Patient Success Story Six Years of Low Back Care for Angela Angela came to me about six years ago with low back pain so extreme she could not stand up straight. She is a social worker, so she spends her days seated at a desk helping other people carry their stress, and her spine had been absorbing all of it. She lives in St. Louis Park and first found me at my old New Hope office, where I did not have imaging available. When I moved the practice to Plymouth, Minnesota, she came with me, and that is when we finally took X-rays of her neck and low back. She has told me she would rather drive an extra 10 minutes to a provider who knows her than go to someone just across the street, and that decision shaped everything we have been able to do with her Chiropractic Back Pain Treatment since. Key Takeaways THE CHALLENGEYears of seated desk work and high job stress left Angela with persistent low back pain, a heating pad habit, and days she could not straighten up. THE TREATMENTI combined diversified manual adjustments to her neck and low back with drop table and Activator work, muscle work, and myofascial release, at a frequency driven by how she was actually responding. THE RESULTShe rarely has that extreme low back pain now, and the heating pad only comes out during a flare-up roughly once a month or once every couple of months. Pain is the last thing to show up and the first thing to go away, which is why Angela's back kept quieting down and then coming right back. Her imaging told us what was underneath the pattern, and once we could see it, we stopped chasing the symptom and started protecting function. The plan was never a cookie-cutter schedule; it was built around her stress level, her travel, and how long she held between visits. Project Summary Patient Profile: Social worker from St. Louis Park, Minnesota, under care for six years Project Location: Plymouth, Minnesota, serving St. Louis Park and the West Metro Primary Objective: Reduce chronic low back pain and restore reliable day-to-day function through Back Pain Relief rather than symptom management Techniques Used: Diversified manual adjustments to the cervical and lumbar spine, supported by drop table, Activator, and soft tissue work — see our Adjustment Methods Key Outcome: Extreme low back episodes are rare, with flare-ups down to about once a month or once every couple of months Low Back Pain Exam Findings Her first visit included a full history and a complete neurological and orthopedic workup. Minor's sign was present, and Milgram's test was negative, which helped me rule disc herniation down the list. Her pain was consistent rather than sporadic, and that consistency was the clue that something structural was driving it. Once we had X-rays of her neck and low back at the Plymouth office, the picture filled in. I could see arthritic change in the vertebral bodies and the facets, quite a few bone spurs, and several levels where the disc height was not what I was hoping for. Her neck curve was close to a reverse curvature and her low back curve was increased significantly — the kind of change that builds up over years and years of sitting. Building Her Low Back Care Plan We started at twice a week, because that was all her schedule could handle, and worked down over time to once every other week. Angela loves the diversified adjustment, so after I warm things up with the drop table or the Activator, she gets manual adjustments to both her neck and her low back, where you can hear that cavitation as gas releases from the joint. Depending on what she needs that day, we add muscle work, myofascial release, and some Electrical Nerve Stimulation. "Dr. Bomberg and Shawna are a great time! Friendly and responsive, I always feel better when I leave than when I got there! Highly recommend." - (Angela, Patient) Table time was only half of it. We spent a lot of appointments talking through seated posture, quick stretches she could do between visits, and realistic activity levels for a week with a lot of travel in it, which is the same coaching I give most of my Desk Worker Chiropractic patients. Shawna runs our front desk and our billing, so any question Angela had about a statement or an insurance letter got answered the same day — that administrative support is a real part of why she has been able to stay consistent, and it is something we build into Preventative Spine Care for everyone. Six Years Later: Rare Flare-Ups Angela rarely has that extreme low back pain anymore. She came in unable to stand up straight and leaning on a heating pad most days; now that heating pad only comes out during a flare-up, and even then it might be once a month or once every couple of months. The turning point was when she accepted that wellness care was the way to go. During the stretch when she stopped and only came in as needed, things got noticeably worse, and I could feel it in her exam. Since she committed to a steady rhythm, we have had very few flare-ups between appointments — stress, travel, and long days at the desk are still the main obstacles, and when she skips the at-home work we talk about, I can tell. Living With Low Back Pain? We see a lot of desk-bound patients here in Plymouth whose low back pain keeps coming back no matter how many heating pads they go through. I would rather show you what is actually happening in your spine, explain it plainly, and build a plan around your schedule than hand you a cookie-cutter package. Dealing with something similar in Plymouth or the surrounding West Metro? Take the first step and let's take a look together. Bomberg Chiropractic 15600 35th Ave. N #101, Plymouth, MN 55447 Call (763) 450-1755 or Schedule Online Frequently Asked Questions What exercises help chronic low back pain in Plymouth? This is the question I hear most on a first visit, and the honest answer is that it changes by stage. Early on you depend more on me to get the joints moving. In the middle, it is on both of us, and that is when piriformis and low back stretching, getting up, and walking matter most. Near the end, when you are on an every-other-week wellness rhythm, most of the work is yours — and it does not mean going into beast mode, just staying active. Once I'm out of pain, how often do I have to come back? We find the frequency that fits you, the same way we did with Angela. As we start dropping down in care, I want you telling me how often you can reasonably get here and how long you keep feeling good between visits. Nobody is the same, and nothing is worse than resolving an area only to have it all come back after a month or two of nothing. Do arthritis and bone spurs on X-rays mean it's too late? No. If we can identify it, we can work with it, and I am glad you came in — the more consistently I can see you, the less likely that arthritic change keeps progressing. I am not trying to correct what your film looks like; I am trying to correct how your spine functions. The worst move at that point is stopping care altogether.