At American Back Center Massage Therapy, Physical Therapy, Chiropractic,  Acupuncture is covered through Ambetter Insurance.
Contact us to find out how to use your benefits most efficiently.

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Common Symptoms of Lumbar Issues: Low back pain, Tingling sensation, Burning sensation, Numbness, Hip pain, Groin pain, Leg pain, Knee pain, Calf pain, Foot/toe pain

Lumbar pain (commonly known as lower back pain) affects the lower five vertebrae of your spine. The discs in this section of the back bear the majority of the load when it comes to body weight and lifting, making them particularly prone to injury. While exercises targeting abdominal and back muscles are the most common way to prevent lower back injury, they are often not enough.

If you already have pain in your lumbar spine, treatment is often necessary. Often times, people with lumbar pain resort to pain killers or even surgery. We believe in a different approach. The American Back Center facility in Chicago offers a combination of Massage Therapy, Physical Therapy, Chiropractic,  Acupuncture to provide a non-invasive, and highly effective, solution to your back pain related problems. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort in your lower back, call for a consultation with a Dr. Chris and learn how we can help your condition improve. These options are covered by Ambetter Insurance and other insurance plans. Please call us with your insurance plan.

What Causes Lumbar Pain?

To understand what causes lumbar pain, one first needs to understand the anatomy of a disc. In simple terms, discs are made up of a soft core and multiple harder outside layers. Those materials heal quite easily in a child’s body, but as the body matures, discs lose their ability to recuperate. So for example, when you lift something heavy or even just sneeze, the outside layers of the disc can develop small cracks. As those cracks become more numerous, the nutrients contained in the soft core of the disc start evaporating. That causes disc to essentially dry up (just think of a grape drying to a raisin) and that reduces the space between the vertebrae.

That process is called degenerative disc disease. As the disc degenerates, reducing the space between vertebrae, the nerves coming out of your spinal cord have less and less space and as the condition worsens the nerve has no more room and can get compressed, causing pain, discomfort, tingling sensation, etc.

Another mechanism behind the pain could bulging/herniated disc. When those cracks in the outer layers of the disc become large enough, soft core material can bulge out into the crack, creating a sort of a bump on the outside of the disc, which then pushes against the nerve.

We also offer a technology called VAX-D to Help?

Vax-D spinal decompression therapy is a patented, FDA approved treatment, during which a patient lays down on a specially designed table that alternates between stretching and relaxing the spine. This action creates negative pressure that heals the disc in two ways:

In the case of disc degeneration (remember the raisin?), the negative pressure draws nutrients from the surrounding tissue to the damaged disc, which in turn works to hydrate it and restore the space between the vertebrae, alleviating the pressure on the nerve.

In the case of the bulging disk, in addition to hydrating the outer disc layers, the negative pressure causes the soft core to retract back into the disc, once again reducing the pressure on the nerve.

(312) 939-4121 Discount parking available at 17 E. Adams lot.

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A randomized control trial of exercise for low back pain.

Background

Low back pain is often reported to improve with generalized, non-specific exercises regardless of the patient’s specific presentation. But is this true? This study compared people with low back pain who were given either patient-specific exercises using a method called McKenzie Technique, or generalized low back exercises.

How the study was performed

There were three groups: one got patient-specific, McKenzie exercises, the second group got the opposite of the patient-specific exercises (ie. exercises in the wrong direction!), and the third group got generalized, non-specific exercises which were the same for every patient in the group.

What we learn from this research

The McKenzie group – which was given the patient-specific exercise – improved statistically across all measures including pain, medication use and disability. More so, these improvements were statistically superior in all measures as compared to the generalized exercise program. What this means is that by using McKenzie technique, we can determine the correct exercise program and once we do, the outcomes are far superior to those routine, generalized exercises commonly prescribed in Physical Therapy settings.

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