Understand What May Be Contributing to Your Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain can make it difficult to work, exercise, sleep, sit comfortably, or keep up with everyday activities. At Godo Chiropractic, your evaluation is designed to identify the mechanical, postural, muscular, and movement-related factors that may be contributing to your symptoms.
Dr. Jason Godo is a chiropractic physician and registered nurse with more than 23 years of clinical experience. He evaluates your health history, symptoms, posture, movement, joint function, muscle function, and neurological findings when clinically appropriate.
The goal is not to assume that every patient has the same problem. It is to determine what may be affecting you, whether chiropractic care is appropriate, and what the safest next step should be.
Godo Chiropractic is located in Lakeview and serves patients from Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville, Northalsted, Roscoe Village, Uptown, River North, and surrounding Chicago neighborhoods.
Do These Lower Back Pain Symptoms Sound Familiar?
Patients commonly seek an evaluation for symptoms such as:
- Pain or stiffness after sitting for long periods
- Lower back pain when standing up from a chair
- Morning stiffness or discomfort getting out of bed
- Pain when bending, lifting, twisting, or reaching
- Muscle tightness or spasms in the lower back
- Difficulty exercising or completing household tasks
- Pain after prolonged standing, driving, or computer work
- Recurring episodes that improve temporarily but keep returning
- Discomfort affecting sleep, work, exercise, or normal movement
Lower back pain is a symptom rather than a single diagnosis. Two people can experience pain in the same area for very different reasons, which is why an individualized examination matters.
Can Chiropractic Care Help Lower Back Pain?
Chiropractic care may be appropriate when lower back pain is influenced by joint restriction, mechanical irritation, muscle tension, reduced mobility, postural stress, or movement dysfunction.
Your evaluation helps determine whether these factors appear to be involved and whether chiropractic treatment is a reasonable option. Care is not recommended automatically. If your examination suggests that imaging, medical evaluation, or referral is more appropriate, Dr. Godo will explain that recommendation.
Depending on your findings, care may include:
- Chiropractic treatment adapted to your condition and comfort
- Joint mobility and manual therapy techniques
- Soft-tissue treatment
- Applied Kinesiology and manual muscle testing when appropriate
- Posture and movement recommendations
- Stretching, mobility, or strengthening guidance
- Advice about sitting, sleeping, lifting, and daily activities
- Coordination with another healthcare provider when appropriate
No treatment works the same way for every patient. Recommendations depend on the suspected source of your pain, examination findings, symptom severity, overall health, and response to care.
$29 AI-Assisted Posture & Pain Assessment
The first step is understanding what may be contributing to your symptoms. Your $29 assessment combines a clinical evaluation by Dr. Godo with technology that helps illustrate posture and movement patterns.
Your assessment may include:
- Consultation with Dr. Godo
- Review of your symptoms and health history
- AI-assisted posture and pain assessment
- Movement and functional evaluation
- Lower-back, pelvic, and hip range-of-motion testing
- Evaluation of relevant joint and muscle patterns
- Orthopedic and neurological testing when appropriate
- Discussion of findings
- Personalized recommendations and next steps
Treatment may begin during the same visit when the examination indicates that chiropractic care is appropriate. Treatment is separate from the $29 assessment unless specifically stated.
Schedule Your $29 AssessmentWhy Patients Choose This Assessment
Many patients have already tried rest, stretching, massage, medications, exercise programs, or temporary activity changes. Those approaches may provide relief, but symptoms can return when the contributing factors have not been clearly identified.
If this pattern sounds familiar, learn more about why pain may keep coming back even after temporary relief .
This assessment is intended to help you:
- Better understand what may be contributing to your pain
- Identify positions or movements that reproduce your symptoms
- Evaluate whether posture or movement patterns may be increasing mechanical stress
- Distinguish lower back pain from symptoms that may involve the sciatic nerve
- Determine whether chiropractic care may be appropriate
- Receive practical recommendations based on your individual findings
- Understand when additional testing or referral may be necessary
Three Common Patterns Associated With Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain can involve several structures and contributing factors at the same time. These are three common mechanical patterns Dr. Godo evaluates.
Joint Restriction & Reduced Mobility
Restricted movement in the joints of the lower back, pelvis, or hips can change how forces are distributed during sitting, standing, bending, walking, and lifting. This may contribute to stiffness, soreness, or recurring pain.
Disc or Surrounding Tissue Irritation
Spinal discs and surrounding tissues can become sensitive after repetitive strain, prolonged sitting, lifting, bending, or injury. Certain positions may increase discomfort while others may temporarily reduce it.
Disc-related pain does not automatically mean surgery is required. The appropriate next step depends on your symptoms, examination findings, neurological status, and overall clinical presentation.
Movement & Compensation Patterns
Your body adapts to previous injuries, limited mobility, muscle imbalance, work demands, exercise habits, and repetitive daily movements. Compensation in the hips, pelvis, upper back, or lower extremities may increase mechanical stress on the lower back.
The evaluation looks beyond the location of the pain to understand how your body is moving as a whole.
Lower Back Pain or Sciatica?
Lower back pain and sciatica can occur together, but they are not the same condition.
Lower back pain may remain primarily in the lumbar region. Sciatica more commonly involves pain, burning, tingling, numbness, or weakness that travels from the lower back or buttock into the leg.
Not every case of leg pain is sciatica, and not every patient with lower back pain has nerve involvement. Your examination helps determine which tissues or structures may be contributing.
Experiencing symptoms that travel into your hip, buttock, leg, or foot? Learn more about our sciatica chiropractor in Chicago evaluation.
