“Dr. Bergin at Chiromed Wellness Centers is the best chiropractor in town. I no longer have to take pain meds. If you still have pain, you’re not seeing to best chiropractor.”
Condition
Back Pain treatment
in Lakeland and The Villages, FL
Back pain that keeps returning is usually a mechanical problem, not a mystery. We examine the spine, show you the findings, then build a plan that does not start with surgery.
- 22 years in practice
- Doctor of Chiropractic led
- No surgery, no injections
- $47 new patient exam
- 22 years in practice
- $47 new-patient exam
Medically reviewed by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC Updated September 14, 2026
Quick summary
Most back pain is mechanical, which means it comes from the discs, joints, muscles and ligaments of the spine rather than from a disease. That is also why it answers to care that unloads the spine and restores movement. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC examines your back, explains the findings in plain language, then builds a non-surgical plan at the Lakeland or Lady Lake office.
Understanding back pain
Back pain is pain arising from the structures of the spine and the soft tissue around it. In most people it is mechanical rather than disease driven, meaning a specific joint, disc or muscle is carrying a load it cannot tolerate, and that load can usually be changed.
The lumbar spine carries your body weight through five vertebrae, the discs between them and a pair of small facet joints at every level. Below that sits the sacroiliac joint, where the spine meets the pelvis. Each of those has a nerve supply, so each can hurt. What separates a back that settles from one that keeps flaring is load. A thinning disc changes how the facet joints behave. A hip that will not extend pushes work into the lower back. Pain is the last symptom to appear and the first to leave, which is why people feel better long before the mechanics change, then flare three weeks later. A scan alone rarely settles it. Plenty of people carry disc bulges with no symptoms. The finding that counts is the one that reproduces your pain on examination.
You have probably been told to rest it, stretch it, take something for it and wait. Maybe an imaging report came back with words nobody explained. Maybe someone mentioned surgery and the room went quiet. That is the point most people arrive at ChiroMed Wellness Centers. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC has spent 22 years with backs that other offices called a muscle problem, and his first job is finding which structure is actually generating the pain. A disc behaves differently from a facet joint. A sacroiliac joint behaves differently again. The examination sorts that out before anyone treats you. What follows is a written plan you see before care starts. Adjusting, computer guided decompression, soft tissue work and prenatal care sit under one roof and on one schedule, on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland and at Lady Lake for The Villages. No surgery. No injections. No open ended course with no end point in it.
Independent background: Back pain causes, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
Symptoms
Most people recognise their own version somewhere in this list. Each one maps to a specific finding the examination checks for.
- A deep ache across the low back
- Pain that worsens after sitting
- Stiffness on getting out of bed
- A catch or lock with bending
- Pain spreading into the buttock
- Difficulty standing for long
- Muscle spasm along the spine
- Pain on lifting or twisting
- Relief from changing position
Common causes
Disc degeneration and disc bulge
Discs lose water and height with age and load, which changes how the joints above and below behave. The disc itself can also bulge and irritate nearby tissue.
Facet joint irritation
The paired joints at the back of each level take extra load when a disc thins. They produce a local, one sided ache that is worse on leaning back.
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
A pelvic joint moving too much or too little refers pain into the buttock and the back of the thigh. Common after pregnancy and after a fall.
Muscle strain and overload
A bad lift, a long drive or an unfamiliar Saturday job strains the muscles stabilising the spine. The spasm that follows is protective and painful in itself.
Spinal stenosis
Narrowing of the canal or the nerve exits hurts more on standing and walking and eases on sitting or leaning forward. It becomes more common with age.
Pregnancy related change
Ligament laxity, a shifting centre of gravity and a widening pelvis change how the lower back is loaded, mostly in the second and third trimester.
How we treat back pain in Lakeland and The Villages
We treat back pain by taking load off the painful structure and restoring the movement that was lost. Depending on the examination that means chiropractic adjusting, computer guided spinal decompression, soft tissue therapy, prenatal care, or a combination of them in one written plan.
Spinal Decompression for a Loaded Disc
When the examination points at the disc, decompression addresses it directly. The table applies controlled, cycling traction to one spinal level so the disc is unloaded rather than compressed. It is quiet and painless, and Dr. Bergin sets the level and angle from your findings rather than from a preset.
Chiropractic Adjusting for Stiff Spinal Joints
A joint that has stopped moving recruits the muscles around it into constant guarding. Adjusting restores that motion so the guarding switches off. This is the part of the plan that bills insurance, with benefits verified before your first visit.
Soft Tissue Work for Guarded Muscle
Active Release Technique and Graston instrument work address the thickened, adhered tissue that builds around a back painful for months. It is often what keeps an adjustment holding from one visit to the next.
