Started as a nagging ache. Maybe after a long day hunched over a desk. Or a weekend project that involved more lifting than you planned for. You figured it’d sort itself out in a few days.
That was weeks ago.
Now you’re doing the math every morning before you even get out of bed. Bad day or manageable one? You’ve rearranged how you sit, how you stand, how you sleep. Heating pad within arm’s reach at all times.
Back pain takes things from you quietly. Not all at once. Just slowly, a little at a time, until you look up and realize you haven’t done something you used to love in months.
At Glendale Chiropractic we’ve been helping Denver patients figure out what’s actually happening with their back and correct it. Not just manage it until the next flare-up. Find the cause and deal with it.
📞 Call 720-889-1659 | Schedule Your Back Pain Assessment Today
What’s Actually Going On in Your Back?
Here’s something that trips people up: ‘back pain’ isn’t a diagnosis. It’s a symptom. What’s causing it determines how you treat it, and those causes are pretty different from each other. Cleveland Clinic breaks down the main categories well if you want the clinical overview. Here’s the short version:
Muscle and Ligament Strains
Most common thing I see, especially when the pain came on suddenly. Lifted something wrong, made a quick awkward move, or just accumulated years of poor posture until something finally gave. The muscles and ligaments supporting the spine get overstretched or torn.
Hurts, sometimes quite a lot. But this type usually responds well and tends to resolve faster than structural causes. Pain is localized, aching, stiff. Doesn’t travel down the leg.
Disc Problems
The cushions between your vertebrae can bulge, herniate, or break down over time. When they do, they start pressing on nearby nerve roots. This is where back pain starts turning into something more than back pain.
If that disc is pressing on the sciatic nerve specifically, the pain stops staying in your back. It starts shooting down your leg instead. Sharp, burning, sometimes all the way to the foot.
This type: sharper, often one-sided, worse with sitting. Sometimes numbness or tingling in the leg.
When nerve compression persists long enough without treatment, it can contribute to peripheral neuropathy symptoms that accompany chronic lower back dysfunction.
Arthritis and Degenerative Changes
As the spine ages the cartilage protecting the joints wears down. Spinal stenosis, where the canal narrows and squeezes the nerves, tends to come from this. More common after 50. Shows up as deep stiffness that’s worst first thing in the morning or after sitting for a long time.
And then lifestyle factors on top of all of this. Weak core, prolonged sitting, extra weight, even smoking. None of these cause back pain by themselves but they all add strain to a spine that’s already dealing with something structural.
Is Your Back Pain Something to Actually Worry About?
Most of the time, no. Back pain is uncomfortable, limiting, sometimes really painful. But it’s usually not dangerous. It gets better with proper care.
That said, there are two different levels worth knowing:
Don’t Wait on These
Not emergencies necessarily, but signals to stop self-managing and get looked at:
- Still hurting after 4 weeks with no real improvement
- Pain traveling past the knee and into the foot
- Fever, chills, or night sweats alongside the back pain
- Pain waking you up at night or worse when lying down
- Unexplained weight loss
- Personal history of cancer
| ⚠ These Are Emergencies — Go to the ER Sudden loss of bowel or bladder control. Numbness in the groin, inner thighs, or buttocks (saddle area). Sudden severe weakness in both legs. Back pain that came on right after a serious fall, car accident, or major trauma. These can mean serious spinal cord involvement. Don’t wait and see. Call 911 or go to the emergency room now. |
What Makes Back Pain Worse — And What Actually Helps
Two instincts most people have when their back goes out. Push through it or lie down and wait. Both tend to make things worse. Here’s what actually works:
| ❌ Makes It Worse | ✅ Actually Helps |
| Strict bed rest past the first day or two | Gentle movement as soon as you’re able |
| Sitting for hours without moving | Stand up and move every 20-30 minutes |
| Slouching, forward head, rounded shoulders | Lumbar support, feet flat, chin back |
| Bending at the waist to lift things | Knees bent, load close to your body |
| Sleeping on a surface with no support | Side sleeping, pillow between knees |
| Skipping core work entirely | McGill Big 3 when pain allows |
| Waiting months before getting it checked | Earlier evaluation means faster recovery |
How We Treat It at Glendale Chiropractic
Most back pain, even disc problems, gets better without surgery. That’s not wishful thinking. That’s what the research shows. Our job is finding exactly what’s driving your pain and treating that specifically.
Back pain rarely stops at one person in a house. If others under your roof are fighting their own aches, our family chiropractic care covers every age under one roof.
First appointment: we go through your history. Where exactly does it hurt? When did this start? What triggers it? What have you already tried? Then a hands-on exam to figure out what’s actually happening in the spine. From that we build a plan for your specific situation, not a standard back pain protocol.
