Back Pain Physical Therapy in Chattanooga: What Actually Works?

Hey Chattanooga friends! If you’re an active adult struggling with stubborn back pain, you’re probably tired of treatments that just don’t cut it. I’m Dr. Chase Helgren, a physical therapist here in Chattanooga (in Hixson, inside Lift Gym), and I want to talk to you about what actually works for lasting back pain relief. You might be in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, living life to the fullest in our beautiful city – hiking Signal Mountain, paddling on the Tennessee River, or just chasing the kids around – until back pain slows you down. I get it, because I help people just like you every day. In fact, about 80% of us will suffer from back pain at some point in our lives (cornerstonephysio.com), and it can be incredibly frustrating when it keeps coming back no matter what you try. So, let’s chat about why that happens and how we do things differently at Bounceback Physical Therapy to finally fix your back pain.

Why Most Back Pain Treatments Fail
You’ve probably tried the usual stuff: rest and painkillers, heating pads, maybe even a quick chiropractic adjustment or some generic exercises from Dr. Google. They might help a little, but then… boom, the pain returns.  Why does this happen? In my experience, most back pain treatments fail because they only chase the symptoms instead of addressing the root cause. It’s like putting a band-aid on a leaky pipe – it might slow the drip, but it doesn’t fix the problem.
Here are a few common problems with symptom-focused back pain treatments:

• Quick but Temporary Relief: Taking pain meds or getting a shot might ease the pain for now, but if the real issue isn’t fixed, the pain will likely come back. It’s a short-term band-aid, not a solution.
  
  
  
• Masking the Real Issue: Pain is your body’s alarm system. Turning off the alarm without figuring out why it’s ringing is risky. (Covering your car’s “check engine” light doesn’t make the engine trouble go away!) If a treatment just numbs the pain but doesn’t find the cause, the underlying problem is still there – and potentially getting worse.
  
  
  
• One-Size-Fits-All Approach: The term “back pain” isn’t a real diagnosis (cornerstonephysio.com) – there are different types of back pain with different causes. Yet many clinics treat every back the same way. If all patients get the same exercises or the same 10-minute massage, it’s no wonder many don’t get better. A generic approach can miss what’s actually causing your pain.
  
  
  
• Unnecessary Next Steps: When quick fixes fail, people often end up considering invasive procedures like surgery or high-dose injections. In reality, a lot of those could be avoided. Research shows that for certain back conditions, quality physical therapy can work just as well as surgery – with far fewer complications (bouncebackchatt.com). Skipping straight to surgery or relying on pills can be overkill if the root cause hasn’t been properly addressed first.
  
  
  

It’s frustrating, I know. I’ve met so many patients from Chattanooga, Hixson, Red Bank, and Soddy Daisy who felt stuck with chronic back pain. They’d feel a bit better after resting or a round of standard PT, only for the pain to flare up again as soon as they tried to return to their normal active life. The good news? It doesn’t have to be that way. 
The Bounceback 3-Step Method: A Root-Cause Approach that DeliversAt Bounceback Physical Therapy, our whole philosophy is fixing the root cause of your pain so you can get lasting relief. I often say we don’t just treat your back – we treat you, the whole person. Our approach is personal, thorough, and completely one-on-one. We like to call it the “Bounceback Method,” and it’s a simple 3-step process:

1. Find the Real Cause of Your Pain: First, I start with a deep dive evaluation (we call it a Total Body Diagnostic). This isn’t your typical five-minute quick look. I’ll spend quality one-on-one time examining how you move from head to toe, asking about your history, your lifestyle, and really listening to your story. The goal here is to pinpoint exactly what’s causing your back pain. Sometimes the source is surprising – for example, I might discover your “bad back” is linked to a stiff hip or an old injury from years ago. This step is all about those “aha!” moments where we identify the root issues that others may have missed. By the end of your first session, you’ll know why your back is hurting (and that alone can be a huge relief, because you finally understand what’s going on).
   
