This post is sponsored and contributed by Balance and Body Restoration Physical Therapy and Massage, a Patch Brand Partner.

Community Corner

What’s REALLY Causing Your Back Pain-And How to Fix It for Good!

Why does your back pain keep coming back? Learn the real reason and how to stop it from taking over your life.

(Balance and Body Restoration Physical Therapy and Massage)

This is a paid post contributed by a Patch Community Partner. The views expressed in this post are the author's own, and the information presented has not been verified by Patch.


Are you struggling with chronic back pain that makes it hard for you to stand up straight, or walk for more than a couple of minutes because your back feels “tight”, “tired”, or “fatigued”?

Or do you sometimes feel a “burning sensation” that starts right at the center of your lower back, and spreads out towards your hips, to the point where you feel like you have to sit down, or lie down and rest?

Do you feel frustrated that you’ve tried “everything under the sun” to try to get better, but your pain just keeps coming back, and it feels like your pain is getting worse over time?

Now, if any of this sounds familiar, and if you are looking for a natural solution to your pain, that does not involve you having to take pills, or to risk having surgery, then I urge you to read on.

First off, my name is Dr. Kevin Mao, I am a Physical Therapist, and together with my wife, Thuy Lu, we own and operate Balance and Body Restoration Physical Therapy and Massage which is a clinic located in Dublin, California, and at our clinic, we have helped hundreds of bay area residents heal from this type of back pain over the past several years.

And most importantly, we’ve been able to help our clients heal 100% naturally, without having to rely on pills, injections, or unnecessary surgery.

My goal with this article is to share with you tips and strategies that we have used to help our patients heal from this type of back pain, with the hopes that this information may be helpful to others who might be in a similar situation.

The Number 1 Mistake People Make When Treating Chronic Back Pain

One of the most frustrating things about back pain, unlike other injuries, is when the pain just doesn’t seem to go away, no matter what you try.

Every day we hear from people who have tried so many different treatments, like:

  • Physical Therapy stretches and exercises
  • Chiropractic or massage
  • Or even taking pills, or pain-reliving ointments or creams

Yet despite doing everything they are supposed to do, their pain just keeps coming back, and in some cases, it just keeps getting worse.

Now the reason why I believe this happens, and why so many people stay stuck in this cycle of chronic back pain is NOT because of a lack of effort, or that the person isn’t trying to get better…

Instead, most people make the very common mistake of only focusing on treating the “symptoms” of their back pain and are not focusing on treating the real root cause of their pain.

What exactly do I mean by treating symptoms vs root causes?

You see, when most people start to experience back pain, it’s easy to only focus on things that will reduce your symptoms as fast as possible.

Because if you have sharp pain, extreme tightness, or muscle spasms in your lower back…

Then it might make sense, at least in the beginning, to use treatments such as Advil, massage, stretching, or even getting a chiropractic adjustment to help you get some immediate relief.

However, if you are someone whose pain is more chronic (or long-term)...

Or if every time you try these treatments your pain just keeps coming back, no matter how many times you try…

Then it’s CRUCIAL for you to realize the fact that there might be something else that could be CAUSING your pain that you might not be aware of.

To give you an example, we recently worked with a woman named Christy. She had just turned 59, and she is very health conscious.

And even though she hasn’t been as active as she would have liked to have been the past several years, she at least went walking every day and stayed active around the house and out in the yard.

And although she’s had some back problems over the years, she would always manage by just pushing through the pain.

Until one morning she woke up and she suddenly realized that she could barely move!

Sharp pain right in the center of her lower back that spread out towards the sides of her hips…

She experienced intense tightness and fatigue whenever she tried to stand up straight, making activities like cooking dinner or even walking just a couple of blocks nearly impossible without needing to sit down and rest.

While she initially thought her pain would just get better with a bit of rest, she was surprised when a couple of weeks had gone by and her pain had STILL not yet gone away as it had done in the past.

And this is when she realized something was wrong, so she went to the doctor and then did everything that she was told to do, which included:

  • Taking anti-inflammatories for 6 weeks
  • Going to physical therapy where she was taught stretches and exercises to do at home
  • And she even went in for massages and tried getting chiropractic adjustments for her back.

Yet despite trying all of this, for several months, she realized that any relief she got was temporary, as her back pain would just come right back after a couple of days, and if anything her pain just kept getting worse…

Why was this happening?

Now, when we got a chance to work with Christy, even though her back felt very sore, tight and tender, upon further examination we realized, oddly enough, that there wasn’t really much wrong with her lower back itself.

Meaning she still had good mobility and strength along her back, and could even do some light stretches and exercise without hurting.

