Hey everybody, its Dr. Brian here at Beyond Bones. And today we’re going to take a look at three simple tests that you can do at home, that are going to give you some ideas about what might be causing your low back pain. And remember, these are just three small parts of the overall picture, they’re going to give you clues about what may be going on. But a thorough diagnosis obviously, would require a much more complete checkup and examination.
The way I’ll do these three tests is first I’ll show the test, then I’ll explain what a negative result is. And negative result is good news. That means that this problem isn’t what’s causing your pain. The third thing we’ll go over is the positive result, what you would feel that would make it positive, meaning that this may be causing your pain. And the last thing I’ll do is let you know what part of your spine may be causing the pain.
Alright, the first one is called the forward bend test, and it’s just like it sounds, you’re just face straight ahead with your feet shoulder width apart, facing roughly forward and very, very simply just pull forward toward the ground. That’s the polar bend test. With that test, and negative result is that your pain doesn’t appear or it doesn’t get worse. That means we’re all clear. A positive result means that the pain increases or travels further down the leg. That’s a positive finding for disc irritation, nerve root irritation, or for set joint irritation, the forward bend test.
The second test is called the quadrant test. And for this one, you’ll stand again feet the same position shoulder width apart, hands up on your waist, you’ll extend your spine back and then rotate to one side. And then you do the other side. With this test, and negative result is no increase or sudden appearance of the pain that you’ve been feeling. A positive test can be in one of two things with a positive test, you may feel some pain at your low back or at your hip area. That’s an indication of basset joint problems, you may also feel instead pain going down your leg that indicates that the nerve root may be involved.
In the final test, you’re gonna be sitting down, you can do this in a chair or on the bed or on your chiropractic adjusting table if you like. And with this one, you’ll sit nice straight posture, put your hands behind your back, tuck your chin to your chest and slumped forward. This is called the slump test. Once in this position, you’ll dorsi flex one foot, that means you’ll bring your toes that they’re that they’re pointing up toward the ceiling, and then you’ll extend that leg. Most people are gonna feel a pull at the back of their knee at some point for me, it starts right here. Once you feel that pull, that’s okay, that’s normal. But once you feel that pull, then look up toward the ceiling and negative results with that test. indicating that this isn’t the cause of the problem would be if your pain didn’t change character at all. A positive result would be when you look up toward the ceiling, the pain in your lower back goes away. That’s a very, very clear sign with that one, they almost always indicates that there’s some pressure on the nerves. Some irritation, not necessarily nerve damage, but some nerve pressure certainly, probably caused by subluxation.
Now remember, all three of those tests are simple and easy and straightforward. You can do them at home. But know to get a complete picture of your case, check in and see if we can help and how we can help. Obviously, a full and complete examination is necessary, but go at it. Have a good time start to figure out what’s causing that low back pain.