   
   
2. Fix the Problem, Not Just the Symptoms: Once we know the why, we create a custom treatment plan to tackle it. No cookie-cutter handouts here – your plan is 100% tailored to you. In our one-on-one sessions, I work with you directly the whole time (you won’t be passed off to an aide or juggling time with three other patients). We use whatever techniques will best fix your problem areas. Often that means combining hands-on manual therapy with targeted exercises. The manual therapy part is a biggie – I use skilled hands-on techniques to ease tight joints and muscles, improve your mobility, and knock down your pain quickly. (Many clinics don’t spend much time on manual therapy, but I’ve found it’s key to speeding up recovery.) Along with that, we’ll do specific exercises to strengthen weak spots, improve flexibility, and correct any imbalances contributing to your pain. Because you have my undivided attention, I’ll make sure you do each movement correctly and safely. The result? You start feeling changes faster. Many of our clients see significant improvement within just the first few visits as their pain decreases and they start moving better – even after they’ve had pain for years with other treatments. 🎉
   
   
   
3. Stay at Peak Performance (Keep the Pain Gone): This is the “secret sauce” that makes sure your results last. Once your pain is down and you’re feeling good, we don’t just wave goodbye – we transition into prevention and performance mode. I help you reinforce healthy movement patterns and continue building strength in the right areas so your back stays resilient. The idea is to “bulletproof” your body against future flare-ups. We might fine-tune your lifting form, adjust your workstation setup, or add core exercises to your routine – whatever it takes to protect that back for the long haul. This step is especially important for active adults who want to keep hiking, golfing, running, or working out without setbacks. By addressing those lingering weak links (maybe it’s poor posture habits or tight hip flexors, etc.), we greatly reduce the chance of your back pain ever making a comeback. Our goal isn’t just to get you pain-free – it’s to empower you to move and live even better than before, with confidence.

Throughout each of these steps, you’ll always work one-on-one with me, a licensed physical therapist who truly cares. That one-on-one, hands-on care is our big differentiator. In our Hixson back pain clinic, you’re not just a number in a busy therapy gym. It’s just you and me, working together each session. I’ll adjust and progress your treatment as you improve, and you’ll never be left doing exercises by yourself while I treat someone else. This personal approach is how we consistently achieve faster, more effective results for our patients.

Now, you might be wondering: “Okay, Dr. Chase, that sounds great – but what exactly is the root cause of my back pain?” Excellent question! Let’s talk about the most common types of back pain I see in active adults and how we tackle each one.

Not All Back Pain Is the Same (3 Common Types We Treat)

Back pain can come from a lot of different issues. Part of my job is to figure out which type you have, because that guides the treatment. Here in our Chattanooga clinic I frequently see three main patterns:

• Lumbar Disc-Related Back Pain (Flexion Dominant Pain): This type is often tied to a bulging or herniated disc in the lower spine, and it tends to rear its ugly head when you sit or bend forward. Do you notice your pain gets worse with long drives, working at a desk, or picking up something heavy from the floor? That’s a classic sign of disc involvement – the disc pressure increases with sitting or bending, which can irritate nerves. You might even feel a sharp, radiating leg pain (aka sciatica) along with your back ache. People with lumbar disc pain often say they have intense back pain from sitting too long, and sometimes they feel tingling or numbness in a leg (cornerstonephysio.com). Coughing or sneezing might send a jolt of pain as well. The good news is disc-related pain is very treatable with the right approach. We typically use exercises that gently extend your spine (the opposite of all that forward bending) to centralize the pain, plus manual therapy to ease muscle spasm and improve movement. One of my patients, Emma, had this kind of pain for 14 years – she had a couple of degenerative discs causing chronic low back pain and sciatic pain down her right leg. She had tried everything from meds to chiropractic, but nothing gave lasting relief. After a thorough evaluation, we pinpointed the root cause (a combination of a disc bulge and poor core stability) and got to work. I used specific hands-on techniques to relieve pressure on her nerve, and we went through targeted exercises to strengthen her deep core and glutes. After just 3–4 visits, Emma experienced major improvement – her constant ache dropped to almost zero, and she could get through her day without that familiar pain stabbing her back. 🎉 Seeing her face light up when she realized she could live normally again after 14 years – that’s why I love what I do!
  
  
  