Instead, we realized that the REAL reason her lower back was hurting was simply because it was under too much STRESS.

And the reason why her back was under too much stress is because her lower back was overworking, to overcompensate for problems that she was having in her hips and her knees!

You see, 3 years before Christy’s back pain started, she had been dealing with an old knee injury. But because of the pandemic, she never had a chance to get her knee pain addressed, and instead, she just pushed through the pain.

What she didn’t realize was that, over time, her knee pain had caused her leg muscles to become very tight and weak

And the tighter and weaker her leg muscles became, the muscles of her lower back were forced to work much harder just to keep her upright.

And THIS was the reason why, despite getting massages, and doing stretches and exercises for her back, she wasn’t getting better, because these treatments were NOT addressing the underlying problems in her knees and hips.

And if anything, these treatments were actually making her pain and problem worse because it was creating even MORE stress on her back despite the fact that it was already under too much stress to begin with!

How Christy Finally Healed

In order to help Christy, we first needed to first STOP doing all of the treatment she was doing on her lower back.

Instead, our goal was to help her "de-stress" her back, by focusing on fixing the underlying problems she had in her hips and her knees.

Examples of treatments used to help "de-stress" her back included:

  • Targeted Trigger Point Therapy: Specialized massage techniques relieved stubborn muscle knots in her thighs, alleviating tension and reducing strain on her lower back.
  • Advanced Neuromuscular Stretching: Permanently restored her leg muscles' flexibility, improving her walking and reducing compensatory stress on her back.
  • Comprehensive Hip and Knee Strengthening: Rebuilt the stability and foundation of her hips and pelvis, allowing her back to function without overcompensating for weaknesses.

And within just 4 weeks of focusing our efforts on fixing the underlying problems in her LEG muscles, her back pain had REDUCED by 60%! (from a 8/10 to a 2/10).

Not only that, within just 8 weeks of treatment, Christy was ALL the way back to being able to:

  • Stand tall and cook dinner for her family for over 30 minutes without any pain, tightness, or fatigue
  • She was able to get back to doing long walks around the neighborhood without any pain, and without needing to sit down

And most importantly, Christy was able to get back to living life normally, despite the fact that 2 months prior, she could barely move, or walk for more than a couple of minutes!

"Last week I was able to walk with my friends around the entire neighborhood for the first time in over a year, and not ONCE did I feel like I needed to sit down, or worry about my back going out…It just feels amazing."

Are you living with, or worried about someone who is struggling with chronic back pain?

If so, and if you are looking for more information on how to heal from this condition, I recommend checking out our 100% Free Video Course that we have created titled "How to Heal Chronic Lower Back Pain by Fixing the ROOT Causes."

Click here to access How to Heal Chronic Lower Back Pain By Fixing the ROOT Causes Course

Now in this video series, we will share with you:

  • What are the 5 most common, underlying root causes of chronic back pain we see almost every single day
  • In-depth explanations of how these problems cause your lower back pain (and how to avoid it)
  • Simple self-tests that you can perform to check to see which problems you may have
  • Detailed guides that will teach you the best, safest, and most effective exercises that you can perform to fix some of these problems on your own.

In module 1 of our course, we will describe Christy’s problem in MUCH greater detail.

And while these are by far not the only causes of chronic back pain, these are some of the most common problems we see that we believe CAN be corrected with the right approach.

Our goal with this is simple, to share some of the secrets that we have learned from lessons learned in treating chronic back pain cases for 14 years, with the hopes that this information may help others who are struggling with this type of back pain and are looking for some help or guidance.

All you need to do is to click on the link below, which will send you to our website, and from there, you will receive access to the different modules.

Click here to access How to Heal Chronic Lower Back Pain By Fixing the ROOT Causes Course

Sincerely,

Kevin Mao

Doctor of Physical Therapy

Owner of Balance and Body Restoration Physical Therapy and Massage

P.S. If you are someone who has a more urgent need, or are interested in working with us directly, we are currently accepting applications for 3 new clients this month.

Click here to apply for a FREE In-Person Consultation

Please understand that we are very selective in who we work with because we want to be absolutely sure that we can help you heal and recover.

So if you are someone who is just looking for a quick fix, or do not want to take an “active role” in your recovery, then you need not apply.

If you are someone, however, who is health conscious, and are willing to take an active role in your recovery so that you can have a shot a living a better quality of life, free of pain, then I invite you to click on the link below which will send you to our In-Person Consultation application page.

Click here to apply for a FREE In-Person Consultation


This post is an advertorial piece contributed by a Patch Community Partner, a local brand partner. To learn more, click here.

This post is sponsored and contributed by Balance and Body Restoration Physical Therapy and Massage, a Patch Brand Partner.