Prenatal Care for Pregnancy Related Back Pain
Back and pelvic pain in pregnancy has a mechanical cause and mechanical answers. Positioning and technique are adapted as the pregnancy progresses, trimester by trimester.
What recovery usually looks like
Settling the pain The first stretch of care
The goal is calming the painful structure and getting movement back. Mornings usually change first. Flare ups still happen here and are expected.
Changing the load As the plan progresses
Care shifts from settling pain to changing what produced it. Visits space out as gains hold, measured against your original findings rather than the mood of the day.
Maintenance After the active plan
A small number of planned check visits to protect the result, not an open ended schedule. It is discussed openly and it is your choice.
If nothing changes The honest checkpoint
A back that has not moved by the agreed reassessment is telling us something. That is the visit where the plan changes or you are referred on.
When to seek care sooner
What to try at home first. For a back sore a few days with none of the warning signs below, keep moving. Short, frequent walks beat bed rest, which stiffens the spine and weakens the muscles supporting it. Change position every twenty minutes if you sit for work. Use heat for tightness and cold for a fresh strain, whichever gives more relief. Avoid the single movement that reproduces the sharpest pain rather than avoiding everything. If it has not started improving in a couple of weeks, get it examined. See someone urgently if you develop a change in bowel or bladder control, numbness across the saddle area between your legs, leg weakness that is worsening, fever alongside back pain, unexplained weight loss, or back pain following a significant fall or crash. Those need same day medical assessment, not a chiropractic appointment, and we will say so if you call us with them.
Red-flag findings belong with a physician, promptly, and not with conservative care alone.
Cost, insurance and financing
What back care costs depends on what the examination finds, not on a package chosen in advance. The one figure we state plainly is the new patient offer. The rest is quoted in writing at the report of findings.
The one published price
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47
What moves the cost
- Whether imaging is needed to settle the diagnosis
- Whether the plan adds a device protocol to adjusting
- How long the back has been painful
- Visit frequency, which falls as the plan progresses
What a course includes
- The examination and the report of findings
- Digital X-rays where they change the plan
- Reassessment at the agreed checkpoints
Payment: Chiropractic care at ChiroMed bills insurance, and our team verifies your benefits before your first visit. The decompression protocol is a self-pay program, quoted in writing before it starts. Payment plans are available for self-pay care. Ask the front desk which plan fits your course of care.
Who you would be seeing
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC has been in practice 22 years and treats the back personally, from examination through to reassessment. His own history with chronic pain and scoliosis is why this practice rejects the rushed-appointment model: you get the time it takes to be examined properly and to have the findings explained until they make sense. The philosophy fits in one line. Find the structure generating the pain, change what is loading it, stay honest about what care can and cannot do.
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC, 22 years in practice, performs the examination personally and explains the findings before any program starts. Lakeland: 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, Lakeland. The Villages market office: 929 US-441 #404, Lady Lake. Both offices run the same program.
Getting to us
The Lakeland office at 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13 sits on South Florida Avenue near the Polk Parkway, an easy drive from Highland City, Christina, Grasslands, Scott Lake and the Southgate and Lakeside Village side of town. Many of these Polk County backs belong to people still working, still lifting, still driving for a living. Lady Lake, at 929 US-441 #404 just north of CR 466, serves The Villages, Summerfield, Fruitland Park, Oxford, Wildwood and Leesburg across Lake, Sumter and Marion counties. Those backs want to keep gardening and keep getting in and out of a golf cart without planning the movement first.
Browse every condition on the conditions we treat index.
Options compared, honestly
This is treated very differently depending on who you walk in to see. Here is the full set, including the options this practice does not provide.
| Criteria | Our approachSpinal decompression | Chiropractic adjustment | Soft tissue therapy | Physical therapy | Prescription pain medication | Epidural or nerve root injection | Fusion or discectomy surgery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Cycling traction that unloads one disc level | Hands-on restoration of movement at a stiff joint | Manual and instrument work on adhered tissue | A supervised strengthening program | Drugs aimed at the pain signal, not the mechanics | An image guided steroid injection near a nerve root | Surgery to remove disc material or fuse a segment |
| Typically considered when | The source looks discogenic and adjusting alone has not been enough | Joints are not moving and muscles are guarding | Movement returns on the table then goes again | Strength is the limiting factor, not joint motion | Pain is blocking sleep in the short term | Severe nerve pain has not moved with conservative care | Imaging confirms a surgical lesion or strength is being lost |
| Invasive? | No | No | No | No | No | Minimally | Yes |
| Offered at ChiroMed? | Yes. Self-pay, quoted in writing first | Yes. Billed to insurance | Yes. Delivered alongside adjusting | Not performed here. Right when graded strengthening is the main need | Not performed here. We do not prescribe | Not performed here. Reasonable before rehabilitation can start | Not performed here. Some backs need a surgeon and we refer |
The options we do not sell sit on this table on purpose. If your examination says the answer is an injection or an operation, you should hear it at the first visit, not after twelve weeks of care.
