Dr. David KoivurantaDoctor Of Chiropractic, Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic · I Prevent the Work Injuries I Treat Daily | Clinical Ergonomic Assessments for HR & H&S | GTA

Where is my back pain coming from?

11 Aug 2023 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

2:24

In this concise educational monologue, Dr. David Koivuranta (Dr. Dave) of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic explains that the term “back pain” is often used loosely and can originate from several distinct anatomical regions. While many people associate back pain with the lumbar spine, pain may also arise from the sacroiliac (SI) joints in the pelvis or the hip joint, and patients may describe these sources as back pain. Dr. Dave emphasizes that the musculoskeletal system functions as an integrated chain; when one segment (e.g., a vertebra, SI joint, or hip) moves poorly or is misaligned, other segments compensate, potentially creating pain elsewhere. Consequently, a thorough clinical assessment that evaluates lumbar vertebrae, SI joint function, and hip mechanics is essential to pinpoint the true pain generator. Accurate identification guides effective chiropractic treatment and informs appropriate self‑care or exercise recommendations, ensuring that interventions target the correct structure rather than merely addressing symptoms.

Chapters

So back pain is something we see quite often at the clinic, and it's no wonder because back pain is probably what chiropractors are best known to help and treat. Chiropractic care, of course, has many other benefits, but if we ask someone in society about back pain or chiropractic, quite often people think of those two terms synonymously. However, when someone says they have back pain, it's not always a pain in the back that they have. So sometimes when people come in, they do have a back pain, and it's found what we would call clinically the lower back, in the back, or the lumbar spine where the vertebrae are. Is something that a chiropractor might think of as back pain. But sometimes back pain can be pointed out by the person as something that's also coming from perhaps the pelvis, something a little bit lower in the back, and sometimes even the hip areas out to the side someone might relate as back pain because it is in the back. So when people come in and they say they have back pain, we certainly want to investigate and find out exactly where that back pain is coming from and what's causing it. And sometimes, and in fact in many cases, it's no one area or one thing that's causing that back pain because when things don't sit doesn't sit or move right, there's— everything is connected. So something else may be compensating, or something else may also not be sitting and moving right because they have to work together. And when one part doesn't work well, something else may be making up the difference. So we will often check the low back itself, the vertebrae in the lumbar spine, to see how well things are sitting and moving. We'll definitely check these SI or sacroiliac joints in the pelvis. And then quite often we also check the hip joint function and movement to see how well things there are sitting and moving. And why are we so concerned about the function in those areas? Because if everything is sitting and moving well, this system is designed to stay feeling good for a lifetime. But when things don't sit or move right, that's typically the dysfunction that leads to the different causes or sources of back pain that a person might experience. So that's valuable in terms of treatment because you want to make sure you're fixing the right thing., but it's also valuable to know for self-care. There's certainly no harm in trying something to help with your back pain, but if you're not certain where or why you're having that back pain, the assessment is where the value can come from. And if it's only to have someone kind of send you in the right direction with the right exercises or self-care to do, there's a lot of value in making sure that you're doing it for the right thing. All right, so that's your back pain tip for the day from Dr. Dave at the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic.