LOW BACK PAIN CHIROPRACTOR · JACKSONVILLE, FL
Low back pain treatment that addresses the root cause of the pain.
You don’t have to keep planning your life around low back pain. We’ll find the structural cause and give you a clear path forward towards healing.
★★★★★
5.0 from nearly 200 Google reviews
Dr. Jon Dandridge · ~10 years helping Jacksonville move better
✓ Exam + X-rays included · ✓ Same-day adjustment if appropriate · ✓ Evening and Saturday hours
“Two weeks after I started getting adjusted, I woke up one morning and realised I didn’t wake up all throughout the night.” — Andrea, Beyond Bones patient
Watch: Low back pain stats, and why they matter
QUICK ANSWER
What causes low back pain, and can a chiropractor help?
Low back pain is one of the most common health complaints on earth and the leading cause of disability worldwide. About 619 million people were living with it in 2020, and that number is projected to reach 843 million by 2050 (GBD 2021, The Lancet Rheumatology, 2023). In my experience, the overwhelming majority of cases do not appear out of nowhere. They’re the result of consistent stress building up in the joints, discs and muscles of the low back over time. Although these day-to-day stressors may seem subtle, their effects can be massively detrimental once they begin to take hold.
Chiropractic care is one of the most widely recommended approaches. The American College of Physicians and the World Health Organization both list spinal manipulation (the adjustment chiropractors perform) among the non-drug treatments for low back pain. Your care starts with a thorough exam and X-rays (when indicated) so we can actually see the structural imbalance driving your pain. From there, we build a plan to correct the actual cause instead of chasing temporary symptomatic relief.
Written and reviewed by Dr. Jon Dandridge, DC · Last reviewed October 2026
“I was able to sit and work again, stand for much longer, and bend over without being in pain.” Jacksonville patient on life after back pain
5.0 stars from nearly 200 Google reviews
“Before I started coming here, life was very difficult. I couldn’t sit for long periods of time, I couldn’t sleep for long periods of time, constantly in pain aching with my lower spine and my hips.
Two weeks after I started getting adjusted, I woke up one morning and realised I didn’t wake up all throughout the night. I was able to sit a little bit longer, stand a little bit longer, and bend over without being in pain.”
Andrea
Patient of Beyond Bones Alignment Studio
★★★★★
Twenty years of back pain, gone in five weeks
“I’ve always had issues with my back, worked construction and a car accident 20 years ago made it worse nagging pain, [sciatica] and waking up stiff out of bed was something that no prescription would fix. Thanks to Jon on my first appointment I felt so much better and now after 5 weeks of therapy pain is gone. I can’t thank you enough.”
L. Cruz · Google review
★★★★★
X-rays that explained everything, and care that keeps me well
“I consulted with Dr. Jon due to severe lower back pain and was impressed with his care. He was extremely kind and provided a detailed explanation based on my X-ray exams (done at the clinic), which gave me a lot of confidence… After resolving the crisis, I have bi-weekly maintenance appointments, and this has greatly helped maintain my quality of life. I highly recommend Dr. Jon’s work!!”
Carla S. · Google review
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Low back pain keeps you avoiding the things you love.
We work tirelessly to keep you from becoming another statistic. You don’t have to be the parent who can’t get down on the floor to play with your seven-year-old, or the person sitting out the sports and activities that bring you joy. Those are the things that truly matter and what we want to get you back doing.
It can be easy to give in and believe that low back pain is “normal,” or to justify it because “everybody has it.” But common and normal are not the same thing. The fact that all your coworkers have back pain doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it too.
“If you’re tired of planning your day around your back, you’re not alone. In most cases we find pain to be the result of stress that has built up and accumulated over time, and unwinding that stress is exactly what we do very well.”
— Dr. Jon Dandridge
MEET YOUR GUIDE
A chiropractor who looks for the cause, not just the spot that hurts
Dr. Jon Dandridge, DC · Graduate of Sherman College of Chiropractic · Certified in the Syntropy Chiropractic technique
Dr. Jon has spent nearly a decade obsessed with delivering world-class chiropractic care to the Jacksonville community. Time and again, he has watched a balanced, healthy spine set the stage for remarkable changes in people’s health, and he has seen that regular chiropractic care is an irreplaceable piece of the puzzle.
He knows what it’s like to ask a lot of your body. Dr. Jon played NCAA Division I and professional baseball, and he credits chiropractic with keeping him healthy enough to make that career possible.