Chiropractic Adjustments
Misaligned vertebrae put abnormal pressure on discs and nerve roots. An adjustment corrects that. Takes the pressure off. Most people expect it to be intense and are genuinely surprised. Some pressure. Maybe a pop from gas releasing in the joint. Normal. Not painful. A lot of patients feel some relief walking out after the first visit.
Traction Therapy (Invertrac)
For disc-related pain this tends to be the most valuable thing we do. The Invertrac decompresses the spine, creates space between the vertebrae, takes pressure off the disc. What makes it different from standard decompression tables is it also engages the supporting muscles at the same time. Passive relief plus active strengthening happening together. Most patients find it comfortable. A few fall asleep.
Laser Therapy
Persistent inflammation around the disc or nerve roots is a big part of why back pain doesn’t just go away. Laser therapy works at the tissue level, drives down that inflammation, speeds up healing. Doesn’t hurt. Warm sensation. Works well in combination with adjustments and traction, gives you relief between visits.
Therapeutic Exercise and Core Rehab
Weak core muscles are one of the most consistent things I see in patients with recurring back pain. The spine needs support and when those muscles aren’t providing it, the discs and joints absorb load they weren’t designed to absorb. Once the acute pain settles we teach specific exercises, not generic YouTube stuff, a program built around what we found in your exam.
Posture and Ergonomic Work
Eight hours a day of poor sitting posture is a lot of cumulative load on the spine. We look at workstation setup, how you’re sitting, sleeping, lifting. Sometimes one small change makes a bigger difference than people expect.
Back Pain vs. Sciatica
Not every back pain that travels down the leg is sciatica. Not all sciatica comes with back pain. The exam sorts this out. The treatment is different depending on which one is happening. Sometimes both are happening at once. Knowing which is which matters for getting the right result.
Will It Heal on Its Own?
Sometimes. Depends on what’s causing it and how long it’s been going on.
- Acute (1-4 weeks): Muscle strains and minor injuries often settle down with rest, basic care, and time. Most people feel real improvement within a few weeks.
- Subacute (4-12 weeks): Pain that’s stuck around past the first month usually needs something more than self-care. This is when chiropractic care tends to make the biggest difference.
- Chronic (3 months or longer): At this point there’s almost always a structural cause that hasn’t been addressed. It’s not going away on its own. The longer it goes, the more the body adapts around it, and the more complex it gets to unravel.
I’ve had patients who waited a year before coming in. Two years. The body compensates. Movement patterns change. Other muscles start overworking to protect the sore area. By then there’s more to sort out than there would have been if they’d come in at month two.
Worth coming in if:
- Four weeks in and not meaningfully better
- Keeps coming back, never fully goes away
- Affecting sleep, work, or things you care about doing
- Any weakness, numbness, or tingling in the legs or feet
What You Can Do at Home
Walking
For most back pain, walking is genuinely one of the best things you can do. Gets blood moving to the discs, reduces stiffness, builds the leg and core muscles that take load off the spine. Start short. Ten or fifteen minutes on flat ground. Build from there. Head up, shoulders relaxed, core lightly on. One exception worth knowing: spinal stenosis sometimes makes upright walking worse, not better. Leaning slightly forward, like over a shopping cart, often helps in that case.
Sleeping Position
Side sleeping with something between your knees. That’s the one. Keeps everything in a neutral position, stops the lower back from twisting while you sleep. Back sleeping works too if you put a pillow under the knees. Stomach sleeping is the one to avoid, especially with disc issues. Puts the lower back into extension. Most people don’t realize that’s what’s aggravating them overnight.
Heat and Ice
New injury or bad flare: ice first. Wrap it in a towel, 15-20 minutes, first 48 hours. Handles the swelling. After that, heat. Heating pad, hot bath, whatever you have. Don’t go straight to heat while it’s still fresh and inflamed. That’s a common mistake. Heat feels good but it increases blood flow, which increases swelling in the early phase.
Quick Relief Stretches
Three that tend to work. Knee to chest: on your back, one knee pulled gently toward you, 30 seconds, switch. Cat-cow: on hands and knees, slowly arch then round the back, 10 times. Pelvic tilt: on your back, push the lower back flat against the floor by tightening the stomach, hold 5 seconds, 10 reps. One rule: if it sends pain down your leg, stop. That means the nerve is getting irritated, not helped.
The McGill Big 3
The McGill Big 3 come up constantly in back rehab. Dr. Stuart McGill at University of Waterloo spent decades researching spine mechanics. These three exercises came out of that work. The whole point is building core endurance without loading the spine.
McGill Curl-Up: on your back, one knee bent, hands under the natural arch of your lower back. Lift just the head and shoulders a few inches. Hold 10 seconds. Nothing like a crunch. No spinal flexion at all.
Side Plank: on your side, forearm down, hips up. Straight line head to feet. 10 seconds. Switch. Hip and pelvic pain connected to lower back dysfunction is also something we see and treat regularly.
