Low Back Pain Treatment in Peoria, AZ

Comprehensive Consultation, Exam, and Digital X-Rays

Proper low back pain treatment begins with the doctor identifying the cause before we work on you. You will receive examinations including Chiropractic, Postural, Neurological, and Functional Orthopedic tests. The next step is a digital X-ray. Our office looks for the everyday things that are observed in X-ray studies, but we also conduct a comprehensive biomechanical analysis using the Gonstead method. This is the most accurate way of determining your spinal misalignments.

When it comes to identifying the cause of your problems, we are meticulous. Our patients consistently remark on how they’ve never had a doctor listen to them, nor have they ever received such a thorough examination as they have in our office.

Specific Chiropractic Care in Peoria, AZ

Our goal is to identify all the factors contributing to your suffering and address them. The primary method of addressing low back pain is through a specific chiropractic adjustment. Our doctors can locate the misaligned spinal joint and gently adjust it back into its most optimal position. The method of adjustment will vary depending on the particular spinal problems you have. You may receive a hands-on adjustment, or it may be an instrument, or even a ‘drop table’. Sometimes, it is simply pressure points on specific spinal regions. It all depends on what you specifically need. There are no ‘one-size-fits-all’ adjustments in our office.

PEMF (Pulsed Electro Magnetic Field) Therapy

One of the fastest-acting and most powerful tools that we use to help your body heal itself quickly is PEMF therapy, which stands for Pulsed ElectroMagnetic Field therapy. It sounds high-tech, and it is! The idea is simple. It utilizes magnetic energy to recharge your cells and accelerate the healing process. Think of it like giving your body’s batteries a boost so it can repair faster and function better.

Our PEMF system, the PMT 120, is one of the strongest and most effective units available worldwide. The extra strength shortens typical treatment times and makes a big difference when it comes to healing stubborn back pain. It calms inflammation, improves circulation, relaxes tight muscles, and relieves pain deep inside your low back. And like everything in our office, there are no medications or injections! People describe the sensation as a gentle pulsing sensation. It is one of Dr. Koch’s favorite therapies. Our office has been utilizing PEMF therapy for over 15 years and has been a leader in its application in the state.

Shockwave Therapy

Shockwave therapy is one of the most effective therapies that helps our patients heal quickly. Unlike the name, there is no ‘shock’. Instead, a sound wave travels deep into your low back muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These sound waves activate your body’s own healing process and loosen tight, stuck, stiff, and knotted areas. This, along with an increase in blood supply to the region, helps reduce pain and stiffness, allowing you to move more freely.

Shockwave therapy is beneficial for patients with chronic low back pain. When muscles, tendons, and ligaments have been irritated and strained for a long time, they often need a strong ‘nudge’ to help them heal. The intense sound wave helps the tissue heal at a deep cellular level, allowing for faster recovery. You don’t just feel better, you are better.

Patients often notice real relief after one or two sessions. The results continue to roll in as the body heals. Typically, this requires about six or more sessions. Sometimes less. So, whether your problems stem from repeated stress, an old injury, or simple wear and tear, shockwave therapy will help you get out of pain and get back into life quickly.

Spinal Decompression Therapy

When the disc is the cause of your low back pain, spinal decompression is a gentle, noninvasive way to take the pressure off that disc and nerve. If you experience shooting pain, sciatica, tight muscles, and persistent achiness, this special table is often the solution. The slow and gentle stretching allows the disc space to open and close very comfortably, taking pressure off the disc. It creates a negative pressure that can allow the disc to retract and heal naturally. It is so comfortable that people often fall asleep while sitting at the table!

Before recommending this therapy, we will assess whether you are a suitable candidate for it. Through your history, examination, movement, and imaging (when appropriate), we will ensure that it’s the right fit for you. During your sessions, you’ll be comfortably secured, the table position will be set for your particular problem, and the computer controls the level of pulling and releasing of treatment. You are ultimately in control and can stop the therapy at any time if needed.

The sessions typically last between 10 and 15 minutes, and when paired with the right therapies, such as laser, PEMF, or shockwave, you can achieve long-lasting results. Our goal is to help you regain your function. Your quality of life, including time with family, activities, work, and sleep, is vital. Your back shouldn’t be holding you back. For the last 15 years, this safe, comfortable, and effective treatment has been used with great success. Let it work for you, too.

Erchonia Cold Laser Therapy

Cold laser therapy is one of the primary tools we use in the office to help your body heal naturally. Instead of standard treatments of drugs and surgery, we send a non-thermal, healing light energy into the low back. It helps your cells produce more energy, reduces inflammation, and starts the repair of the damaged areas. It serves as a sort of ‘kick-start’ to reduce pain and speed up healing.

Our Erchonia cold laser therapy is safe, painless, and has been studied in thousands of cases with no reported harmful side effects. When used on the low back, it helps increase blood flow, relax tight muscles, and decrease irritation around the nerves. Many patients notice that their back starts to loosen up and feel better after just a few sessions.

The Erchonia FX 405 laser has received FDA market clearance for the treatment of chronic low back pain, making it the best laser in America for addressing low back pain. So if you are ready to break the cycle of pain and get back to moving comfortably again, consider cold lasers. They will help speed the recovery from disc problems, muscle strains, arthritis, and everyday wear and tear.

Bulging or Herniated Discs

Your body is smart. Your brain is fully encased in bone, and the spinal cord is wrapped with 24 movable vertebrae that are separated by ‘discs’, often compared to cushions. These discs/cushions create space for the nerves that are adjacent to them, and they also enable proper motion at each spinal level. Each disc, like a jelly donut, has a jelly-like liquid inside it. The gel has a consistency similar to toothpaste.

There are many causes of bulging and herniated discs, but the most common is long-term improper motion of the low back bones and joints. The result of this wear and tear is that the outside part of the disc can wear itself thin, and sometimes create little fissures or cracks. The gel then squishes out to some degree and can put pressure on nerves and other tissues. This can cause severe low back pain. It can also cause pain, numbness, or tingling in your leg.
The standard medical model for treating bulging and herniated discs is with drugs and surgery. Common practice is to prescribe painkillers, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflammatory medications. We nickname this ‘the cocktail’.

It does nothing to address the underlying cause. When this is ineffective, they often recommend surgery. Our office has a passion for helping people avoid undergoing any unnecessary surgery. Once you’ve had a surgery, you typically have another surgery within a couple of years. In our office, we don’t see living surgery-to-surgery as a good quality of life.

Subluxation

When a spinal bone has moved out of its normal position relative to the bones above, below, or both, it can affect the information passing through the nerves at those levels. This is referred to as a ‘spinal subluxation’.

It does not have to hurt. In fact, only when the subluxation has been happening in your spine for an extended period of time will that area finally become painful. This nerve pressure cannot be removed with drugs, surgery, exercise, or nutrition. Chiropractors are trained to detect and remove subluxations. A chiropractic problem cannot be fixed with medical solutions.