He believes there’s no better investment than building your body’s resilience and ability to adapt to the stresses of life. Every goal you have flows downstream from a strong, healthy body and a fully connected body and mind.
Care in English, Spanish and PortugueseLeads Raiz da Cura, a nonprofit running chiropractic mission trips across South AmericaFormer NCAA Division I and professional baseball player
~10 years
serving the Jacksonville community
★ 5.0
from nearly 200 Google reviews
10,000+
patients served
Why healthy joints are the key to a body that feels and moves with ease
When you make chiropractic a regular part of your wellness strategy, you move better, hurt less and get more out of life. We see it in our practice every day, and it comes down to how your joints are built and how they connect to your nervous system.
Every joint in your spine, from those in your low back and pelvis to your neck, is built similarly and communicates with your nervous system constantly. When joints stop moving well, they stiffen, irritate nearby nerves and joint tissue, and degenerate faster, ultimately disrupting your brain’s connection to your body. Low back pain, sciatica, neck pain and headaches can all be consequences of this process. Our job is to restore healthy motion and balance to those joints so your body can do what it’s designed to do: heal and thrive.
Joints need motion to stay healthy
In animal studies, spinal joints that were held still developed degenerative changes that grew the longer they were immobilized (Cramer et al., 2004). In people, joint cartilage thins when normal movement is lost (Vanwanseele et al., 2002).
Your joints communicate with your brain
Research suggests adjustments change the signals your spinal joints and muscles send to your nervous system, which can influence muscle control and how you feel pain (Pickar, 2002).
Regular care avoids the crisis
In a randomized trial, people with recurring back pain on consistent chiropractic maintenance care had about 13 fewer days of bothersome back pain over a year than those who came in only when it hurt (Eklund et al., 2018).
A simple 3-step approach towards a healthier spine
A structural solution to a structural problem. Here’s exactly what happens when you book.
2. Develop the Plan
We analyze your images together to develop a clear understanding of the problem and the path forward.
Life without
back pain
1. Discovery Session
A complete consultation including X-rays to visualize the structural imbalance behind the pain.
3. Remove the Interference
Begin a 4–6 week care plan designed to peel back the layers of stress causing the pain. Time and consistency is how we win.
1. Discovery Session
A complete consultation including X-rays to visualize the structural imbalance behind the pain.
2. Develop the Plan
We analyze your images together to develop a clear understanding of the problem and the path forward.
3. Remove the Interference
Begin a 4–6 week care plan designed to peel back the layers of stress causing the pain. Time and consistency is how we win.
Life without back pain
No long-term contract required to get started
What your low back pain treatment looks like at Beyond Bones
A thorough exam and X-rays, so you finally know what’s causing your pain
Your care starts with a comprehensive exam, including images of your spine, so you can see its structural integrity for yourself. It’s usually very clear where the imbalances are, and once you can see the problem, the path to fixing it becomes clear too.
Maybe you’ve already had images taken somewhere else and been told “everything is OK,” yet you still hurt. After analyzing thousands of spines, Dr. Jon will show you that the details really matter. Not having a fracture, dislocation or other severe pathology doesn’t mean everything is OK. Spinal health is a spectrum, and any shift away from ideal structure eventually affects how you feel and function. You’ll leave your first visit knowing what’s going on and what to do about it.
Chiropractic adjustments that restore health and balance to the spine
Your back pain is very often a structural imbalance at its root: joints that aren’t moving the way they should, and a spine accumulating more stress than it can adapt to. We call that state subluxation, and it keeps your nervous system under stress, which eventually leads to symptoms. What we know to be true is that a structural problem requires a structural solution.
Each adjustment improves the motion and integrity of your joints. With time and consistency, your joints become healthier, stronger and more resilient to everyday stress, and as your structure improves, your symptoms tend to fade. Think of each adjustment as a reset that moves your body from a state of stress toward a state of ease. You’ll feel the difference.
Watch: How chiropractic helps with disc herniations
Watch: Everything you need to know about degenerative disc disease
Results that compound, and strategies that keep back pain from coming back
Your goal shouldn’t be a one-time fix, because the stresses of life never take a day off! The truth is that if you want to feel your best, regular maintenance is absolutely necessary. Ongoing adjustments keep your spine in balance and ready to adapt to whatever life throws at you. Throughout your journey in our office you’ll get specific exercises and simple habit recommendations, like small tweaks to your sleep posture and workstation setup, that speed up your healing and help you keep your results.