• Functional Hypermobility (Instability-Related Back Pain): This one is a little less known to the public, but I see it quite often, especially in flexible, active folks. Hypermobility means some of your joints move too much or lack the stability to stay in a happy, neutral position. I call it functional hypermobility because it might not show up on an MRI or X-ray, but functionally, your back is a bit unstable. What does it feel like? Usually, pain that gets worse when you stay in one position too long – for example, standing in one spot or sitting in the same posture makes your back start to ache or feel “locked up.” But when you move around, you feel better. People with this type of pain often say things like, “I have to keep fidgeting or changing positions, otherwise my back tightens up.” Unlike disc pain, which has clear patterns with bending, or stenosis (below) with standing, instability pain is more about lack of support. Essentially, some segments in your spine have too much give, so your muscles might spasm or ache if they have to hold one position. We often find this in younger adults or those with a history of repetitive lifting or even gymnasts/dancers who are very flexible. The key to fixing functional hypermobility is to stabilize and strengthen. In therapy, I focus on activating your core stabilizer muscles and sometimes your hip muscles, so they can better support your spine. We work on improving posture and body mechanics, and I might use gentle manual therapy to mobilize any areas above or below that are too stiff (because often, one area is too loose because another area is too tight – we balance them out). If you have that “restless back” that feels worse with inactivity and better with movement, we’ll likely be working on stability exercises and conditioning. The result is a spine that can comfortably handle staying in one position when you need it to (hello long work presentations or flights!), and one that can handle movement without “catching” or “giving out.”
  
  
  
• Lumbar Stenosis (Extension-Related Back Pain in Older Adults): If you’re in your 60s or beyond (or even late 50s), and you notice your back pain flares up when you stand or walk for too long, you might have lumbar spinal stenosis. Stenosis is basically a narrowing of the spinal canal or the nerve exit spaces in your lower back. When you stand upright or walk, that narrowing can pinch the nerves – leading to pain, fatigue, or even a heavy, tired feeling in your legs. Many folks with stenosis find that sitting down or bending forward (like leaning on a shopping cart) gives relief (mayoclinic.org). It’s classic to hear, “I can walk for about 5-10 minutes, but then I have to sit because my back (or legs) start hurting.” This type of back pain is more common as we age, because of wear-and-tear changes like arthritis and disc degeneration that crowd the spinal canal. But just because it’s common doesn’t mean you have to live with it. In physical therapy, the approach for stenosis is to create more space for those nerves and improve your endurance. We’ll do flexion-based exercises (basically the opposite of arching your back) to open up the spaces in your spine, plus stretches for tight areas like your hips that might be forcing your spine to overextend. Manual therapy can also help by improving the mobility of your spine and pelvis – I often use it to ease stiff joints and relax thickened tissues. We’ll work on improving your walking tolerance gradually: this might include treadmill or track walking with interval rests, posture adjustments, and strengthening your legs and core to support you better. With the right plan, I’ve seen even clients in their 70s go from hardly being able to stand 10 minutes to enjoying long walks along the Riverwalk again. It’s absolutely possible to manage stenosis and keep doing what you love. We just have to tailor the game plan to your condition.
  
  

Those are the big three back pain patterns I treat frequently: disc issues, instability, and stenosis. Of course, there are other causes of back pain (arthritis, muscle strains, etc.), but even those often fit into similar approaches once we assess you. The key point is: not all back pain is the same, so it shouldn’t be treated the same. When you get a personalized plan that targets your specific type of pain, you’ll get better results. That’s exactly what we do at Bounceback. Whether you’ve got nagging sciatica, chronic back pain from sitting at work, or aches that strike when you’re standing, my job is to figure out why and fix it.

Local Success Story: Emma’s Journey to a Pain-Free Back

I already mentioned Emma’s story earlier as an example, but I want to highlight it because it hits so many points we’ve talked about. Emma is a 44-year-old Chattanooga resident (North Shore area) who loves kayaking and yoga. She came to my clinic with a mind-blowing 14-year history of lower back pain. Over the years, she had been told she had degenerative discs and probably some arthritis. Her pain was a daily 3-4/10 ache and would spike to an 8/10 if she sat longer than 30 minutes or tried to lift anything heavier than a laundry basket. Long car rides were miserable, and she had basically given up on living an active lifestyle and going to the gym regularly with her husband. She’d tried a lot: pain medications (which upset her stomach), chiropractic adjustments (helped for a day or two, then pain returned), and even had plans to get injections (she ended up cancelling her injections because the therapy helped so quickly).

When I first met Emma, I could see she was skeptical. (Can’t blame her – after 14 years, I’d be skeptical too!) But we went through our 3-step Bounceback process. In her evaluation, I spotted a couple of key things: her core muscles were very weak (likely from years of pain and not moving normally), and she had a lot of stiffness in her mid-back and hips. This combo meant her lower back discs were taking on too much strain whenever she sat or bent – no wonder she was in pain. I explained to Emma that our plan would involve both manual therapy to relieve the disc pressure and improve her mobility, and targeted strengthening to support her spine better. After just one session of hands-on treatment and a few corrective exercises, she stood up and said, “Wow, I feel looser.” That was the first win. By her third visit, she reported being able to sit through an entire movie with only mild discomfort – huge progress! By visit four, she was essentially pain-free doing normal daily activities. We then spent a couple more sessions working on higher-level core stability and safe ways for her to return to the gym.

