The spine can shift out of alignment (Subluxation) from any of the above-mentioned traumas, stressors or activities. Subluxation interferes with the nerves - the messages that travel from your brain to the rest of your body so that your body struggles to heal itself.

Pain can be the way your body is telling you it has subluxation / is out of alignment. Subluxations can occur in other areas of the spine too like your neck and your mid-back.​

When the spine is subluxated or misaligned and remains uncorrected, spinal degeneration can occur. The discs, the spacers between vertebrae, become compressed and the spinal bones themselves deteriorate with rough edges and spurs. This degeneration then puts even more pressure on the nerves which can cause (even more) low back pain.​

If spinal degeneration remains uncorrected, the pressure on the jelly-like middle of the discs can cause it to ‘herniate’ or ‘rupture’, pressing on the sensitive nerves around the spine. When the disc herniates at L4/5 it can press on the sciatic nerve causing buttock, thigh, leg or even foot pain.​

A defect or fracture of one or both wing-shaped parts of a vertebra that can cause the vertebrae to slip forward over the bone below. Typically it occurs at L5 and can cause a dull, gnawing ache in your low back and aching legs especially when you stand still for a long time.

A health condition that weakens bones, making them fragile and more likely to break. It develops slowly over several years and is often only diagnosed when a fall or sudden impact causes a bone to break (fracture).​

A narrowing of the spine space around the spinal cord, typically the result of osteoarthritis/ degeneration and puts pressure on the spinal cord causing chronic low back pain.​

An abnormal, sideways curvature of the spine, especially when left to degenerate, can cause chronic back pain and disability.