3 simple tests to narrow down the cause of your low back pain
Watch: 3 tests for your lower back
These three simple tests can help you start narrowing down where your low back pain is coming from. Remember, they’re clues, individual pieces of a larger puzzle, not a diagnosis.
Try each one gently and stop if anything feels sharp or wrong. If you want real certainty, book an initial visit and we’ll find the cause together.
1. Valsalva maneuver
Tests for potential disc herniations or bulges.
Read more
- Sit upright in a chair.
- Take a deep breath and hold it.
- Bear down as if you’re straining to blow up a balloon, and hold for 2–3 seconds. Stop right away if you feel dizzy or lightheaded.
Positive: your low back pain returns or worsens, sometimes shooting down a leg. This can point to increased pressure inside the spinal canal, often from a bulging or herniated disc pressing on a nerve.
Negative: nothing changes.
2. Slump test
Checks for tension or pressure on the nerves.
Read more
- Sit on the edge of a bed or chair, hands clasped behind your back, feet flat on the floor.
- Slump forward, rounding your lower and mid back, and drop your chin toward your chest.
- Straighten one knee so that leg lifts out in front of you.
- Pull the toes of that foot up toward your shin, then lift your head back up.
Positive: pain, pulling or tingling down the back of your leg that eases when you raise your head. This can point to nerve root involvement: pressure on the nerve, not necessarily damage.
Negative: nothing changes.
3. Kemp’s test
Checks the small joints connecting each of your vertebrae together.
Read more
- Stand relaxed and balanced, feet shoulder-width apart, hands on your waist.
- Lean back to extend your low back, then rotate and bend toward one side, as if looking behind that shoulder.
- Return to center and repeat toward the other side.
Positive: (A) pain in your low back can point to facet joint irritation; (B) pain radiating into your hip or down one leg can point to nerve root pressure or disc involvement.
Negative: nothing changes.
Chiropractic research and low back pain
- The American College of Physicians recommends spinal manipulation (the adjustment chiropractors perform) as one of the first non-drug treatments to consider for acute, subacute and chronic low back pain (Qaseem et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, 2017).
- The World Health Organization’s 2023 guideline on chronic low back pain lists spinal manipulation (the adjustment chiropractors perform) among its recommended non-surgical treatments (WHO, 2023).
- A 2024 review of 33 international clinical guidelines found that 90% of their recommendations on spinal manipulation (the adjustment chiropractors perform) for low back pain were in favor (Trager et al., Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2024).
- Across 15 trials, spinal manipulation (the adjustment chiropractors perform) for acute low back pain led to modest improvements in pain and function, about the same size of benefit as anti-inflammatory medication (Paige et al., JAMA, 2017).
- For chronic low back pain, spinal manipulation (the adjustment chiropractors perform) produced effects similar to other guideline-recommended treatments (Rubinstein et al., BMJ, 2019).
- In a trial of US service members, adding chiropractic care to usual medical care led to greater short-term improvements in pain and disability than medical care alone (Goertz et al., JAMA Network Open, 2018).
Where your back pain goes from here is up to you
Option 1: Wait it out
If you keep waiting
- Acute back pain can turn chronic, more painful, and more difficult to correct
- Potentially more pills and injections that chase the symptom
- Another year of saying no to things you love
Option 2: Fix the cause
When you fix the structure
- Less pain! Sit through a drive, a meeting or a movie without feeling like screaming
- Get down on the floor and play with your kids again
- Get back to the activities that you love!
What causes low back pain?
There are many causes of low back pain, and most tie back to daily habits, lifestyle, and an inability to adapt to the stresses of life. Your spine is built to move, bend, load and adapt, not to hold a single fixed position for eight or ten hours a day. In our experience, as more people have shifted into sedentary work and lifestyles, low back pain has climbed right along with it. These are the causes we see most often.
Bulged or herniated disc
A disc pushes out of place and irritates nearby nerves.
Read more
Your spine is made up of 24 small, moveable bones called vertebrae, with cushioning discs between them. Those discs give your spine flexibility and create space for nerves to exit and travel throughout your body. Discs are softer than bone, and they’re vulnerable to degeneration and dehydration, which can push them out of their proper position.
