Should I go to a chiropractor for back pain?

Short answer: Seeing a chiropractor for back pain is a reasonable option. Clinical guidelines for low back pain include spinal manipulation among the options, alongside exercise and staying active. Many episodes settle with self-care alone, so a chiropractor makes most sense when pain keeps returning, isn't settling, or you want a thorough check and clear plan.

Is a chiropractor good for back pain?

Back pain is the most common reason people walk through our door, so it's a fair question to ask before you book. Here's what we can say honestly.

• It's a recognised option. Clinical guidelines for low back pain include spinal manipulation among the recommended options, alongside exercise, staying active and education about your back.
• It goes beyond the sore spot. Your spine is wired to your brain. We look at how your spine moves and how your nervous system controls it, then combine adjustments with movement and exercise.
• It suits some people more than others. Many people find hands-on care helps them move more comfortably while they get active again. Others prefer exercise-based care, and that's fine too.

Whatever is driving your back pain, a good chiropractor's job is to find it, explain it in plain English, and get you moving again.

It also helps to know what kind of back pain you have. Pain that stays in the low back behaves differently from pain that travels into the buttock or leg, which may involve an irritated nerve. If your pain runs down your leg, our page on sciatica explains more.

What does a chiropractor do for lower back pain?

A good chiropractor won't just crack your back and send you home. The process usually looks like this:

1. History. When it started, what makes it better or worse, your work, sleep, sport and past injuries.
2. Examination. Checking how your low back, pelvis and hips move, plus orthopaedic tests and a neurological check of sensation, reflexes and strength in your legs.
3. Imaging, only if needed. X-rays when your history and check point to them, not routinely.
4. Explanation. What's likely driving your pain, in plain English, and what your options are.
5. Care, if appropriate. This may include specific adjustments to the low back and pelvis, gentler table-based techniques, and exercises and advice for home.

At MPCC we also use a flexion-distraction table: a gentle, rhythmic, table-assisted technique for low back and disc problems. It's often used when someone has a disc bulge or leg pain.

Back pain, your brain and chiropractic

Chiropractic has a distinctive way of looking at back pain: through the nervous system. Your spine is a sensory organ, with deep muscles around each vertebra constantly reporting position and movement to your brain. After an injury, a run of pain or prolonged stress, the brain can change how it controls a low back segment. That segment moves less and sends less accurate information, and the loop can keep itself going. Chiropractors call this a vertebral subluxation.¹

Research is now testing this idea in people with long-term back pain. In a 2024 trial of 76 people with chronic low back pain, four weeks of chiropractic care was followed by changes in resting brain activity on EEG and in how the brain processed sensory input, along with lower pain scores and better light sleep.² A follow-up analysis found some brain network changes still present at four weeks, though its authors call the findings hypothesis-generating.³

It's one trial from one research group, so it's a promising lead rather than a settled answer, and it sits alongside the guideline evidence above rather than above it. For the fuller picture, read chiropractic and your nervous system.

Chiropractor for back pain: when it may suit you, and when it may not

If you're weighing up professions, our article on chiropractor, osteopath or physiotherapist compares them fairly. People can see whoever suits them.

What you can do for back pain right now

Whatever you decide, these steps help most people with everyday low back pain:

• Keep moving, gently. Short walks and normal activity usually beat bed rest. Ease off anything that sharply worsens it.
• Ice or heat. Whichever feels better for 15–20 minutes at a time. There's no single right answer.
• Change position often. If you sit for work, get up every 30–45 minutes, even for a minute.
• Gentle exercises. Movements like lumbar mobilisations and glute bridges may help, within a comfortable range.

If your low back hurts more when you sit, our article on why your lower back hurts when you sit explains why.

How we approach back pain at MPCC

Whether you bent over and it went this morning, or it's been nagging for years, the first job is the same: find out what's actually going on. Your new patient appointment takes 30–40 minutes and covers your story, posture pictures, and a thorough chiropractic, orthopaedic and neurological check. If your check points to X-rays, the imaging clinic we refer to bulk bills X-rays our chiropractors request.

At your report of findings appointment, we explain what we found and whether we can help. If we can't, we'll tell you straight. If we can, you'll know what care involves and what it costs before it starts. Whether you're adjusted on the first visit is up to the clinical judgement of your chiropractor. See our low back pain page for more on how we care for backs.

The new patient appointment is $195, or $125 booked online through our website (new practice members only, one per person). No referral needed.