Lower back pain can affect almost everything you do, from getting out of bed and driving to work, to exercising, lifting a child, playing golf, or sleeping through the night. You may feel a dull ache across your beltline, a sharp catch when you move, stiffness after sitting, muscle spasms, or symptoms that travel into your hip, or down your leg. However it begins, low back pain can quickly make normal life feel harder than it should and steal your joy.
At Hassig Family Chiropractic in Mountain Brook, Alabama, we do not assume that every person with lower back pain has the same problem. Your symptoms may involve irritated spinal or pelvic joints, strained muscles, altered movement patterns, disc changes, nerve irritation, degeneration, or several of these factors working together. Our first responsibility is to listen carefully, evaluate you thoroughly, and determine whether chiropractic care is appropriate.
Low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that 619 million people experienced it in 2020 and projects that the number may reach 843 million by 2050. About 90% of cases are considered nonspecific, meaning there is not always one clearly identifiable damaged structure responsible for every symptom.
That does not mean your pain is imaginary or that you simply have to live with it. It means the best plan usually begins with listening to you, understanding your history, movement, spinal and pelvic function, daily habits, and health rather than treating everyone with the same routine.
How Prevalent Is Low Back Pain?
Most adults experience low back pain at some point. It affects active people, office workers, parents, athletes, retirees, and people whose jobs require lifting or prolonged standing. The lower back carries much of the body’s weight while allowing bending, rotation, walking, and countless small movements throughout the day.
Lower back pain is common because the lumbar spine is affected by what happens above and below it. Limited hip movement, weak or poorly coordinated supportive muscles, prolonged sitting, repetitive lifting, previous injuries, reduced conditioning, and poor recovery can all increase stress and tension on the area.
Sometimes symptoms begin after one isolated incident like a fall or accident. In other cases, they develop gradually after months or years of compensation. Usually your body has been whispering to you there’s a problem. If the whispers go unaddressed, the body often starts to scream or yell.
How Muscles, Ligaments, Joints, and Discs Contribute
Your lower spine is a collection of connected parts. Vertebrae provide structure. Discs help absorb and distribute load. Facet joints guide movement. Ligaments help limit excessive motion. Muscles create movement and stability. The sacroiliac joints transfer forces between the spine and pelvis, while nerves carry information between the brain and body.
When one part of this system is irritated or not functioning well, another part may compensate. A restricted pelvic joint may change how you walk. Tight hips may force the lumbar spine to move more than it should. Reduced trunk endurance may make bending or lifting less efficient.
These compensations can contribute to recurring lower back pain even when the original injury seemed minor. This is the common, “It’s just my usual low back pain I get once or twice a year.” Pain ISN’T normal!
Why It Is Important to Address Symptoms Promptly
Many mild episodes improve, but ignoring persistent or recurring low back pain can allow altered movement patterns to become habits. When movement hurts, people naturally guard the area, shorten their stride, avoid bending, stop exercising, or shift their weight away from one side.
Temporary protection can be helpful, but prolonged guarding may contribute to stiffness, weakness, poor sleep, reduced confidence, and stress in other areas of the body.
Early evaluation also helps identify warning signs that may require medical imaging, referral, or urgent care rather than routine chiropractic treatment. If we determine we can’t help you, we’ll get you to the right doctor that can.
$99 New Patient Special Offer
Your Health Discovery Assessment Includes Comprehensive Health History, One-on-One Consultation with Dr. Brad or Dr. Lori Hassig, Comprehensive Chiropractic & Neurological Examination, MyoVision® Surface EMG Scan, Thermal Imaging Assessment, Digital Range of Motion Evaluation, Personalized Review of Findings & Care Recommendations & Digital X-Rays (If Clinically Indicated).
Discover what’s limiting your health—and begin your personalized plan to Restore Your Health, Rebuild Your Energy & Optimize Your Longevity. Take the first step toward your Second Chance Reset™ today.
This offer does not apply to Medicare, Medicaid, or other federally funded program beneficiaries.
How Our Care Plan Works
1. Finally Be Heard
We believe one of the most healing experiences is simply having someone take the time to truly listen. That’s why we begin by understanding your story, your goals, and the health challenges you’ve been facing, not just your symptoms. Together, we’ll work to uncover what’s limiting your health and develop a personalized plan designed specifically for you.
2. Regain Hope
Many people come to us after trying multiple treatments with little lasting success. Our goal is to help you understand that your body was designed to heal and that there is often hope when the right cause is identified and the right plan is followed. We want every patient to leave our office encouraged, empowered, and confident that better health is possible.
3. Live Life With An Abundance Of Energy
Imagine waking up with more energy, moving with greater freedom, and enjoying the people and activities you love without being held back by your health. Through our Second Chance Reset™, our goal isn’t simply to help you feel better, it’s to help you build the healthiest, most vibrant future possible so you can live life with purpose, vitality, and joy.