When part of a disc pushes into the space normally reserved for the nerves in your lower (lumbar) spine, it’s called a disc bulge or herniation. That bulge can irritate nearby nerves and cause low back pain that sometimes radiates down the leg. These symptoms are worth investigating early: the sooner you act, the better your odds of getting ahead of the pain. Disc injury care →
Degenerative disc disease
Discs wear down over time, narrowing the space for your nerves.
Read more
Degenerative disc disease (DDD) is a condition in which the discs between your vertebrae gradually break down. One of a disc’s main jobs is to keep the spine mobile and hold open the space where the spinal nerves exit. As the disc shrinks, that opening narrows, placing pressure on the nerves and producing symptoms in the lower back and legs.
DDD is more common with age, but your habits have real influence over it at any age: smoking, excess weight and work that’s hard on the spine can all contribute, and reducing those stressors helps slow the process. DDD can be slowed or even stopped, but damage that has already happened is much harder to reverse, which is another reason to start caring for your spine as early as you can.
Sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction
The joints where your spine meets your pelvis get stressed or restricted.
Read more
The SI joints sit where the pelvis meets the sacrum, the triangular bone at the base of your spine. They don’t move much, but they play a big role in how you walk, run and squat. Research estimates that SI joint problems are behind roughly 15–30% of chronic low back pain that doesn’t travel down the leg (Cohen et al., Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2013).
Just like the other joints of the spine, excessive stress or trauma will eventually lead to pain and dysfunction if your body can’t adapt to it. Keeping your spine and pelvis moving well is your best defense.
Subluxation (spinal misalignment)
Joints lose proper motion and stress builds in the nervous system.
Read more
In many cases, low back pain traces back to subluxation, the core problem chiropractic is designed to correct. Joints lose proper motion, structural imbalance follows, and stress builds in the nervous system. That pressure can drive a variety of symptoms, including low back pain.
Subluxation is closely tied to the other causes on this list. When the joints of the spine lose their ability to move fluidly, the joints and discs tend to degenerate faster, which can create a vicious cycle of pain. Specific chiropractic adjustments are the direct answer: a structural solution to a structural problem. Spinal alignment →
Sedentary lifestyle
Long hours of sitting weaken the muscles and joints that support your back.
Read more
Hours of sitting keep your hips bent, your glutes switched off and your low back holding one position for long stretches. Over months and years, the muscles that support your spine lose strength and the joints don’t get the movement they need to stay healthy.
Lifestyle matters on a large scale too. The Global Burden of Disease study estimated that about 39% of the disability caused by low back pain worldwide is linked to three factors: work-related exposures, smoking and excess body weight (GBD 2021, The Lancet Rheumatology, 2023). The encouraging part is that you can decide to change these at any time.
Sciatica
When back pain travels down the leg, the sciatic nerve may be involved.
Read more
Sometimes low back pain doesn’t stay in the low back. When a disc, joint or muscle irritates the sciatic nerve, pain can travel through the buttock and down the back of the leg, often with tingling or numbness. That’s sciatica, and it shares many of the same structural roots as low back pain. Sciatica care →
What you can do today
- Schedule your initial exam so you know exactly what’s causing your pain and get a clear plan to fix it. This is the most important step you can take today.
- Sleep on your back with a pillow under your knees, or on your side with a pillow between your knees.
- Break up sitting every 30–45 minutes with a short walk, and set your screen at eye level with your feet flat on the floor.
- Gentle movement: lower trunk rotations, pelvic circles (think hula hoop), hanging knee to chest, and the “cat cow” position in yoga.
- Heat or ice for 15–20 minutes, whichever feels better.
When to see a doctor right away
Go to the ER if low back pain comes with:
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Numbness in the groin or inner thighs
- Complete and sudden loss of strength in your leg(s)
- Severe pain after a serious fall or accident
Your low back pain questions, answered
Does chiropractic work for low back pain?
Absolutely. The American College of Physicians and the World Health Organization both include spinal manipulation (the adjustment chiropractors perform) among the recommended non-drug treatments for low back pain, and a 2024 review found that 90% of guideline recommendations on spinal manipulation for low back pain were in favor. Research shows meaningful improvements in pain and function on average. Our focus is restoring healthy joint motion and balance so those improvements last.
When should I be worried about lower back pain?
Any pain deserves your attention, but if yours has stuck around consistently for more than a few days, it’s time to do something about it. Symptoms are a signal from your body to take action! Acting early is the fastest route back to the quality of life you want. If back pain comes with loss of bladder or bowel control, numbness in the groin, sudden leg weakness or fever, go to the ER.
