Your Back Is
Stronger Than
You've Been Told.
Maybe it seizes up halfway up a trail. Maybe it aches through a pickleball match, or by two o'clock at your desk. You've probably been handed a sheet of stretches and told to take it easy. I built my practice around back pain because it's the thing I most like helping with, and "take it easy" is usually the worst advice you'll get.
Does This Sound Like You?
Most of the backs I see belong to one of two people. Both got told to rest and see how it goes.
It Shows Up When You Push
You hike, you ride, you ski, you play pickleball. You're active everywhere except the one thing that scares you, and your back keeps showing up when you push it. You're tired of stopping short and sitting seasons out.
- Pain flares on long hikes or bike rides
- Morning stiffness that takes an hour to shake
- Nerve pain or tightness shooting down the leg
- Nervous to push hard because your back might "go out"
- Missing seasons, events, and activities you love
The Desk Day Swallows Everything
You sit for hours and by midday your back is aching. By evening it's cranky enough that the gym plan goes out the window. Stretching, massage, and ibuprofen help for a day, then it's back.
- Can't sit through meetings without constantly shifting
- Sharp pain when you stand up after sitting
- Tried massage, chiro, or PT, and it helped for about a week
- Back pain affecting your sleep, focus, and mood
- Can't do the things you want after work because you're drained
Why Your Back Pain Keeps Coming Back
Here's the thing with backs. Most of what gets done to them calms the sore spot and changes nothing else.
The Sore Spot Usually Isn't the Whole Story
Stress has to go somewhere. If your hips or your mid back aren't doing their share, your low back picks up the slack, and eventually it gets angry about it. Generally speaking, we spread the load out instead of beating up the same spot.
You Got Treated for the Pain, Then Sent Home
Ice, massage, and a sheet of stretches feel good for a day. If nothing changes in how you move, how much your back can handle, or the eight hours you spend sitting, it comes back. That's not you failing. That's the plan stopping too early.
Nobody Told You What's Safe
Rest or keep moving? Stretch or get stronger? Push or back off? Without a straight answer you start protecting it, and you do less and less. Doing nothing gets nothing, and a back that never gets loaded never gets stronger.
Whatever Yours Got Called
The label on your back matters less than you'd think. It rarely changes the plan. Here's what people usually walk in with, and what we do about it.
Disc Bulges & Herniations
Sharp pain or numbness that runs down the leg. Discs are like the wear and tear in a pillowcase. Almost everyone over forty has some, and most of them don't hurt. We settle it down, then load it back up a little at a time.
Sciatica & Nerve Pain
Burning, lightning-bolt, or tingling down the leg. Everyone calls anything down the leg sciatica, and honestly it's a garbage term. We figure out whether it's actually nerve stuff or just pain that travels, because the plan is different.
SI Joint & Stiff Back Joints
One-spot pain, stiffness, or clicking low in the back or around the pelvis. Hands-on work gets it moving, then strength work keeps it that way. This one usually turns around faster than people expect.
Strains & "My Back Went Out"
The sudden one. The muscle is protecting you right now and it's saying don't use me. We coax it back with easy movement, then build enough strength that the next tweak is a bad day, not a bad month.
Spinal Stenosis
Pain, heaviness, or tired legs with walking or standing. It's a normal finding for a lot of people over sixty, and it's workable. We find what you can do, keep you walking, and get your legs strong enough to carry more of the load.
The Desk Back
Back pain from sitting the same way for eight hours. Your back likes to move and hates being stuck in one spot. We fix the desk setup, add movement snacks through the day, and get you strong enough that sitting stops being a problem.
Rehab Built Around Your Life
I want to know your job, your sport, what you're scared to do, and what you'd do this weekend if your back let you. Then we build the plan around that, and you keep doing as much as you possibly can while we work on it.
Been through his own back injury. Deadlifts again.
Your Path Back to Strong
Four steps. You always know which one you're on.
Free Consult Call
Thirty minutes. You tell me what's going on and what you want back. I tell you straight whether I can help, and what the first step would look like.
The Blueprint
A full hour. Some questions, a movement exam, a few numbers on what your back can handle today. Then we sit down and I tell you what I think it's going to take.
The Plan
You leave knowing what's probably going on, what we're doing about it, and roughly how long. Most people work with me about twelve weeks, because getting out of pain is only the first part.
Back to Your Life
Back on the trail. Back on the court. Back at your desk without dreading two o'clock. We don't stop when the pain quiets down. We stop when your back handles more than it did before this started.
People Who Got Their Backs Back
In their words, from Google.
Frequently Asked
The ones I get asked on almost every call.
How long until I see results?
Most people feel a difference in the first 2 to 4 sessions. No guarantee on that, because it depends on how long it's been going on and what's driving it. You'll get a realistic timeline after the first hour, so there are no surprises.
Do I need an MRI or X-ray before starting?
No. Almost every image of someone over forty looks abnormal, and only about half of those people have any pain. So the scan is just information, and it rarely changes the plan. What I find in the room tells me more. If something does need a scan, I'll say so and point you to the right person.
Can I keep exercising and staying active during treatment?
Usually yes, and I'd rather you did. Runners don't quit running and lifters don't quit lifting. You'll get guardrails: what's green, what to modify, and what to skip for a hot minute. If you're doing nothing, you're probably getting nothing.
How is this different from PT I've tried before?
A lot of back rehab gets stuck in what I call rehab purgatory. You do the easy stuff for months, nobody pushes you, and you slowly do less and less. Here it's a full hour, one on one with me, and it gets harder on purpose, because getting stronger is the part most rehab skips.
Do you accept insurance?
I don't formally take insurance, and that's what lets me spend a full hour with you. Most people use HSA or FSA money, and I can give you a superbill to send to your plan. No promises on what they pay back, but it can help.
What if I've had back pain for years and nothing has worked?
Years of back pain is really common, and it's usually not that nothing works. It's that the plan stopped at "the pain's down, good luck." I've worked with people who've had it for 5, 10, and 20 years. It takes longer and it's a little annoying, but most of them got somewhere they didn't think they could.
What if I don't live in Bend?
Then we do it over video. You film your lifts, I send feedback back, we talk once a month, and your program lives in the app. It works really well for lifters. The whole thing is laid out on the remote rehab for back pain page.
Start Small.
Prove It Wrong.
Book a free 30-minute consult call. You tell me what's going on with your back, I tell you straight whether I can help. Worst case you leave with a clear answer.