Back Pain Is a Symptom — Subluxation Is the Cause
Back pain affects more adults in Palm Beach County than almost any other condition. Most receive the same sequence: anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, physical therapy, and if nothing works, injections or surgery. What this sequence almost never addresses is why the muscles are inflamed and tense in the first place.
When a vertebra in the lumbar or thoracic spine shifts out of its correct structural position — what chiropractors call a subluxation — it creates nerve irritation, muscle guarding, disc stress, and altered biomechanics throughout the spine. These are the actual mechanisms producing your back pain. Treating the pain without correcting the subluxation produces temporary relief at best.
"Low back pain is almost never a muscle problem. Muscles guard a structural problem. Correct the structure — and the muscles relax."
Lumbar vs. Thoracic Back Pain
Not all back pain originates in the same location. Dr. Rochet's structural examination and X-ray analysis identifies exactly where your subluxation is, which determines the correct correction:
- Lower back (lumbar) subluxation — The most common. Creates pain across the lower back, often with stiffness in the morning. Can radiate into the buttocks and legs if the sciatic nerve is involved.
- Mid-back (thoracic) subluxation — Often presents as a sharp pain between the shoulder blades or around the ribcage. Can mimic heart or lung symptoms in severe cases.
- Sacroiliac joint dysfunction — The junction of the spine and pelvis. When misaligned, creates one-sided lower back pain that is often misdiagnosed as lumbar disc disease.
Disc Issues and Subluxation
Herniated discs, bulging discs, and degenerative disc disease are almost always downstream consequences of vertebral subluxation that went uncorrected for years. When vertebrae are misaligned, they create uneven pressure on the intervertebral discs — over time, the disc material breaks down, bulges, or herniates.
Correcting the subluxation that drove the disc problem does not reverse disc damage that has already occurred, but it does stop the continued mechanical stress that caused it — and removes the nerve compression that the disc herniation is creating.
What to Expect at Your First Visit
Dr. Rochet begins every new patient visit with a comprehensive history and structural examination. For back pain cases, lumbar and thoracic X-rays are typically indicated to visualize the exact vertebral positions and identify subluxation patterns. From these images, a specific correction plan is developed for your spine — not a generic protocol.
Most Royal Palm Beach and Wellington patients with back pain notice improvement within the first few visits. Structural correction of longstanding subluxation patterns takes longer and is tracked through progress examination and X-rays.