Severe Pain in Low Back. Gone in 20 minutes.

A 92 year old gentleman came into the clinic today with a walker - going about as fast as a sloth. He was in a fair amount of back pain - 8/10 with 10 worst pain ever.

His history was negative for signs of cancer, kidney disease, etc so I relaxed a bit and focused on the physical trauma if there was any. Yep. Trying to open a car door 2 months ago and in doing so it landed him square on his buttocks full force full speed. He said if he had fake teeth - which he made clear he did not :) - they would have flown out due to the impact his butt made with the driveway.

A fast assessment showed me his pelvis was way out of whack (see top left pelvic tilt). His right pelvis was 1" higher than the left and fixated while his left pelvis glided freely.

It took him about 10 minutes to lay down on the table - one he had accomplished that, We put a hot pack on his back and put special wedge blocking (see image below right) under his front pelvis on both sides - what we call the ASIS - anterior superior iliac spine. Actually we put one block on the right ASIS and the other on the left below the ASIS.

I checked his pelvic level at the PSIS (see image right) and discovered that his pelvis is now level. We let him sit there for about 20 minutes letting his body adjust around the blocks.

After he woke up from his cat nap, we helped him sit up. He cautiously began to stand up reaching for his walker. I asked how it felt - he reported no pain! I asked him to walk down the hall and asked how he was doing - no pain!

He said we had good mojo and worked miracles!

What a pleasure that visit was. He'll be back in a week to follow up as I'm pretty sure the pelvis will shift again until we get his muscles situated. I let him know this.

Point is this:
Severe pain can go away quite quickly if assessed properly. We are ordering an x-ray to ensure that there are no fractures as well. Hips, sacroiliac joints, shoulders, wrists, and other major joints are great examples of this. Trauma or impact moves these joints and properly trained docs can work wonders quickly and inexpensively.

Don't let pain fester. If this gentleman waited longer, further deterioration would occur making treatment and recovery much more difficult.

Chiropractors are not quacks either. They are good at what they do. They are not cure-all docs as some think they are. Yet if you go see them for bone issues - they may just really treat you right.

Careful with those sticky car doors - and if you have extra padding on your buttocks, consider that a perk when you land hard...

Best
Ben