What to expect
From evaluation to a plan for your back pain
A course, not a single visit. The examination decides the length and the cost, and both are written down first.
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01Evaluation
Orthopedic and neurological testing, with imaging on site where it changes the plan.
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02Findings, in plain language
What the examination actually found, and honestly whether this is a case conservative care can help at all.
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03A written program
Which disciplines, how many visits, over what period, and what it costs. Decided before anything begins.
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04Reassessment as it runs
Function is re-measured through the course. If the response says the plan should change, it changes.
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Find out what is actually driving it before choosing a program.
“I have had sich a great experience seeing Dr. Bergin. When other offices have told me I just had muscle damage or the only thing they could do for me was give shots, he said he had others ways to manage my pain and numbness, along with improving mobility. And he was right! I feel so much better!”
“I have had pain in my right upper back quadrant by my shoulder blade for at least a year now and the doctors have been unsuccessful in making the pain go away. I came to Dr. Bergin looking for some help. Within 3 to 4 weeks. My pain in that area is completely gone.”
“Dr. Bergin is phenomenal. Chronic lower back issues led a different doctor to mention back surgery to me. That was not an option I wanted to entertain. After a consult with Dr. B, he was confident that he could help resolve my back issues. I’ve been seeing him weekly to resolve the issue, and I am so pleased with the results so far! More mobility, less pain, and a great customer experience.”
“I bless the day that Dr. Bergin started working on me. I have had long standing pain for so long. After just a few visits my pain left and I feel so good. He is very patient oriented and caring. I regard him highly.”
“Dr. Bergin was instrumental in relieving my back pain which I had for many years. The techniques he used on relieving my back pain were impressive. I been going to chiropractors for years and Dr. Bergin is the best.”
Get in touch
Schedule your back pain evaluation
Tell us what you are feeling and which office is closer. A member of the ChiroMed team follows up within one business day.
- 1
Send the form
Two minutes. Tell us what hurts and which office is closer.
- 2
We call you back
A real person, within one business day, to find a time that works.
- 3
Exam and answers
History, orthopedic and neurological testing, imaging on site when it changes the plan.
- $47 consultation, exam, X-rays if needed and report of findings
- Payment plans available on the self-pay programs
- 4.8 out of 5 from 225 Google reviews
- Choose Lakeland or The Villages on the form
Back Pain questions
Tap a message for the honest answer. Call Lakeland (863) 940-3444
What is a red flag in chiropractic?
A red flag is a finding that means the problem is not mechanical and needs medical assessment instead: loss of bowel or bladder control, saddle numbness, worsening leg weakness, fever with back pain, unexplained weight loss, a cancer history. Dr. Bergin screens for all of them at the first examination and refers rather than treats when one appears.
the clinic teamWhat is the average cost of a chiropractic adjustment in Florida?
It varies so widely by office, region and insurance that a single published figure means little. Ours we can state: the consultation, exam, X-rays if needed and report of findings is $47, chiropractic care bills insurance with benefits verified first, and any self-pay program is quoted in writing before it begins.
the clinic teamCan a chiropractor fix a pinched nerve?
Often, when the nerve is irritated by something mechanical such as a narrowed opening, a bulging disc or a joint that has stopped moving. Care aims at taking pressure off the nerve and restoring movement around it. A nerve losing strength rather than simply hurting is a different situation and gets referred.
the clinic teamWhy do doctors discourage chiropractors?
Some do, and many no longer do. The friction was historically about training and scope, and it fades where a chiropractor screens properly, documents findings and refers when a case is not mechanical. Ask any provider how they decide a case is not theirs. That answer tells you more than any certificate on the wall.
the clinic teamHow do you know if your spine needs to be decompressed?
The pattern pointing at the disc is pain worse on sitting, worse bending forward, worse first thing in the morning, often travelling into the buttock or leg. The examination confirms it by reproducing your pain with disc loading tests. Imaging is used when it would change the plan, not by default.
the clinic teamDoes spinal decompression actually work?
For the right case it is a reasonable non-surgical option, and the mechanism is simple: cycling traction unloads a targeted disc level. It does not suit every back, and honest candidacy is what separates a program that helps from one that disappoints. If your examination does not point at the disc, you will not be put on the table.
the clinic teamSame-week appointments
Start with an examination, not a package.
Find out what is actually driving it before choosing a program.
- 4.8 out of 5 on Google
- $47 consultation, exam and report
- 22 years in practice
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47