Acupuncture for Low Back Pain
Can acupuncture treat low back pain and sciatica?
Yes! Acupuncture is a highly effective treatment for low back pain.
What types of back pain can acupuncture treat?
We have successfully treated many types of low back pain, including:
Sciatica
Back spasms
Pain from bulging discs
SI joint pain
Acupuncture for Sciatica in Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Sciatica occurs when the sciatic nerve gets impinged along its path due to lumbar spinal imbalances, tight muscles, or scar tissue. Acupuncture can relieve this impingement by stimulating proper muscle function in support of the lumbar region, promoting good nerve and blood flow, relieving fascial tension, and relaxing tight muscles. I have seen sciatica disappear in as little as a single treatment, but many cases require multiple sessions. Your particular treatment protocol will depend on the severity of your impingement, the general health of your tissues, how good your circulation is, and the length of time you have been in pain. Nerve healing is a slow process, and the longer a nerve has been impinged, the longer it can take to recover. For this reason, we recommend seeking treatment right away if you are experiencing sciatica.
Acupuncture for Back Spasms in Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Back spasms can leave you lying on the floor unable to move. They can come on suddenly, often in the days after a tweak or injury to the back that may not have even hurt much in the moment. Back spasms are especially common in the low back, because the lumbar spine is vulnerable to instability and injury. Weak core muscles, long hours of sitting, and improper technique when lifting or twisting can all set the stage for a back spasm.
The good news is that acupuncture has a powerful effect to relieve muscle spasms. Acupuncture triggers a full-body relaxation response, calming the nervous system, relieving muscle tension everywhere, and relieving pain. We also use acupuncture specifically on the spasmed muscle in order to soften it. Think of acupuncture like a “reset button” for the muscle that prompts the muscle to return to a relaxed state.
Remember that the treatment for a back spasm doesn’t stop with a single treatment: it’s important to receive a series of treatments designed to activate your core muscles and the other muscles that support pelvic and low back stability. These follow-up treatments will help to stabilize and strengthen your low back so that you are less vulnerable to a subsequent injury or spasm.
Acupuncture for Bulging Discs in Wheat Ridge, Colorado
It might seem improbable that acupuncture could relieve pain from a bulging disc, but it can. Bulging and herniated discs can cause severe pain due to the pressure that they put on the spinal cord. That pressure is often triggered or worsened by compression of the spinal vertebrae.
When you injure your low back, the muscles supporting your lumbar spine tend to tighten, almost like they are trying to splint your lower back. Your body wants to avoid excess motion in the spine, so everything seizes up to minimize additional movements in the vertebrae. Unfortunately, tension in the muscles can actually worsen spinal compression, thereby worsening pain and making it more difficult for an injured disc to return to its proper position.
The good news is that acupuncture can be incredibly helpful for releasing muscle tension and normalizing muscle function in the entire low back region. We release tension to reduce spinal compression, increasing the odds of the injured disc to return to a functional position. We also activate the muscles that support pelvic stability and core strength, functionally supporting the integrity of the lumbar region as a whole.
A bulging disc is commonly the result of a more chronic functional imbalance in the lumbar region. For this reason, while acupuncture can provide pain relief in as little as a single session, you will typically need a full course of treatment to strengthen the lumbar region and prevent recurrence.
Acupuncture for SI Joint Pain in Wheat Ridge, Colorado
You may not realize that your sacroiliac joint (SI joint) is at the root of your low back pain. This type of low back pain is particularly common in pregnancy and postpartum due to the effects of the relaxin hormone, strain on the lower back in the third trimester, and the pelvic expansion that occurs during labor. Impact injuries to the low back can also overstretch the SI joint ligaments.
The SI joint is the ligamentous meeting point between the pelvis and the sacrum (the large bone at the bottom of the spine). When these ligaments get overstretched, whether during pregnancy or from an injury, they don’t hold the bones together as well as they used to. The extra movement that occurs in the joint as a result causes pain.
Acupuncture is the number one treatment for SI joint pain, because it can be used not only to stabilize the pelvic and low back muscles, but it can stimulate the ligaments in a way that restores their tensile strength. For such a gentle treatment intervention, acupuncture’s impressive ability to heal ligaments is incredible. I have seen SI joint pain disappear in as few as a single acupuncture treatment, although your treatment protocol will vary according to the severity of your injury.
Take heart that it is never too late to treat an SI joint injury. I have treated people who are 20 years postpartum who have suffered from chronic back pain ever since delivery, and these cases respond beautifully to treatment.
How many acupuncture treatments will I need for my low back pain?
When you come in for your initial appointment, we will do a full evaluation on your low back to discover the source of your pain. Many patients notice a dramatic reduction within the first few acupuncture treatments. The number of sessions required to fully restore function and alleviate pain can vary greatly according to your age, the health of your tissues, the severity of the injury or condition, and the length of time you have been dealing with the pain.
Why choose Seven Seeds Acupuncture in Wheat Ridge, Colorado to treat my low back pain?
We have in-depth sports medicine acupuncture training that makes us qualified and well-equipped to diagnose and treat your low back pain. Our treatments are non-invasive, comfortable, and highly effective for many types of low back pain and sciatica.
Do you do dry needling at Seven Seeds Acupuncture?
The simple answer is yes. Acupuncturists have been performing the technique known as “dry needling” for thousands of years. It is a subset of acupuncture. Acupuncturists use needles to regulate function in the body, including muscle function, nerve function, brain-body communication, organ function, and more. Muscular needling is a basic part of an acupuncturist’s repertoire. When an acupuncturist does “dry needling,” it is simply called acupuncture. We may also call it sports acupuncture, orthopedic acupuncture, or “ashi” needling which translates roughly to “Ah yes! That’s the spot!” At Seven Seeds Acupuncture, we often add microcurrent to the needles to facilitate tissue healing and routinely end a treatment for low back pain with manual therapy like cupping or guasha.
