Low Back Pain Is Common. Chronic Low Back Pain Doesn't Have to Be.
Low back pain is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal conditions in the world — affecting an estimated 80% of adults at some point in their lives and representing one of the leading causes of disability and missed work in the United States. Most episodes of acute low back pain resolve on their own within a few weeks. The problem is the significant percentage that doesn't — the pain that keeps coming back, that never fully resolves, or that progressively worsens despite treatment.
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For patients in that second category, the standard approach to low back pain care often falls short. A few adjustments, some stretches, a referral for imaging that shows "age-related changes," and a recommendation to manage with rest and anti-inflammatories. When that cycle repeats without resolution, it is usually not because the pain is untreatable. It is because the underlying driver hasn't been identified and addressed.
At Bray Chiropractic & Wellness in Glastonbury, low back pain is evaluated and treated as a clinical puzzle — not a complaint to be managed.
Why Low Back Pain Is Often Undertreated
Several factors contribute to low back pain becoming chronic or recurrent despite treatment:
Overreliance on imaging.
MRI and X-ray findings are frequently cited as explanations for low back pain — but research consistently demonstrates that structural findings like disc bulges, degenerative changes, and facet arthropathy are commonly present in people with no pain at all. Imaging provides important context but rarely tells the whole story. Treating the image rather than the patient is one of the most common reasons low back pain fails to resolve.
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Symptom treatment without root cause identification.
Adjustments, massage, and physical therapy can all reduce low back pain temporarily. But if the underlying movement dysfunction, load intolerance, neuromuscular inhibition, or contributing factors — including pelvic floor dysfunction — are never identified and addressed, the pain returns. Temporary relief is not the same as resolution.
Missed pelvic floor contribution.
The pelvic floor is directly connected to lumbar spine and sacropelvic mechanics. Pelvic floor hypertonicity, weakness, and coordination deficits are frequent contributors to chronic low back pain that go unidentified in standard chiropractic and physical therapy evaluations. For patients whose low back pain hasn't responded to conventional care, this is one of the most commonly overlooked pieces of the clinical picture.
Fragmented care.
When spine care, soft tissue work, and rehabilitation are handled by different providers without coordination, the full clinical picture is rarely assembled. Each provider treats their piece of the puzzle without connecting the dots.
Types of Low Back Pain Treated at Bray Chiropractic & Wellness
Low back pain is not a single condition — it is a category of presentations with different underlying drivers that require different clinical approaches. Common presentations treated at this practice include:
Mechanical low back pain
The most common category — pain driven by joint dysfunction, movement restriction, and soft tissue involvement in the lumbar spine, sacroiliac joints, and surrounding musculature. Responds well to chiropractic care, soft tissue therapy, and rehabilitative exercise when properly assessed and treated.
Discogenic low back pain
Pain originating from the intervertebral discs — including disc bulges, herniations, and disc-related nerve irritation. Often presents with referred pain into the buttock or leg. Requires careful assessment to identify the direction of movement that centralizes versus peripheralizes symptoms, and a treatment approach that respects discogenic loading principles.
Load intolerance
Pain that is consistently triggered by specific loading demands — sitting, standing, lifting, or sustained positions. Often involves a combination of tissue sensitivity, movement pattern dysfunction, and deconditioning that requires a progressive loading approach rather than rest and avoidance.
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
The sacroiliac joints — where the sacrum meets the pelvis — are a frequently overlooked source of low back and buttock pain. SI joint dysfunction is commonly misdiagnosed as lumbar disc pathology and often has a pelvic floor component that contributes to ongoing dysfunction. Learn more about SI Joint Dysfunction.
Low back pain with a pelvic floor component
For patients whose low back pain has not responded to standard chiropractic or physical therapy care, pelvic floor involvement is one of the most important factors to assess. The pelvic floor and lumbar spine work in close coordination — dysfunction in one system frequently affects the other. This is a clinical connection that most providers don't evaluate, and it is one of the areas where care at Bray Chiropractic & Wellness produces results that other approaches haven't. Learn more about Pelvic Floor Therapy.
How Low Back Pain Is Evaluated at This Practice
The assessment process at Bray Chiropractic & Wellness goes beyond the standard orthopedic evaluation. For low back pain specifically, the assessment includes:
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Detailed health history — including onset, duration, aggravating and relieving factors, prior treatments, and response to those treatments
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Full orthopedic and neurological examination — testing joint mobility, neurological integrity, and tissue sensitivity
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Functional movement screening — assessing how the lumbar spine and pelvis load and move under functional demands
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Soft tissue assessment — identifying myofascial contributors, trigger point activity, and tissue restrictions
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Pelvic floor screening — for patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain, assessing whether pelvic floor dysfunction is contributing
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Evaluation of contributing factors — including nutrition, lifestyle, and systemic inflammation when relevant to the clinical picture
The goal of the assessment is not to confirm a diagnosis that justifies a standard protocol. It is to build a complete clinical picture of what is driving the pain — so treatment can be directed at the actual cause rather than the symptom.
How Low Back Pain Is Treated at This Practice
Treatment at Bray Chiropractic & Wellness is individualized based on the assessment findings. For low back pain, treatment may include:
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Chiropractic adjustments for lumbar and sacropelvic joint dysfunction and mobility restoration
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Soft tissue therapy and orthopedic massage for myofascial contributions and tissue restrictions
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Dry needling for trigger point and neuromuscular components
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Pelvic floor assessment and rehabilitation when pelvic floor dysfunction is a contributing factor
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Rehabilitative exercise and movement retraining — addressing neuromuscular inhibition, movement pattern dysfunction, and progressive load tolerance
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Clinical nutrition guidance when systemic inflammation or lifestyle factors are contributing to pain persistence or delayed recovery
All treatment is delivered by Dr. Bray directly — the same provider who performed the assessment, every visit. Learn more about Chiropractic Care and Rehabilitative Exercise at this practice.
Low Back Pain and the Pelvic Floor — A Connection Most Providers Miss
For patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain that hasn't responded to standard care, pelvic floor dysfunction is one of the most commonly overlooked contributing factors. The pelvic floor is part of the deep core system — working in coordination with the diaphragm, transverse abdominis, and multifidus to support the lumbar spine and manage load transfer through the pelvis.
When the pelvic floor is hypertonic, weak, or poorly coordinated, this support system is compromised. The result is increased load on the passive structures of the lumbar spine — the discs, facet joints, and ligaments — which contributes to pain, instability, and poor response to conventional treatment.
This connection is well-supported in the clinical literature but rarely assessed in standard chiropractic or physical therapy practice. At Bray Chiropractic & Wellness, pelvic floor assessment is integrated into the evaluation of chronic low back pain as a routine part of the clinical process — not an afterthought.
Low Back Pain Treatment in Glastonbury, CT
Patients with acute, chronic, or recurrent low back pain in Glastonbury, South Glastonbury, Hebron, Marlborough, East Hartford, Manchester, and the surrounding Hartford County area will find a thorough, individualized approach to low back pain care at Bray Chiropractic & Wellness that goes beyond what most practices offer.
No referral is required. New patients can schedule directly online or by calling or texting (203) 303-4760. Bray Chiropractic & Wellness is in-network with Aetna, Anthem BCBS, Cigna (ASH), and CT Medicaid (Husky). Self-pay and HSA/FSA options are also available.