Dads, Let’s Talk About Your Low Back Pain
Being a dad means your body gets pulled in a lot of directions—especially when your child is young.
Hauling car seats, lifting kids into high chairs, and wrestling with strollers all take a toll on your lower back. This is especially true if you suffer from certain low back conditions.
The strain can be even more intense for dads spending long hours behind a desk. Going from no movement to sudden movement can cause low back issues.
I often see dads who are doing everything they can for their families—except taking care of their low backs.
Feeling strong—and staying mobile and pain-free—requires getting care when you need it. You can also help yourself by taking simple preventative measures daily.
Let’s walk through the most common low back issues I see in dads.
Below you'll find a brief overview of the low back conditions and symptoms we often see at Cloud Peak Chiro.
You'll learn how chiropractic, acupuncture, and a few prevention strategies can help you stay active and pain-free.
You can click to go to the condition you’d like to learn about here:
Lower Back Strain
When you hurt your lower back from lifting or bending wrong, that’s lower back strain.
Symptoms:
Sudden sharp pain
Muscle spasms
Stiffness or soreness after lifting or activity
Causes:
Lifting children or heavy bags improperly
Repetitive bending
Poor posture while doing chores or yardwork
How chiropractic helps:
Spinal adjustments reduce joint restrictions, decrease inflammation, and restore motion.
When your spine moves better, your muscles don’t have to work as hard to compensate, so you feel less pain.
How acupuncture helps:
Acupuncture improves blood flow, relieves muscle spasms, and stimulates your body's natural painkillers. This helps your sore muscles recover and calms your irritated nerves.
Prevention tips:
Use proper lifting techniques: bend your knees, keep the object close, avoid twisting
Do daily stretches like pelvic tilts and knee-to-chest
Strengthen your core and glutes with bridges and gentle core exercises
Degenerative Disc Disease
When your lower back gets sore or stiff because the discs have worn out from age or use, that’s degenerative disc disease.
Symptoms:
Chronic back stiffness
Intermittent sharp pain
Reduced flexibility
Causes:
Aging and wear over time
Repetitive stress on the spine
How chiropractic helps:
Adjustments help restore spinal alignment, reduce stiffness, and promote better joint movement. This helps you stay active longer.
How acupuncture helps:
Acupuncture improves circulation and calms muscle tension. This helps manage your chronic discomfort and inflammation.
Prevention tips:
Avoid long periods of sitting or bending
Stretch regularly (pelvic tilts, hamstring stretches)
Strengthen your back and glutes with low-impact exercises
Lumbar Spondylolisthesis
When one of the bones in your lower back slips forward and out of place, that’s lumbar spondylolisthesis.
Symptoms:
Pain with standing or walking
Tight hamstrings
Possible numbness or tingling in legs
Causes:
Spinal instability from degenerative changes or injury
How chiropractic helps:
Targeted adjustments stabilize the area, relieve nerve irritation, and support proper alignment.
How acupuncture helps:
Acupuncture reduces pain, eases spasms, and helps your body naturally support spinal stability.
Prevention tips:
Avoid heavy lifting
Stretch your hip flexors and hamstrings regularly
Strengthen your core and glutes while avoiding excessive back extension
Spinal Stenosis
When the space inside your lower back gets too narrow and squeezes the nerves, that’s spinal stenosis.
Symptoms:
Pain or numbness with walking or standing
Weakness in the legs
Relief when bending forward
Causes:
Narrowing of the spinal canal from arthritis or injury
How chiropractic helps:
Gentle decompression techniques and adjustments improve mobility, reduce nerve pressure, and decrease pain.
How acupuncture helps:
Acupuncture decreases inflammation, improves blood flow, and helps restore nerve function.
Prevention tips:
Use proper lifting techniques
Focus on gentle hamstring, glute, and hip flexor stretches
Build core stability with modified squats and partial crunches
Arthritis of the Lumbar Spine
If your lower back feels stiff and sore, like the joints there are getting old and creaky, that’s arthritis of the lumbar spine.
Symptoms:
Stiffness, especially in the morning
Aching after activity
Limited range of motion
Causes:
Repetitive stress over time
Natural aging processes
How chiropractic helps:
Adjustments improve joint mobility, reduce stiffness, and ease the strain on surrounding tissues.
How acupuncture helps:
Acupuncture can ease joint inflammation and relax tight supporting muscles. This helps you move more freely.
Prevention tips:
Avoid repetitive bending or twisting
Stretch your back and hips gently
Stay active with low-impact cardio and back-strengthening exercises
Sciatica
When pain shoots from your lower back down through your butt and all the way to your leg—sometimes with tingling or numbness—that’s sciatica.
It’s like your nerve is getting pinched and sending pain signals down your leg, often on just one side.
Symptoms:
Shooting pain down one or both legs
Numbness, tingling, or weakness in the legs
Burning or electric shock sensations
Causes:
Herniated discs, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc changes, or spondylolisthesis compressing the sciatic nerve
Heavy lifting, twisting, or prolonged sitting
How chiropractic helps:
Adjustments realign your spine, relieving pressure on your sciatic nerve to reduce pain.
How acupuncture helps:
Acupuncture stimulates your nerves, increases circulation, and helps block pain signals. This can provide significant relief for chronic sciatica.
Prevention tips:
Avoid twisting while lifting
Stretch your hips, glutes, and hamstrings daily
Strengthen your core, glutes, and hips with targeted exercises
Herniated or bulging discs
When one of the soft cushions between your vertebrae gets pushed out of place and presses on a nerve, that’s a herniated or bulging disc.
It’s kind of like if the jelly inside a donut oozes out and presses on something sensitive nearby.
Symptoms:
Sharp, radiating pain down one leg
Numbness or tingling
Lower back stiffness
Causes:
Heavy lifting
Sudden twisting motions
Long-term wear and tear
How chiropractic helps:
Gentle adjustments realign your spine and relieve nerve pressure. This can ease pain and prevent further damage.
How acupuncture helps:
Acupuncture reduces inflammation, decreases nerve pain, and helps surrounding muscles relax. This helps healing occur.
Prevention tips:
Avoid awkward or heavy lifting
Use assistive devices when possible
Incorporate gentle spinal twists and hamstring stretches
Build core strength with bridges and supermans
Dads don’t have to just live with low back pain.
Keeping up with your kids, your job, and your responsibilities becomes more difficult with low back pain. But you don’t have to just live with it.
Chiropractic and acupuncture together can make you feel better and move more easily.
If you're ready to get relief and take better care of your back, we're here to help. Book your appointment in Worland or Thermopolis.
Let’s get you back to feeling strong, mobile, and fully present for your family.