The Low Back Pain Survival Guide

Nobody ever explained your back to you

Yours probably started small. A set of lunges in a class. A run that went longer than usual. Picking up a toddler who is heavier this month than last.

Nothing that felt like an injury. So you did the sensible thing and gave it a couple of weeks.

Then it changed. It stopped being a stiff morning and became a thing you plan around: how long you can sit, which chair, whether you can tie your shoes without a strategy.

And somewhere in there, somebody handed you a sheet of exercises without ever working out why your back was doing this. That is why the sheet did not hold.

What the guide is for

It is free. It is written by Trupti Mehta, PT, MS, OCS, a board-certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. And it is written for the questions people actually call this clinic with:

• Why does it hurt in my back but travel down my leg?
• Is this a disc, a joint, or a nerve?
• Should I be resting it or moving it?
• Do I need an MRI before anyone can help me?
• Why does it come back the moment I stop the exercises?
• How long does something like this actually take to fix?

It is information, given before we ask you for anything. That is deliberate. Read it, use it, and if it turns out you need hands on the problem, you already know how we think.

Sometimes the guide is where it starts

One of our reviewers found this clinic years ago by downloading our sciatica report. They came in for the free discovery visit, decided not to go ahead, and went back to trying to work it out alone.

They waited another four years. Long sitting through med school, then long days as a hospitalist, and the numbness down the leg got more and more constant. What brought them back was the reading: the guides kept arriving and eventually they called. The numbness and tingling are gone now.

We tell you that because it is honest. Downloading a guide is not treatment. But for a lot of people here, it is how they finally understood what they were dealing with.

You are the one who handles things yourself

You are reading a page about a free guide instead of booking an appointment, and we understand exactly why. You are the person who fixes things. You would rather understand a problem before you hand it to somebody else.

That instinct is a good one. It is also the reason you are four months, or four years, into a back problem that a proper assessment would have named in half an hour.

What waiting does to a back

“I didn’t make the decision to come see her until a year later, thinking that maybe I could heal myself and get rid of the pain on my own, but that didn’t work.” valeria d.

“Being that I am 29 y.o, I waited about 4 months thinking it will heal and go away. However, the pain was persistent and did not improve.” Theodore B.

Backs compensate. You start moving around the pain without noticing, and the compensation becomes an injury of its own. That is why so many of these stories end up being back, then hip, then hamstring.

How to get your copy

Call (202) 670-8874 and ask for the Low Back Pain Survival Guide, or email info@mmsspt.com and we will send it to you.

You can also use the form below. In the box that asks what is going on, tell us it is the guide you want, and we will get it to you. If you would rather just be seen, say that instead and we will book you the free Discovery Session.

Either way a real person handles it. Trupti calls you back herself.

Already know what you are dealing with?

Read how we treat low back pain, sciatica, herniated discs, or nerve pain.

Care is one-on-one with a licensed physical therapist, every visit, at 1725 I St NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006. Open Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM. No referral needed to start.