Dr. Gregory T. Wright, DC

How old are you?

It could be essential tremor which is a benign but bothersome condition, or it could be another neurological condition. She should see her physician and a referral to a neurologist may be necessary.

Hi! The short answer is yes. During the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which allows ligaments to stretch in your pelvis to get ready for the passage of your baby through the birth canal. That’s a good thing, but it also relaxes other ligaments—in your lower back—and the baby’s weight causes increased lumbar lordosis (A-P curvature concave anteriorly in the lumbar spine for you anatomists) in YOU. This, in turn, causes shortening of your lumbosacral paraspinal muscles (including the short and tightly bound multifidi muscles) and increased eccentric load on lumbar spinal extensor muscles. In short, a lot more pressure on your low back that can kead to pain. There is often microscopic tearing, a.k.a. muscle “strain” in those muscles, typically pain OVER the sacrum, sacroiliac joint (not IN the joint), and aling the spinous processes where those muscles attach. This pain can last beyond the birth of your baby, of course.

See a chiropractic physician who can teach you therapeutic exercise for whatever diagnosis you have. Good luck and feel better!

Could be that there was damage to a nerve or nerves near the fracture site, frommthe accident or the surgery. Scar tissue also can be extremely sensitive. You need to follow-up with your surgeon

How old are you? Structural symmetry is over-rated. Functional symmetry is more important. Are you much weaker in one shoulder?

There are literally hundreds if types of low back pain causes, thousands if you consider the number of different muscles and muscle fibers a person can strain (tear, micro- to macroscopically). So your father first needs a diagnosis. We would not perform spinal manipulation on a person where it is contraindicated or just not indicated. So he needs a precise diagnosis first before any treatment decisions could be made. What is his diagnosis? And if he has not seen a physician or chiropractic physician yet, he needs to right away. You have not provided nearly enough information to be able to make a decision. That said, if his LBP is muscle strain, there is a good chance spinal manipulation COULD help him. Chiropractic physicians like me oractice like doctors of physical therapy. It’s also likely that the right exercises would also help your father. Please get back to me when you find out more!

It could be essential tremor, which is benign, or something else. She should see a neurologist.

It really depends on many factors which exercises might help. There are literally hundreds of types of back pain. Your question does not provide near enough information to give an answer. What is your diagnosis?

Yes. We are trained in techniques to relieve musculoskeletal pain, which includes muscle pain. However, we can't cure everything, and you need a diagnosis. We start there.

That would partly depend on WHEN you had the surgery. Neurosurgeons refer to chiropractors regularly for pist-surgical rehab. But please do not make the mistake of equating chiropractic with "adjustments". If that is all your chiropractor does, find a new one. Chiropractic includes jjstcabout all of the things physical therapists do, and things PTs are not qualified to do. Therapeutic exercise rehabilitation, learning how to lift properly (no it is NOT just "bending your knees"!), and passive modalities such as lumbar traction, therapeutic ultrasound, electric muscle stimulation, TENS, therapeutic massage are all performed by chiropractic doctors. We don't typically perform just "adjustments", a.k.a. spinal manipulation therapy (SMT).

There isn't enough information to know. You should get a diagnosis. That type of pain could be caused by a number of things. Often it is muscular. Sitting puts more pressure on MOST liw backs than standing. Many herniated disc patients also have more pain sitting than standing. Lumbar spinal stenosis patients typically have LESS pain sitting. You need a diagnosis. Your chiropractic physician is trained to give you an accurate one.

It is not preventable. However, functional symmetry can be attained even without structural symmetry through frontal plane (i.e. side-to-side) stability and endurance exercises. Those exercises very often help scoliosis patients. So your chiropractor can help, since most modern chiropractors are highly trained in therapeutic exercise prescription.

Not sure of the statistics. But I can tell you that for acute low back pain in adults, x-rays are RARELY necessary.

Probably. If the problem is muscular, ligamentous or osteoarthritic, chiropractic treatment can likely help. Treatment could include therapeutic exercise, electric muscle stimulation, therapeutic ultrasound, heat or cold and spinal manipulation. You must undergo a medical interview and physical examination at the chiropractor, just like at the MD, but with our specialization in the musculoskeletal system.

It could. But if your chiropractor is being responsible, s/he has taught you therapeutic exercises to help take care of your back yourself. We chiropractors are not here to foster dependency on our care. You should have--long ago--been given the correct exercises to strengthen your back, and those exercises should have been targeted at YOUR specific weakness in YOUR back.

Air is moving across the joint. It is referred to in medicine as "cavitation", and is harmless. If you hear the noise, it means that joint has definitely moved. If you don't hear it, it doesn't mean the joint hasn't. I prefer you use the word "popped" rather than "cracked". It's air--not bone--making that sound. Humans don't have conscious control over movement of their own individual vertebral joints, but we chiropractic physicians do. You can't tell which joints are moving when you "pop" your own neck or back. But we can. And those joints need to move to stay healthy. They often get stuck or lose range of motion, just like a sprained ankle or arthritic hand, and that can lead to a very inflexible neck or back, and often pain.