How We Treat Lower Back Pain In Mountain Brook, AL
Comprehensive Consultation and Exam
Your first visit to Hassig Family Chiropractic begins with a conversation, not an automatic adjustment.
We want to know when the problem began, where you feel it, what makes it better or worse, and how it affects work, sleep, exercise, and family life. We also review previous injuries, surgeries, imaging, medications, health conditions, and treatments. We want to understand your goals so we can best help you achieve them now, and improve your longevity in the future.
Your examination may include:
- Posture and movement analysis
- Lumbar and pelvic digital range-of-motion testing
- Orthopedic testing
- Neurological testing
- Spinal and pelvic evaluation
- Muscle and joint assessment
- Thermal imaging testing
- MyoVision sEMG
Advanced MyoVision technology can provide objective information about muscular and nervous-system stress patterns. This information is considered alongside your symptoms, history, and physical examination rather than used as a diagnosis by itself. It gives us a chance to measure and quantify you now, so we can track and measure your progress throughout treatment. We want your feelings and clinical findings to agree on your improvement.
The purpose of the examination is to determine whether your symptoms appear to involve spinal joints, the pelvis, discs, nerves, muscles, movement patterns, or another condition. Finding the likely cause helps us create a safer and more specific plan instead of simply chasing symptoms.
Digital X-rays and Other Imaging When Appropriate
Not everyone with lower back pain needs an X-ray or MRI. When clinically appropriate, X-rays can show bone alignment, fractures, arthritic changes, disc-space narrowing, and other structural findings. An MRI is better suited for evaluating discs, nerve roots, and many soft tissues.
If imaging is indicated, we explain why it may be helpful and coordinate the appropriate study or referral. Often times a patient will hear they are “fine” after another doctor looks at their X-ray. Specialists like chiropractors look for the source of your problem, not just fractures, dislocations, or more serious health problems. We frequently tell people, “we pick up where they left off.” We’ll get to the bottom of what’s causing your problem.
We never want to treat an image instead of treating you. Many people have structural changes on an X-ray or MRI without symptoms. Imaging must therefore be interpreted together with your history and examination.
Specific Activator Chiropractic Care Mountain Brook, AL
Hassig Family Chiropractic specializes in Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique. Activator care uses a handheld instrument to deliver a precise, low-force impulse to a carefully selected spinal, pelvic, or extremity joint. Drs. Lori and Brad Hassig are Advanced Certified Activator practitioners, and Dr. Brad Hassig serves on the Clinical Advisory Board for Activator Methods International and has trained over 4,000 doctors in the Activator technique.
This method does not require forceful twisting. It allows us to control the location, direction, and amount of force used during an adjustment. This allows us to treat everything from newborn babies and moms, to professional athletes and weekend warriors, and those just wanting to live life again on their own terms without low back pain.
That can be especially helpful for people experiencing:
- Acute lower back pain
- Significant muscle guarding
- Age-related spinal changes
- Previous surgeries or injuries
- Osteoporosis or other health considerations
- Anxiety about manual adjustment
- A preference for a gentler approach
In chiropractic terminology, a subluxation commonly refers to a spinal or extremity joint that is not moving or functioning as well as it should, often with altered mechanical and neurological input. The nervous system controls the entire body, and God designed the body to heal when your nervous system is functioning properly.
In the lumbar spine or pelvis, altered movement may contribute to stiffness, compensation, muscle tension, and less ability to perform normal activities, or cause you less enjoyment doing them.
A chiropractic adjustment is intended to improve joint motion and nerve function. Spinal manipulation is recognized as one of several drug-free approaches for acute and chronic low back pain and may provide improvements in pain and function for many patients.
Customized Therapeutic Exercise and Movement Plan
Adjustments may improve motion, but lasting progress often requires your body to move, stabilize, and tolerate activity more effectively.
Depending on your examination, your recommendations may include:
- Gentle walking
- Lumbar or hip mobility exercises
- Core and trunk stabilization
- Gluteal activation and strengthening
- Hip strengthening
- Postural strategies
- Movement and lifting instruction
- A gradual return to exercise and normal activity
Muscles can contribute to lower back pain when they are strained, weakened, overworked, or have become imbalanced. They may also tighten protectively around a painful or restricted joint, which protects you, but often causes pain or discomfort.
The goal is not simply to stretch every tight muscle. We want to improve mobility where you are restricted, stability where you lack control, endurance where you fatigue, and confidence where movement has become uncomfortable or fearful.
There is no single best exercise for every person. A movement that helps one condition may aggravate another. Your plan is selected according to your examination, current ability, and goals.
BEMER pEMF Therapy
At Hassig Family Chiropractic, we offer BEMER pEMF sessions as a complimentary treatment to your primary care plan.