Pregnant patients dealing with lower back pain and spinal stress caused by pregnancy have a dedicated care path as well.
Bird Dog: hands and knees. One arm forward, opposite leg back, at the same time. Back stays completely flat. Hold a second, come back down, alternate. Ten reps each side.
Get the form right or they don’t do much. We go through it in the office.
Back Pain Questions — Answered by Your Denver Chiropractor
Is walking good for back pain? For most types, yes. Blood to the discs, less stiffness, stronger support muscles. Spinal stenosis is the exception, upright walking sometimes makes that one worse. Leaning forward slightly can help. Short flat walks to start, build as tolerated.
What does sciatica actually feel like? Electric shock down one leg. That’s how most people describe it. Starts in the lower back or buttock, travels down. Sometimes to the foot. Burning, shooting, or sharp. Comes with numbness or tingling usually. Gets worse after sitting. Sneezing or coughing can set it off. What makes it different from regular back pain is that it travels. Regular back pain stays in the back.
How long does it take to go away? Muscle strain: few weeks usually, with proper care. Disc-related: longer. Six to twelve weeks is more realistic for meaningful improvement. Chronic pain that’s been around for months needs consistent treatment and takes more time to unwind. The earlier you address it the shorter that timeline tends to be.
Can a chiropractor fix it? For most people, yes. Not every case. Adjustments for alignment, traction for disc pressure, rehab to build the support that keeps it from coming back. Some cases need other specialists involved. But mechanical back pain and nerve compression is exactly what chiropractic is designed to treat.
What about medication? Ibuprofen or naproxen for inflammation. Acetaminophen for pain if your stomach doesn’t handle NSAIDs well. Prescription options exist for more severe cases. The thing medication doesn’t do is fix the underlying structural issue. It manages the pain while the real cause stays unaddressed. Works best as a short-term bridge while you’re getting the cause treated.
Is sitting bad? For disc problems, yes. Sitting loads the lumbar discs more than standing or walking. Desk job? Lumbar support, feet flat, and get up every 20-30 minutes. Soft couch during a flare is worse than a firm chair. Stenosis is the exception again, some people with that actually feel better sitting.
What to Expect at Your First Visit
New office, you’re in pain, you just want someone to figure out what’s happening. Here’s how it goes.
You come in. Fill out paperwork about your history and what’s been going on. Too much pain to stand at the desk? We get you seated right away.
Then we talk. I want to hear about your pain in your own words. Not the clinical version. When did it start? What triggered it if anything did? What’s better and what’s worse? What have you tried? That conversation takes about 15 minutes and it shapes everything that comes next.
Physical exam. I watch how you move, test reflexes and leg strength, do orthopedic tests to identify where the problem is coming from and what’s driving it. If imaging would help clarify things we refer out for that.
Then I explain what I found. Plain language. What’s happening, why, what I’d recommend and why I’d recommend it.
Start treatment that same day if it makes sense. A lot of people feel some difference right after the first adjustment. Others want to think it over and come back. Both are fine. Either way you leave with a clear picture of what’s wrong.
About 30 minutes total.
Ready to Find Out What’s Actually Going On?
Back pain that keeps coming back, or that’s been dragging on for weeks, usually has a reason. It’s not just bad luck. It’s not just getting older. There’s something structural that hasn’t been identified yet.
Fourteen years helping Denver-area patients with back pain and sciatica. Dr. John Brockway and the team. We know how to find what’s causing it and build a plan that actually addresses it.
Back pain isn’t the only thing that traces back to spinal structure — head pain that originates in the upper spine is another condition we evaluate and treat.
Patients who want to understand what the treatment actually involves can read about what happens during a spinal adjustment for lower back pain before their first visit.
Back pain that started after a collision is a separate situation — back injuries sustained in a car accident often involve spinal trauma that needs its own evaluation protocol.
Back pain that comes from the spine curving to one side is a different situation again — scoliosis-related back pain in adults involves a sideways curvature that needs its own evaluation and management approach.
Call us. Tell us what’s going on. We’ll set aside real time to look at it carefully. Most people are surprised how much clearer things get once someone actually takes a proper look at the spine.
| 📞 Phone: 720-889-1659 📍 Address: 425 S. Cherry St., Ste. 307, Glendale, CO 80246 🕐 Hours: Mon-Thu 9AM-12:30PM, 2:30PM-6:00PM | Fri-Sun Closed 🚗 Location: Right off I-25 and Colorado Blvd. Easy from Cherry Creek, Capitol Hill, Aurora, Highlands, Park Hill, Lakewood, downtown Denver. 🏥 Insurance: Most major Colorado plans accepted. We verify your benefits before your first visit. |
📞 Call 720-889-1659 | Or Request an Appointment Online | myglendalechiro.com
Stop adjusting your life around the pain. Let’s figure out what’s causing it.