Low Back Pain, Arlington Texas
Low Back Pain: Nine Times Out Of Ten It Is Mechanical
The short answer
Around 90 percent of low back pain is mechanical, meaning it comes from how the joints, discs and muscles of the lower back are loading and moving rather than from disease. Fewer than 5 to 10 percent comes from specific spinal pathology. That is good news and it is also the whole point of an examination: to work out which group you are in, and to treat the mechanical problem rather than guess at it.
Read This First
The Small Number Of Cases That Are Not Mechanical
If You Notice Any of These Warning Signs, Please Seek Emergency Room Care Right Away.
These are the features that separate the 5 to 10 percent from everything else. They need a hospital the same day.
- New urinary retention, meaning you cannot pass urine, or loss of bowel control
- Saddle anesthesia, meaning numbness through the saddle area or inner thighs
- Sciatica down both legs, or weakness in both legs
- Neurological changes that are progressing day by day
- Fever, particularly after a recent spinal procedure or with a suppressed immune system
- Unexplained weight loss with a previous history of cancer
- Significant trauma, and any trauma at all if you are over 70 or have osteoporosis
If you are unsure, call 817-800-7136 and describe it. You will be told plainly where to go, and if it is not here you will be told that too.
Low Back Pain: Evaluation and Management. StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf (National Institutes of Health): names new urinary retention, bowel dysfunction, saddle anesthesia, bilateral sciatica, bilateral lower-extremity weakness, fever with recent spinal procedures or immunosuppression, unexplained weight loss with prior cancer history, progressive neurologic deficits, and significant trauma with age over 70 or osteoporosis.
Full text: Low Back Pain: Evaluation and Management.
How Common It Is
Almost Everyone, Eventually
Lifetime prevalence reaches 84 percent. Low back pain is not a sign that something has gone unusually wrong with you.
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf (National Institutes of Health): lifetime prevalence reaches 84 percent, up to 23 percent of adults worldwide experience chronic low back pain, and one-year recurrence rates range from 24 percent to 80 percent.
Full text: Low Back Pain: Evaluation and Management.
The recurrence figure is the one worth sitting with. Between a quarter and four fifths of people have another episode within a year. That is not a reason for alarm, and it is not a sales pitch for a lifetime of appointments either. It is the reason the useful question is not only how to settle this episode, but what about how you load and move made this episode likely.
Acute, subacute, chronic
Pain lasting under six weeks is classified as acute, and most acute episodes settle within several weeks. Beyond twelve weeks it is classified as chronic. Those are not just labels; they change what the sensible next step is, which is why how long it has been going on is one of the first questions you will be asked.
The Mechanism
What Mechanical Actually Means
Mechanical pain means the tissue generating it is doing a job it is not currently able to do. A segment of the lower back that has stopped moving properly shifts load onto its neighbours, and those neighbours complain. Muscles that should be sharing that load stop firing in the right order. The result is pain that changes with position, gets worse with a specific movement, and eases with another.
Pain that changes with what you do is the signature of a mechanical problem. Pain that ignores position entirely is the kind worth investigating differently.
This is where applied kinesiology earns its place. Dr. Monet is certified in it, and manual muscle testing lets her assess how your body responds under load rather than working backwards from the painful spot. The place it hurts and the place that gave way are often not the same, and in the lower back they frequently are not. Finding that out is the whole point of a proper examination, and it is a skill she trained for specifically.
Pain that stays in the back is this page. Pain that travels down the leg past the knee, with numbness, burning or pins and needles, is more likely to involve a nerve root, and that is sciatica. The two get confused constantly and they are not treated identically.
What Helps
Keep Moving, And Get It Examined
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf (National Institutes of Health): first-line management is early return to normal routines and patient education. Second-line options include NSAIDs, muscle relaxants, physical therapy, spinal manipulation, heat, acupuncture and massage.
Full text: Low Back Pain: Evaluation and Management.
Annals of Internal Medicine, 2017 (Qaseem et al.), American College of Physicians: the ACP guideline recommends non-drug treatment first, and names spinal manipulation among the recommended options for subacute and chronic low back pain.
Guideline: Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain, 166(7):514-530.
Notice what is first line in that list. Getting back to your normal routine and understanding what is happening come before any treatment at all. Prolonged bed rest is not on the list. That is worth knowing before you spend a week on the sofa waiting for it to pass.
You describe the pattern
What brought it on, how long it has been going on, what makes it worse and what eases it. Position-dependent pain tells a different story from constant pain.
An examination, including muscle testing
Movement, strength, reflexes and manual muscle testing, to find which segment and which muscles are not doing their job.
You get told what she found
In plain language, including the parts she is unsure about. If a finding calls for an image or a medical opinion, you get referred out.
Treatment, if it fits
Aimed at the mechanical problem behind the symptom. No promises about the outcome, no contract, and a straight answer if it is not working.
Two honest limits
There is no imaging in this building, so an X ray or MRI means a referral. And there are no walk-ins, so a visit has to be booked.
Common Questions
Low Back Pain, Asked And Answered
Is my back pain serious?
Usually not. The StatPearls reference hosted by the National Institutes of Health states that mechanical back pain comprises 90 percent of cases, and that fewer than 5 to 10 percent of presentations result from specific spinal pathology. The examination exists to identify which group you are in, and the red flags above are the features that matter.
How long should it take to settle?
Acute low back pain is classified as lasting less than six weeks, and most acute cases resolve within several weeks. Pain continuing beyond twelve weeks is classified as chronic and is worth examining rather than waiting out.
Should I rest or keep moving?
The reference names early return to normal routines and patient education as first-line management, and prolonged bed rest is not part of it. What that looks like for your specific case is a question the examination answers.
Is this the same as sciatica?
No. Sciatica is pain travelling along the sciatic nerve or an associated nerve root, usually past the knee and often with numbness or pins and needles. Pain that stays in the back is a different problem with different likely causes.
Do I need an X ray?
Usually not, and there is no imaging in this building either way. If your examination points at something that needs an image, you get referred for one rather than adjusted anyway.
Do you take walk-ins?
No. Every visit is booked. Call 817-800-7136 and describe what is happening, and you will be told whether this is the right clinic for it.
Sources
Where The Numbers On This Page Come From
- Low Back Pain: Evaluation and Management. Margetis K, et al. StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf, National Institutes of Health, last updated 13 December 2025. The 84 percent lifetime prevalence, the 23 percent chronic figure, the 24 to 80 percent one-year recurrence range, the 90 percent mechanical figure, the under 5 to 10 percent specific-pathology figure, the acute and chronic time classifications, the red flag features, and the management options.
- Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Qaseem A, Wilt TJ, McLean RM, Forciea MA, and the ACP Clinical Guidelines Committee. Annals of Internal Medicine, 4 April 2017, 166(7):514-530. PMID 28192789.
Get It Examined Properly
Call and describe what is happening, or book online and pick a time.
3825 W Green Oaks Blvd, Suite 710, Arlington, TX 76016. Appointments only.