting, sudden movements, or repetitive stress. These soft tissue injuries often accompany underlying joint dysfunction.
Poor posture places continuous stress on spinal structures. Hours spent hunched over computers or looking down at phones accumulate into real damage over time.
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction affects the joints connecting your spine to your pelvis. Pain from this area often mimics other conditions and gets overlooked by practitioners who focus only on the lumbar spine.
Foundation problems in your feet can throw off your entire spinal alignment. When arches drop or feet pronate excessively, the knees rotate inward, the pelvis tilts, and the spine compensates. This is why we often recommend custom orthotics as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.
The Problem with Pain Medication
When back pain strikes, reaching for a pill seems like the obvious solution. But there are serious issues with this approach.
First, medication doesn’t fix anything. It just turns down the volume on pain signals while the underlying problem continues or worsens. Patients often feel temporarily better, resume their normal activities, and end up making things worse.
Second, the risks are real. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatories can damage your stomach lining and kidneys with prolonged use. Prescription opioids carry addiction potential that has contributed to a nationwide crisis. Research published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that patients who saw a chiropractor first for low back pain had 90% decreased odds of both early and long-term opioid use.
I’m not saying medication never has a role. For acute flare-ups, short-term pain relief can help you function. But relying on pills as a long-term strategy means you’re never actually solving the problem.
What the Research Says About Chiropractic
The evidence supporting chiropractic care for back pain has grown substantially over the past two decades. A few highlights worth knowing:
A large comparative effectiveness trial published in JAMA Network Open studied 750 active-duty military personnel with low back pain. Those who received chiropractic care in addition to usual medical care experienced significantly greater pain relief and functional improvement than those receiving medical care alone. The researchers found moderate clinical effects that met established guidelines from the American College of Physicians.
A review published in Frontiers in Pain Research concluded that spinal manipulative therapy should be considered as effective as any other recommended intervention for chronic low back pain. The authors noted that chiropractic care is evolving from alternative medicine toward becoming a mainstream option for spine pain.
Cost-effectiveness research has also been favorable. Studies comparing chiropractic to physical therapy found lower overall costs and better outcomes in the chiropractic group. Medicare data shows that older patients who received chiropractic care for chronic low back pain had lower costs and shorter pain episodes than those in other treatment groups.
None of this surprises me. When you correct the mechanical dysfunction causing pain rather than just suppressing symptoms, you get better results.
How We Approach Back Pain at Our Practice
At Hometown Family Wellness Center, we don’t rush through appointments. I take time with every patient because proper evaluation matters. Two people with similar symptoms might need very different treatment approaches.
Your first visit includes a thorough history and examination. I want to understand not just where it hurts, but how you got here. What does your daily routine look like? What activities make it better or worse? Have you had previous injuries or treatments?
The physical exam assesses your posture, range of motion, and the specific joints and muscles involved. I check the spine from top to bottom because problems in one area often create compensation patterns elsewhere.
Spinal Adjustments
The core of chiropractic care involves restoring proper motion and alignment to spinal joints. When vertebrae move correctly, nerve irritation decreases, muscles can relax, and the body’s natural healing processes work more efficiently.
I use various adjustment techniques depending on what each patient needs. Some respond best to manual adjustments. Others do better with instrument-assisted methods. The goal is always the same: get the joints moving properly again.
Addressing the Muscles
Tight, spasmed muscles don’t just accompany back pain. They contribute to it. Therapeutic stretching helps restore normal muscle length and reduce the pull on spinal structures.
I also look at muscles beyond the immediate area of pain. The hip flexors, hamstrings, and piriformis all influence how the lower back functions. Ignoring these muscle groups leads to incomplete results.
The Extremity Connection
Here’s something many practitioners miss: back problems often involve the joints below the spine. The ankles, knees, and hips all affect how forces travel up through the body.
I’ve seen patients who went to multiple chiropractors for low back pain and sciatica without getting better. When I evaluated them, I found restrictions in their feet, knees, or hips that were driving the spinal dysfunction. Once we addressed those contributing factors along with the spine, they finally improved.
This full-body approach is central to our philosophy. Your back doesn’t exist in isolation.
Home Exercise and Prevention
What you do between appointments matters enormously. I provide every patient with specific exercises and stretches to support their treatment. Core strengthening, flexibility work, and postural awareness all play roles in lasting improvement.
Prevention education is equally important. Understanding how to lift properly, set up your workstation, and maintain good posture helps you avoid future episodes.
When to Seek Help
Don’t wait until you can barely move to get your back checked. The earlier we address dysfunction, the easier it is to correct.
Schedule an evaluation if you experience:
- Pain lasting more than a few days
- Recurring episodes, even if they resolve on their own
- Morning stiffness that takes time to work out
- Pain that interrupts your sleep
- Difficulty with activities you normally enjoy
- Numbness, tingling, or weakness in your legs
Certain symptoms require immediate medical attention. If you experience loss of bladder or bowel control, severe weakness in your legs, or pain following significant trauma, go to an emergency room rather than waiting for a chiropractic appointment.
Taking the Next Step
Back pain affects nearly everything you do. Getting out of bed, sitting at work, playing with your kids, exercising, even sleeping comfortably. You don’t have to accept pain as a normal part of life.
The research supports chiropractic care as an effective, safe approach to back pain. More importantly, I’ve witnessed the results firsthand with thousands of patients from Freehold and throughout Monmouth County.
If chiropractic treatment isn’t the right fit for your particular condition, I’ll tell you directly and refer you to the appropriate specialist. The goal is always getting you better, whatever that requires.
Ready to find out what’s causing your back pain? Schedule a consultation at Hometown Family Wellness Center or call (732) 780-0044.
