Oh My Aching Back!

HORRY COUNTY - It’s one of the most common medical problems millions of us face some time in our lives.  Back pain.  According to the National Institutes of Health, 8 out of every 10 of us will deal with it at some point.

Common causes include nerve and muscular problems, degenerative disc disease and arthritis.  Pain medication helps some people.  But experts say back pain doesn’t have to be a fact of life. 

“Poor posture is one of the biggest reason back pain starts, and everybody stands up straight and then after a few minutes they’re back down again, so we teach our patients a lot of exercises, a lot of things to do at home, a lot of ergonomics, how to lift and bend, and even how you sleep is real important,” says Dr. Daniel Falk at Falk Family Chiropractic and Wellness. 

Dick Browning of Conway opted for surgery to treat his first bout with back pain.  He remained pain-free for almost seven years, but after a fall the pain was back.  “When I came in here I didn’t have no feeling at all on my left leg, and very little in my right.“

Dick didn’t want to go under the knife again opting instead for decompression therapy and chiropractic treatment from Dr. Daniel Falk.  “What decompression does is it actually pulls the vertebrae, specifically at one level, to actually lengthen that discus and pulls it in. makes a negative pressure and that pulls the herniation back in over a series of treatments.“

Dick says, “After about 10 sessions, I started getting the feeling back in my left leg and my right both.  And by the time the 20th session was over with, I had the feeling back in both legs, and both feet and it was just no pain in my back.“

Kim Lipton of Murrells Inlet suffered for years with her back pain.

She says, “I could not even get dressed in the morning without sitting down.“

Kim had to sit all the time and wasn’t able to lead the active life she wanted to lead.  “I love to play tennis, do things with my son. I couldn’t do anything.  I couldn’t even walk fast.“

She went to Neurologist, Dr. Jason Rosenberg who introduced her to a procedure called Radiofrequency Ablation, where nerve tissue is heated by a radio wave, and decreases the pain signals in that area. 

“I couldn’t believe I went in for a procedure that took maybe 15 minutes and came out and it was gone. And the pain has stayed away.“

Many of Dr. Rosenberg’s patients are also getting great results with Spinal Cord Stimulation.  “We place a couple of wires in the epidural space connected to a battery pack the size of a pacemaker and we stimulate the nerves, kind of like a pain pacemaker.“

Today Kim is back on her feet and on the tennis court taking a -back- swing at a pain-free life.

Jane Sentivan is working to reduce her stress and lower back pain through the gentle flowing movements of Tai Chi.  “I can definitely see a difference in my back and the abilities to bend and move.“

Tai chi has existed for some 2,000 years.  Licensed Acupuncturist and Tai Chi instructor for Strand Spine Institute, Leslie Jafarace, says it’s a great way to improve your overall health and help with back pain.  “We get a lot of people that are coming in to maintain back problems when they notice a little stress in their lower back, or people that have been dealing with issues for a long time and now they would like to take a more proactive step to maintaining.  It’s a lot of slow movements.  We work with the core, and balance, our vertical alignment.  Standing on two feet.  Standing up straight.“

It’s also low impact.  “Particularly with back pain, Tai Chi is not a very high impact type of exercise.  When you’re dealing with people with back pain, jarring type movements aren’t going to help them very much.“
And for people like Jane, Tai chi is helping. “It’s beginning to feel a bit more flexibility, and a greater sense of balance.“

For more information on decompression therapy and chiropractic treatment at Falk Family Chiropractic and Wellness with Dr. Daniel Falk you can call 843-248-0104 or visit