Back Conditions & Treatments
Expert diagnosis and personalized treatment from board-certified back specialists. Get relief with minimally invasive options and complimentary MRI reviews.
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Common Back Conditions We Treat
Our specialists diagnose and treat a comprehensive range of back conditions using advanced diagnostic tools and personalized treatment plans.
Treatments for Back Pain & Injury
From conservative treatments to advanced minimally invasive procedures, we offer comprehensive care options for back conditions.
Common Back Symptoms
Lumbar symptoms sort into patterns, and the pattern is diagnostic. Mechanical low back pain - aching across the beltline that worsens with bending, lifting, or long sitting and eases with position change - points to discs, facet joints, or muscles. Pain that shoots below the knee into the calf or foot is sciatica, and it means a lumbar nerve root is irritated, most often by a herniated disc.
Leg heaviness or cramping that builds with standing and walking and settles the moment you sit - or lean on a shopping cart - is neurogenic claudication, the signature of lumbar stenosis. One-sided pain just below the beltline that flares when rolling over in bed or rising from a chair suggests the sacroiliac joint rather than the spine itself.
Some lumbar symptoms are urgent rather than routine: new numbness in the saddle area, progressive leg weakness, a foot that slaps or drags, or any change in bowel or bladder control warrants immediate evaluation, not a scheduled appointment.
When to See an Orthopedist for Back Pain
See a spine specialist when low back pain has kept you from work, sleep, or normal activity for more than two or three weeks despite sensible self-care - relative rest, over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, and gentle movement. Come sooner when pain radiates below the knee, when numbness or tingling appears in the leg or foot, or when pain followed a fall, lift, or accident.
Certain lumbar situations should skip the waiting period entirely: saddle numbness, new leg weakness, loss of bowel or bladder control, fever with back pain, or unexplained weight loss alongside it. These are evaluated the same day.
If you already have an MRI of your lower back, our complimentary MRI review can tell you what the imaging shows - and just as importantly, whether the findings actually match your symptoms - before you commit to a consultation.
How We Treat Back Conditions
Lumbar care at Mountain Spine & Orthopedics follows a ladder, and most patients never need its top rungs. The first rung is mechanical: activity modification that respects what provokes your pattern, core and hip strengthening, and time - most acute low back episodes settle within weeks.
The second rung is targeted: image-guided lumbar epidural steroid injections for nerve-root pain, facet joint injections and radiofrequency ablation for arthritic joint pain confirmed by diagnostic blocks, and sacroiliac joint injections when the SI pattern fits. Each doubles as a diagnostic test - how completely the numbing phase relieves your pain tells us whether the right structure was treated.
Surgery is reserved for structural problems that match the symptoms: microdiscectomy for a herniated disc compressing a nerve, laminectomy for stenosis that limits walking, and fusion-based procedures for instability such as spondylolisthesis. When surgery is indicated, minimally invasive approaches shorten recovery - and when it is not, we say so.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Back Conditions
Why is my lower back stiffest first thing in the morning?
Discs rehydrate overnight and the lumbar joints stiffen without movement, so the first bends of the day load a spine that has not warmed up. Morning stiffness that eases within half an hour is typical of mechanical back pain; stiffness that lasts an hour or more, especially in younger adults, is worth mentioning because it can point to inflammatory causes.
Is bed rest good for a bad back?
Beyond a day or two, no - prolonged rest weakens the muscles the spine depends on and tends to lengthen episodes rather than shorten them. Staying gently active within pain tolerance, with short walks and position changes, outperforms strict rest for most acute low back pain.
How do I know if my back pain is actually sciatica?
Sciatica means nerve pain, and its signature is pain that travels below the knee into the calf or foot, often with tingling or numbness along the same line. Pain that stays across the beltline and buttocks, however severe, is usually mechanical back pain - a different problem with different treatment.
When does low back pain need an MRI?
When something about it suggests a nerve or structural problem: leg pain below the knee, numbness or weakness, symptoms persisting past several weeks of proper care, or any red flag such as trauma, fever, or bowel or bladder changes. Routine back pain without those features generally does not benefit from early imaging - findings like disc bulges are common in pain-free adults and can mislead.
Can back pain come from the sacroiliac joint rather than the spine?
Yes - the SI joint, where the spine meets the pelvis, is a well-documented source of one-sided pain just below the beltline, often flaring when rolling over in bed or standing from a chair. It is confirmed with examination maneuvers and, decisively, an image-guided diagnostic injection: if numbing the joint switches the pain off, the source is found.