A session is noninvasive, and generally involves relaxing on the BEMER mat or strap while low-intensity pulsed electromagnetic signals are delivered through the system. Most patients find the experience comfortable and relaxing.
The FDA clearance for BEMER identifies it as a powered muscle stimulator for muscle-conditioning purposes. The goal of a BEMER session is to increase micro-circulation and decrease inflammation, thereby reducing pain and speeding recovery.
Functional Nutrition and Optimizing Longevity
Persistent low back pain does not occur in isolation from the rest of your life. Sleep quality, stress, physical activity, body composition, nutrition, hydration, and recovery can influence how well you tolerate activity and respond to care.
When appropriate, we may discuss practical lifestyle strategies or our functional health and nutritional services. These services may include an in-depth Health Systems Survey, functional nutrition consultation, personalized nutritional recommendations, muscle-testing services, lab testing, and Standard Process or MediHerb protocols when indicated.
Common Causes of Low Back Pain in Mountain Brook, AL
Bulging Lumbar Discs
A spinal disc has a durable outer ring surrounding a softer, jelly-like center. It helps distribute force between adjacent vertebrae.
A disc bulge occurs when part of the disc extends beyond its usual boundary without a complete rupture of the outer fibers. Think of pushing on one side of an ice cream sandwich.
Some bulges cause no symptoms. Others may contribute to localized low back pain, stiffness, leg pain, tingling, numbness, or weakness when nearby tissues or nerve roots become irritated.
Contributing factors may include age-related changes, repetitive lifting, prolonged loading, smoking, genetics, poor conditioning, or previous injury.
The best treatment depends on the examination. Conservative care may include activity modification, carefully selected chiropractic treatment, progressive movement, and referral when neurological findings or symptom severity require it.
Herniated Lumbar Discs
A herniation generally involves displacement of the softer inner disc material through a weakened or torn area of the outer disc.
The terms “disc bulge” and “disc herniation” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they describe different structural patterns. A herniated disc may cause low back pain alone or symptoms traveling into the buttock and leg.
Numbness, tingling, or weakness can occur when a nerve root is involved.
Many cases improve without surgery, but progressive weakness, bowel or bladder changes, or numbness in the saddle area require urgent medical evaluation.
Degenerative Disc Disease
Degenerative disc disease describes age- or stress-related changes in the spinal discs. Over time, discs may lose hydration and height, changing how forces are distributed through the lumbar spine. The facet joints may also experience increased loading.
Risk factors can include age, genetics, previous injuries, repetitive physical stress, smoking, and reduced physical conditioning.
Degeneration on an X-ray does not automatically mean it is causing your lower back pain. Many people have age-related changes without major symptoms. We are also seeing these degenerative changes in younger and younger adults due to increased sporting activities, video gaming/technology, and poor dietary choices as youth.
Our goal is not to promise that normal aging can be reversed. It is to improve function, reduce avoidable mechanical stress, build physical capacity, and help you remain active now, and keep you enjoying an active lifestyle for years to come.
Spinal Stenosis
The spinal canal and openings between the vertebrae provide space for the spinal cord and nerve roots. Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of these spaces.
Lumbar stenosis may cause low back pain, leg heaviness, numbness, tingling, weakness, or discomfort that becomes worse with prolonged standing and walking. Some people feel better when sitting or leaning forward.
Care depends on the severity of the narrowing and the neurological findings. Gentle chiropractic treatment, mobility work, exercise, and activity modification may help selected patients manage their symptoms.
Progressive weakness or significant neurological loss requires medical or surgical consultation.
Muscle Strain
A muscle strain occurs when muscle fibers are overstretched or injured. It may happen during lifting, sports, yard work, sudden twisting, repetitive activity, or an unfamiliar workout.
Strains commonly cause localized soreness, tightness, spasms, and pain with movement. Most heal with time and progressively returning to activity.
Repeated episodes labeled as “just a pulled muscle,” may point to an underlying movement problem, joint restriction, poor lifting habits, or inadequate hip and trunk strength.
Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction
The sacroiliac joints connect the sacrum at the base of the spine to the pelvic bones. They help transfer force between the upper and lower body.
SI joint irritation frequently causes pain near one side of the beltline or upper buttock. It may become worse with stairs, walking, rolling over in bed, standing from a chair, or prolonged standing.
Care may include precise pelvic adjustments, stabilization exercises, hip mobility work, and correction of poor movement patterns.
Facet Joint Dysfunction
Facet joints are small joints at the back of each spinal segment. They guide movement and help stabilize the spine.
Irritation or restricted motion in these joints may cause localized lower back pain, stiffness, or pain radiating down into the legs. Symptoms may become worse with extension, twisting, or prolonged standing. This can also be the classic “sit to standing” pain we see frequently in our office. It is very humbling for a typically fit person to have to use the arm rest to push themselves up after sitting.
