The Movement Doc of Texas
Low Back Pain Treatment in New Braunfels, TX
Most low back pain is not damage, and the scan usually does not explain it. What changes the outcome is finding what your back does tolerate and building from there.
- 90-minute first visit
- No referral to start
- Plan the same day
Disc bulges, degenerative changes, and facet arthritis show up routinely on the scans of people with no back pain whatsoever. That does not make your pain imaginary — it means the picture is a poor guide to what to do next. How your back behaves under specific positions and loads is a far better one.
What We See Most
Patterns that behave differently under testing.
Pain that is worst first thing and eases once you move. Pain that builds the longer you sit and disappears when you stand. Pain that arrives on the fifth rep of a deadlift and not the first. One-sided pain that travels into the buttock or down the leg. Pain after a specific lift that felt wrong at the time.
These respond to genuinely different things. The useful question is not what is torn, it is what makes it better and what makes it worse — which is something we can test in the room.
Frequently involved
- Mechanical low back pain and muscle guarding
- Disc-related pain and sciatica-type leg symptoms
- Facet joint irritation and extension-sensitive backs
- Sacroiliac joint pain
- Deadlift, clean, and lifting-related flare-ups
- Recurrent back pain that keeps returning
The Assessment
What a 90-minute first visit actually covers
Rule out what matters
A small number of back presentations need medical attention rather than physical therapy. Screening for those comes first, and if you are in that group we say so and help you get seen.
Find the direction
Repeated movements and sustained positions to find what reliably eases your symptoms and what provokes them. That direction becomes the backbone of the early plan.
Hips and mid-back
A hip that will not flex or rotate, or a mid-back that will not move, puts the demand somewhere — usually the segment that hurts.
Load it and watch
Hinging, carrying, and the lift that set it off. Technique, load, and fatigue all change what your back is being asked to do.
Treatment
Calm it down, then make it harder to provoke.
Early on, hands-on work earns its place because it buys you movement: joint mobilization for segments that will not move and dry needling for the guarding that comes with a painful back. Neither is the treatment on its own — they are what makes the next part possible.
The next part is graded loading. Backs get more durable by being asked to do progressively more, not by being protected. That means hinging and carrying again, at a load your back currently tolerates, climbing from there. It is less dramatic than the hands-on work and it is the reason the pain stops coming back.
Getting started
A 90-minute evaluation is $185. You leave knowing what your back responds to and what to do this week.
In-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield, out-of-network with superbills for other plans, HSA and FSA accepted. Details on the pricing page.
FAQs
Common questions
Should I get an MRI?
For most low back pain, early imaging does not improve outcomes and frequently finds changes that are present in pain-free people too. Imaging matters when there are specific signs that would change management. We screen for those at your evaluation and will tell you plainly if you are in that group.
Is it safe to deadlift with back pain?
Often yes, at a load and range your back currently tolerates. Avoiding hinging entirely tends to produce a back that is even less tolerant later. What changes early is usually load, range, and frequency rather than removing the movement.
What about pain going down my leg?
Leg symptoms are worth taking seriously and are still commonly managed well with physical therapy. What we watch is whether symptoms are moving toward the back and away from the foot over time, and whether strength is holding. Progressive weakness or numbness changes the plan and we refer.
Should I rest or keep moving?
Keep moving, within what you can tolerate. Extended bed rest makes outcomes worse for mechanical back pain. That is not the same as training through a hard flare — the plan is a reduced version of normal activity, not zero and not business as usual.
Do I need a referral for physical therapy in Texas?
Not to get started. Texas Direct Access lets you begin physical therapy without a physician referral for the first month of care. After that month a referral is required to continue, and we coordinate with your provider to get one.
Third flare-up this year?
Recurrence is the pattern worth treating, not just this episode. Start with a free 15-minute consultation, or book the evaluation.