Today, Emma has started to go back to the gym regularly and plans to finally start to lose weight without pain holding her back. She told me the other day, “I honestly never thought I’d get rid of that pain. I wish I had found this approach years ago.” Her story is just one example, but it shows how even chronic, long-term back pain can turn around fast with the right approach. It’s not magic – it’s just about finding what’s been missed and addressing it with focused, one-on-one care.

(By the way, if you’re ever curious about more success stories like Emma’s, feel free to ask – I have plenty of local examples, from weekend warriors to retirees, who got back to living their lives pain-free. Seeing Chattanooga neighbors reclaim their active lifestyles is hands-down the best part of my job!)

Frequently Asked Questions about Back Pain PT

​Q: How long will it take until I feel relief?
A: This is understandably the #1 question on people’s minds. The answer varies for each person, but many of my patients feel some relief after the very first session. Because I use manual therapy and make adjustments in real-time, you often walk out feeling looser and less pain than when you came in. Significant improvements typically happen within the first few visits (for example, Emma saw big changes by her 3rd visit). That said, if you’ve had pain for years, we may need several weeks to fully resolve it – think of it as peeling back layers of an onion. I’ll be honest with you from the get-go about what to expect. But rest assured, you won’t be coming for 3 months with zero progress. We’ll be looking for some positive change within a couple sessions, and we’ll build on that momentum. My goal is to get you feeling and moving better as fast as possible, and then keep you that way.

Q: Do I need a doctor’s referral to come see you?
A: Nope! In Tennessee, you do not need a referral to start physical therapy. We have what’s called “direct access,” meaning you can come straight to me without seeing your physician first. This is great because it saves time and gets you on the road to recovery sooner rather than later. Of course, I’m happy to coordinate with your doctor if needed, and if we discover anything during your evaluation that warrants a physician’s opinion, I’ll guide you on next steps. But for most folks with back pain, you can literally just call us and book an appointment directly – no extra hoops to jump through. (And if you have insurance questions about this, I can help clarify those too.)
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Q: Will I really get one-on-one care each visit?
A: Absolutely, 100% yes. One-on-one care is a core value at Bounceback Physical Therapy. When you come in for your session, it’s your time. You’ll be working directly with me (Dr. Chase) for the entirety of each appointment. I don’t double-book patients, and I don’t hand you off to a technician while I bounce between rooms (a common practice at some larger clinics – but not here!). This means we can accomplish more in each session. I’m monitoring your form, adjusting exercises on the fly, and doing lots of manual, hands-on techniques as needed. Many patients tell me this focused attention is a game-changer compared to other experiences they’ve had. It also means faster results, because we can address issues immediately rather than wasting time. So yes, you will always have one-on-one treatment – that’s the only way I work. 

Ready to Finally Overcome Your Back Pain?
You deserve to live life without being limited by back pain. Imagine waking up with a smile because you’re not dreading that familiar ache, or being able to play with your kids, hit the gym, or explore Chattanooga’s trails without worrying about your back. That’s what I want for you, and it’s totally within reach.

If you’re in Chattanooga (or Hixson, Soddy Daisy, Red Bank, North Shore – anywhere in our area) and looking for physical therapy for back pain in Chattanooga that actually works, I invite you to come see what makes us different. Let’s get to the bottom of your pain and fix it together. 

Take the next step: Book a free discovery call with me, Dr. Chase Helgren. This is a no-obligation, 15-minute chat where we can talk about what you’re going through, I can answer any other questions, and we’ll see if we’re a good fit to help you. It’s basically a stress-free way for you to get advice from a back pain specialist (me!) and understand your options. To schedule your free discovery call, you can reach out here or visit our website to pick a time that works for you.

Don’t keep living with pain and hoping it will magically go away. Let’s be proactive and get you back to feeling great. I’m here to help you bounce back (see what I did there? 😉) and start moving freely again. I can’t wait to hear your story and help you write the next, pain-free chapter of your active life.
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– Dr. Chase Helgren, PT, DPT (Owner, Bounceback Physical Therapy in Chattanooga)
Ready to finally find relief? Book your Free Discovery Call today and let’s get you on the path to a stronger, pain-free back! https://www.bouncebackchatt.com/get-started.html

Book Your Free Discovery Call Today!