The specificity of the Activator adjustments is ideal for the smaller, hard-to-reach facet joints. We also recommend specifically selected movements that may help improve joint function when facet dysfunction is part of the problem, like hanging or hugging your knees to decompress the facet joints.
Vertebral Subluxation and Joint Dysfunction
A chiropractic subluxation is commonly described as altered joint function that may affect movement and the information being sent through the nervous system.
We do not assume that every symptom has the same cause or that every spinal segment needs to be adjusted.
We use your history and examination findings to identify clinically meaningful restrictions. Precise Activator adjustments are then used to improve motion and function as part of a broader plan that may also include exercise, recovery, and lifestyle recommendations.
Check Out Our Location Near You
68 Church St # B, Mountain Brook, AL 35213
Frequently Asked Questions About Low Back Pain
When should I be worried about lower back pain?
Seek urgent medical care after significant trauma or for new bowel or bladder problems, numbness in the saddle area, progressive leg weakness, fever, unexplained weight loss, known cancer, or severe and rapidly worsening symptoms.
What can I do at home for low back pain?
Gentle walking, changing positions regularly, avoiding prolonged bed rest, temporarily modifying aggravating activities, and using heat or ice according to comfort may help. Persistent, severe, recurring, or radiating symptoms should be evaluated.
How should I sleep with lower back pain?
Many people are more comfortable lying on their side with a pillow between their knees or on their back with support beneath the knees. Choose the position that allows you to rest without significantly increasing your symptoms.
How can I tell whether the problem is muscular or disc-related?
Muscular symptoms are often localized, sore, and tender. Disc or nerve irritation may be more likely to produce leg pain, tingling, numbness, or weakness. Because these patterns can overlap, an examination is more reliable than trying to diagnose yourself with Google, YouTube, or your well-intentioned friend or family member.
Why will my low back pain not go away?
Persistent symptoms may involve repeated physical stress, inadequate recovery, joint dysfunction, muscle weakening, disc or nerve irritation, poor sleep, stress, or another health condition. The next step is identifying which factors are causing YOUR problem.
Can a chiropractor in Mountain Brook help with lower back pain?
Many patients with mechanical lower back pain may benefit from the chiropractic care we provide at Hassig Family Chiropractic. The appropriate recommendation depends on your history, examination, safety considerations, and whether your condition is suitable for conservative treatment.
Is chiropractic care or massage better?
They have different purposes. Massage focuses primarily on muscular and soft-tissue tension, while chiropractic care focuses more directly on joint motion and mechanical function. Some people benefit from both, but the right choice depends on what is contributing to the symptoms.
When should I see a chiropractor?
Consider an evaluation when symptoms interfere with normal activities, persist for more than several days, keep returning, disrupt sleep, limit mobility, or travel into the hip or leg.
How can I tell if my spine is out of alignment?
Symptoms alone cannot reliably determine whether a spinal or pelvic joint is functioning improperly. A chiropractic examination evaluates posture, movement, joint function, neurological findings, and other factors to determine whether chiropractic care may be appropriate.
Schedule a Low Back Pain Evaluation in Mountain Brook, Alabama
You do not have to guess about the source of your symptoms or settle for temporary relief without understanding the problem.
At Hassig Family Chiropractic, Dr. Brad Hassig and Dr. Lori Hassig provide precise Activator chiropractic care using a customized, whole-person approach.
Depending on your needs, your plan may include:
A comprehensive consultation and examination
MyoVision assessment
Precise, Activator chiropractic adjustments
Digital X-rays
Posture and lifestyle guidance
Custom spinal exercise program
Functional Nutrition and Longevity optimization support
BEMER pEMF sessions
Referral for imaging or medical evaluation when appropriate
Our goal is to help you understand your condition, move with greater confidence, and return to the activities that matter most to you.
We want to help you Restore Your Health, Regain Your Energy, and Optimize Your Longevity
Contact Hassig Family Chiropractic in Mountain Brook, Alabama, to schedule your lower back pain consultation.
$99 New Patient Special Offer
Your Health Discovery Assessment Includes Comprehensive Health History, One-on-One Consultation with Dr. Brad or Dr. Lori Hassig, Comprehensive Chiropractic & Neurological Examination, MyoVision® Surface EMG Scan, Thermal Imaging Assessment, Digital Range of Motion Evaluation, Personalized Review of Findings & Care Recommendations & Digital X-Rays (If Clinically Indicated).
Discover what’s limiting your health—and begin your personalized plan to Restore Your Health, Rebuild Your Energy & Optimize Your Longevity. Take the first step toward your Second Chance Reset™ today.
This offer does not apply to Medicare, Medicaid, or other federally funded program beneficiaries.