If you are experiencing tingling, numbness, or weakness in the leg or foot, read more about how sciatica can cause numbness or weakness .
How Dr. Godo Evaluates Lower Back Pain
Your evaluation begins with a detailed discussion of your symptoms and how they affect your work, exercise, sleep, and daily activities.
Dr. Godo may evaluate:
- When and how your symptoms began
- Where the pain is located and whether it travels
- Positions or activities that improve or aggravate the pain
- Previous injuries, treatment, or diagnostic imaging
- Posture and movement patterns
- Lower-back, pelvic, and hip mobility
- Muscle strength, flexibility, and coordination
- Joint and soft-tissue findings
- Reflexes, sensation, or neurological function when indicated
- Movements that reproduce or reduce your symptoms
These findings are used to determine whether chiropractic care appears appropriate and to develop recommendations specific to your condition.
Do You Need an X-Ray or MRI?
Not every patient with lower back pain needs imaging before beginning conservative care. Imaging decisions should be based on your history, symptoms, examination findings, trauma, neurological changes, and other clinical concerns.
Dr. Godo may recommend imaging or referral when it is necessary to clarify the diagnosis, investigate a possible underlying condition, or ensure that treatment can be provided safely.
For general information about back-pain evaluation and treatment, you can also review information from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
What Happens During Your First Appointment?
Discuss Your Symptoms
Dr. Godo reviews when the pain began, what aggravates or relieves it, previous injuries, treatments, imaging, work demands, exercise, and relevant health history.
Complete the Examination
Your examination may include posture, movement, joint mobility, muscle function, orthopedic testing, neurological testing, and AI-assisted postural analysis.
Review the Findings
Dr. Godo explains what appears to be contributing to your pain and whether chiropractic treatment is appropriate.
Begin Care When Appropriate
Treatment may begin during the same appointment when the examination indicates that conservative chiropractic care is safe and appropriate.
Why Choose Godo Chiropractic for Lower Back Pain?
- More than 23 years of clinical experience
- Every evaluation performed directly by Dr. Jason Godo
- Every treatment performed directly by Dr. Godo
- No handoff to therapy aides or provider assistants
- AI-assisted posture and pain assessment
- Applied Kinesiology and manual muscle testing when appropriate
- Orthopedic and neurological testing when indicated
- Evaluation of the lower back, pelvis, hips, muscles, posture, and movement
- Chiropractic and manual therapy in the same visit
- Corrective exercise and mobility recommendations when appropriate
- Convenient Lakeview Chicago location
If you are comparing providers, our guide explains what to look for when choosing a chiropractor in Chicago .
When Lower Back Pain Needs Urgent Medical Evaluation
Most lower back pain is not a medical emergency, but certain symptoms require prompt medical assessment rather than routine chiropractic treatment.
Seek urgent medical evaluation for symptoms such as:
- New loss of bowel or bladder control
- Numbness in the saddle or groin area
- Rapidly progressing leg weakness
- Severe or progressive neurological loss
- Significant recent trauma
- Suspected fracture
- Fever or signs of significant infection
- History or concern for cancer or tumor
- Unexplained severe or rapidly worsening pain
Dr. Godo may also recommend imaging or referral when examination findings indicate that additional medical evaluation is appropriate.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chiropractic for Back Pain
Can a chiropractor help lower back pain?
Chiropractic care may be appropriate for some cases of lower back pain involving mechanical, muscular, joint, postural, or movement-related factors. An examination is necessary to determine whether conservative treatment is appropriate for your condition.
Do I need an X-ray or MRI before seeing a chiropractor?
Not every patient needs imaging before beginning conservative care. Imaging may be recommended when your history, examination, neurological findings, trauma, or other clinical concerns indicate that additional information is necessary.
Do you treat both acute and chronic lower back pain?
Yes. Dr. Godo evaluates both recently developed and long-standing lower back pain, provided that the examination indicates chiropractic care is appropriate.
Can chiropractic help a herniated or bulging disc?
Some patients with diagnosed disc problems may be appropriate candidates for conservative chiropractic care. Recommendations depend on symptoms, neurological findings, examination results, imaging when available, and the patient's overall clinical presentation.
How do I know if my pain is sciatica?
Sciatica commonly involves pain, burning, tingling, numbness, or weakness traveling from the lower back or buttock into the leg. An examination helps distinguish sciatic nerve involvement from other causes of back, hip, or leg pain.
Does the $29 assessment include treatment?
The $29 assessment includes consultation, examination, AI-assisted posture and pain assessment, and discussion of findings and recommendations. Treatment is separate unless specifically stated.
Can treatment begin during the first visit?
Treatment may begin during the same appointment when Dr. Godo's examination indicates that conservative chiropractic care is safe and appropriate.
Are same-day appointments available?
Same-day appointments may be available depending on the office schedule. Call (773) 525-0007 for current availability.
Back Pain Chiropractor Near You in Lakeview Chicago
Godo Chiropractic is located at 3118 N. Sheffield Avenue, Unit 1S, Chicago, Illinois 60657.
We provide lower back pain chiropractic care for patients from:
- Lakeview
- Lincoln Park
- Wrigleyville
- Northalsted
- Roscoe Village
- Uptown
- River North
- Other Chicago neighborhoods
Schedule Your $29 Back Pain Assessment
Whether your lower back pain started recently or has been returning for months, the first step is identifying what may be contributing to the problem.
Schedule online or call Godo Chiropractic with questions about your symptoms.
3118 N. Sheffield Avenue, Unit 1S
Chicago, IL 60657
Individual results vary. Information on this page is educational and is not a substitute for individualized medical evaluation, diagnosis, or emergency care.