How do I know if my back pain is serious?
Anything beyond the ordinary muscle soreness that follows a hard workout is worth looking into. Low back pain has many possible causes, and identifying yours, and its solution, is one of the most important steps toward feeling great again.
What causes lower back pain?
There are many causes of low back pain, and most tie back to daily habits, lifestyle, and an inability to adapt to the stresses of life. Common causes include bulged or herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, subluxation and long hours of sitting. To get clear on what’s causing yours, we start with a thorough evaluation.
How can you tell if your spine is out of alignment?
Sometimes you’ll feel it, and sometimes you won’t. A spine that has shifted out of balance can show up in the form of many kinds of symptoms and at different levels of severity. It’s also possible to notice nothing at all. Just as cavities aren’t always felt as they start to develop, we may not feel our spine deteriorating. That’s exactly why a professional evaluation is so valuable.
Can my back pain get better on its own?
It depends on what “getting better” means to you. Some people only care about not feeling pain. Others want their body to function at its best and are willing to put in the work while it heals more deeply. Those two people manage their health very differently. My recommendation: if you’re not happy with how you feel or function, don’t wait around. Get help, and you’ll experience far better results than if you do nothing.
Will I need X-rays?
X-rays are an important part of our examination. They let us see the underlying structural reason you’re experiencing pain and dysfunction, and they help us set clear expectations for your healing process.
Do I need a referral to see a chiropractor?
No, no referral is necessary.
Related conditions we treat: Sciatica · Disc injury · Hip pain · Spinal subluxation · Back pain
Stop planning your day around back pain
You deserve a back that keeps up with your life. Your first step is one visit.
- Find the structural cause with a full exam and X-rays
- A clear plan, explained in plain English
- Relief without drugs or surgery
★★★★★
5.0 from nearly 200 Google reviews
NEW PATIENT OFFER
$79 $289
Consultation, exam, X-rays and same-day adjustment if appropriate. 🦃 Give Thanks for Health Promo 🦃. Offer ends November 30.
Beyond Bones Alignment Studio
2511 Myra St, Jacksonville, FL 32204
Tue & Thu 8am–8pm · Sat 9am–12pm
(904) 701-0099
Sources
- Ferreira ML, de Luca K, et al. Global, regional, and national burden of low back pain, 1990–2020, its attributable risk factors, and projections to 2050: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet Rheumatol. 2023;5(6):e316-e329. DOI
- Qaseem A, Wilt TJ, McLean RM, Forciea MA. Noninvasive treatments for acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166(7):514-530. PubMed
- World Health Organization. WHO guideline for non-surgical management of chronic primary low back pain in adults in primary and community care settings. Geneva: WHO; 2023. WHO
- Trager RJ, Bejarano G, Perfecto RPT, Blackwood ER, Goertz CM. Chiropractic and spinal manipulation: a review of research trends, evidence gaps, and guideline recommendations. J Clin Med. 2024;13(19):5668. PubMed
- Paige NM, et al. Association of spinal manipulative therapy with clinical benefit and harm for acute low back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2017;317(14):1451-1460. PubMed
- Rubinstein SM, et al. Benefits and harms of spinal manipulative therapy for the treatment of chronic low back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2019;364:l689. BMJ
- Goertz CM, Long CR, Vining RD, Pohlman KA, Walter J, Coulter I. Effect of usual medical care plus chiropractic care vs usual medical care alone on pain and disability among US service members with low back pain: a comparative effectiveness clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(1):e180105. DOI
- Cohen SP, Chen Y, Neufeld NJ. Sacroiliac joint pain: a comprehensive review of epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment. Expert Rev Neurother. 2013;13(1):99-116. DOI
- Eklund A, et al. The Nordic Maintenance Care program: effectiveness of chiropractic maintenance care versus symptom-guided treatment for recurrent and persistent low back pain. PLoS One. 2018;13(9):e0203029. PubMed
- Cramer GD, et al. Degenerative changes following spinal fixation in a small animal model. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2004;27(3):141-154. PubMed
- Vanwanseele B, et al. Knee cartilage of spinal cord-injured patients displays progressive thinning in the absence of normal joint loading and movement. Arthritis Rheum. 2002;46(8):2073-2078. PubMed
- Pickar JG. Neurophysiological effects of spinal manipulation. Spine J. 2002;2(5):357-371. PubMed