Low back pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal pain conditions in the United States, with thousands upon thousands of people disabled due to some type of low back condition that causes pain, and wreaks havoc on their physical, social, emotional and economic welfare. At some point in almost everyone’s life, low back pain will be experienced.  And for those who are fortunate enough to not suffer from low back pain themselves, they are certain to know someone else who has endured the pain.

<h6>The Challenge of Treating Low Back Pain</h6>
Despite many available remedies, relief for low back pain is frequently only temporary. We see many people in our office who have come to us after having tried numerous treatments that left their back pain unresolved. It’s not uncommon for patients to tell us they have received weeks, months and years of therapy, taken various over-the-counter medications, received corticosteroid injections, or maybe even tried surgery. Unfortunately, many low back surgeries to do not relieve the pain or fix the problem, and result in a recommendation for another surgery!

So why do low back pain sufferers have a difficult time finding relief? Unrelieved back pain poses some challenges to the medical community, because very often many of the common treatments only attempt to cover up, rather than actually repair the problem. If you think about it, pain medications can’t repair the problem, but might only minimize pain. Pain medications aren’t taken because the person has an Advil or Aspirin deficiency, right?! Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs might provide some short-term benefit, but in the long-run do not result in repair of the underlying problem. Chiropractors are very good at helping dysfunctional backs and can provide back pain relief. But when patients must be seen multiple times a week for months on end and adjustments simply do not hold, one must think outside the box. The problem may be ligamentous or tendon instability. Imaging tools are helpful, but even though they are highly accessible, their usage has not caused the rates of pain to go down. Ongoing back pain that will not resolve, very often originates from injury to ligaments (and sometimes tendons) that surround the spine, sacrum and even the sacroiliac joint, which causes the spine to become unstable. This is called spinal instability.

<h6>Low Back Pain and Spinal Instability</h6>
Most low back pain is a chronic condition, due to years and years of working, playing sports, hiking, working out, normal daily activities and even just walking and sitting, which can cause the ligaments and other supporting structures to weaken.

Original injuries that can lead to low back pain due to spinal instability most often occur with sudden movements and poor body mechanics or from trauma during a sports activity, fall or motor vehicle accident (diseases such as infections, endometriosis, fibroids and cancer can also cause low back pain and need to be ruled out). An example of poor body mechanics that may injure spinal ligaments might include instances when an individual bends over and twists, while the knees are locked, stretching the ligaments too much, and making them vulnerable to injury. Therapies can be tried for relief of muscle pain in the low back, but if the pain remains for a prolonged period, and the low back continues to “give out,” there is a good chance injured ligaments are the problem. Massage and physical therapy unfortunately cannot repair ligament damage. The muscles will continue to spasm, because they are overcompensating due to the ligament injury that has left the spine unstable. Until the root cause is treated, the spinal instability will continue, since the ligaments that are designed to keep the spine in the correct place and in proper alignment are now too loose from injury. This is where Regenerative Orthopedics comes in! Ligament damage and injury are conditions this therapy very effectively resolves and repairs.

<h6>A Bit More Explanation about the Connection between Ligaments and Low Back Pain</h6>
Ligaments are structures joining bone to bone, and in the low back or lumbar spine, are the structures that connect adjacent vertebrae and facet joints (the facets, two on each of five lumbar vertebrae, actually have a capsule surrounding them that is made of ligaments). Ligaments serve as some of the primary stabilizing structures of the spinal column. They allow for adequate motion while restricting excessive motion, which protects the spinal column and the nerve roots as they exit the spine.

We need the low back or lumbar spine to maintain an upright posture, bend, turn and sit. All of these positions and activities place quite a bit of stress on the low back and the soft tissue structures like the ligaments. The function of the ligaments involves the transfer of all of the various loads that occur from bone to bone as they manage the forces placed on the spine. Normally, they do a great job. But when loads and forces exceed what they are able to tolerate, the ligaments weaken and become lax or loose, similar to a rubber band that has lost its elasticity.

When this occurs, the injured ligaments are unable to provide adequate stability to the lumbar spine. Again, this is called spinal instability. Ligaments are highly innervated. That means they have a lot of nerves. So when they are injured, pain is the result. Therefore, with bending, turning and any other activity that engages the vertebrae of the lumbar spine, nerve fibers in the ligaments will start firing and sending out pain signals. Other symptoms of spinal instability in the low back include a feeling of the back giving out, cracking sensations with movement, catching or locking, a frequent need to crack the back and recurrent muscle spasms. Unaddressed, this condition of spinal instability will result in low back pain that will not go away. In addition, spinal instability allows for too much movement in the vertebral segments, which produces too much pressure on the discs due to the altered joint mechanics, which then fosters degeneration and disc herniation. The pathological process involved in spinal instability is at the core of a number of spinal conditions.

<h6>Regenerative Orthopedics Repairs the Spinal Instability and Resolves Low Back Pain</h6>
Fortunately, for sufferers of low back pain, Regenerative Orthopedics offers not only pain relief, but healing and repair at the source of the pain. Treatment directed at the injured and lax ligaments, strengthens them, which in turn stabilizes the vertebral segments, eliminating the excessive movement and resolving the pain. The common denominator for many painful musculoskeletal conditions causing low back pain is spinal instability due to injury to ligaments, but Regenerative Orthopedics treatments such as Stem Cell Therapy, PRP, and Prolotherapy are treatments that can get rid of the pain plus repair the source of the problem.