Conditions we treat

What’s going on, in plain English

For each condition: what it actually is, how we treat it at Range, and what recovery tends to look like. No scare tactics, no jargon — and no promises we can’t examine you first to make.

Low back pain

The single most common reason people walk through our door — and one of the most treatable.

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What it is

Most low back pain is mechanical: joints, discs, and muscles that are irritated, stiff, or deconditioned — not damaged for life. It shows up as morning stiffness, a twinge when you lift or twist, or a deep ache after sitting. Serious causes are rare, and screening for them is the first thing your exam covers.

How we treat it

After the assessment, most plans combine hands-on care from Dr. Ruiz — adjustment or gentler joint mobilization plus soft-tissue work — with a progressive strength program from Marcus targeting the hips, core, and the specific movements that currently set you off. You’ll have exercises from week one; relief and rebuilding run in parallel, not in sequence.

What recovery looks like

Many recent flare-ups settle substantially within 2–6 weeks of starting care. Longer-standing pain usually needs a longer runway — typically 8–12 visits with re-testing along the way. Either way you graduate with a home program, and if you’re not measurably better on schedule, we change course or refer you for imaging or a physician consult. Individual results vary.

Neck pain + whiplash

From tech neck to fender-benders. Auto-injury (MedPay) billing handled in-house.

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What it is

Neck pain usually comes from irritated joints and overworked muscles that have stopped moving through their full range — whether from long hours at a screen, an awkward night’s sleep, or the rapid whip of a rear-end collision. Whiplash deserves special respect: symptoms often arrive days after the accident and stiffen further the longer they wait.

How we treat it

Gentle first. We restore joint motion with mobilization or adjustment as appropriate for your exam — never forced, always your choice — release the guarded muscle tone with soft-tissue work, then retrain the deep neck stabilizers that switch off after injury. Desk workers get workstation coaching; collision cases get careful documentation for the insurance claim.

What recovery looks like

Everyday neck pain often improves noticeably within a handful of visits. Whiplash recovery is more individual — weeks to a few months is common — and early, active care is consistently associated with better outcomes than resting in a collar. We track your rotation in degrees, so progress is visible on paper. Individual results vary.

Sciatica + nerve pain

Leg pain that starts in the back. The exam finds the source before anyone treats it.

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What it is

“Sciatica” means the sciatic nerve is being irritated somewhere along its path — commonly by a bulging disc or a narrowed passage in the low back — sending pain, tingling, or numbness into the buttock and down the leg. The leg is where it hurts; the back is usually where it starts. Pinpointing that source is what your first visit is for.

How we treat it

Treatment aims to take pressure off the nerve and calm its irritation: directional exercises that centralize the leg pain, careful manual therapy for the low back and hips, nerve-glide work, and a graded return to bending and lifting. We monitor red flags — progressive weakness or changes in bowel or bladder control mean an immediate medical referral, and we say so on day one.

What recovery looks like

Most disc-related sciatica improves with conservative care over 6–12 weeks, and a good early sign is the pain retreating up the leg toward the back. We coordinate with physicians when imaging or injections are worth discussing, so you’re never stuck choosing between camps. Individual results vary.

Sports injuries

Runners, climbers, lifters, and rec-leaguers — rehab built around your sport.

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What it is

Fort Collins trains hard, and tissue keeps score: runner’s knee, Achilles and rotator-cuff tendinopathy, tennis elbow, ankle sprains, and muscle strains. Most are overuse injuries — load rising faster than the tissue could adapt — rather than something “torn” that needs rest forever.

How we treat it

Rest alone rarely fixes an overuse injury; the tissue has to be rebuilt to tolerate your sport. Marcus programs progressive loading specific to the injured tissue, we clear the joint and soft-tissue restrictions feeding the problem, and we look upstream at mechanics — a cranky knee often traces to the hip or ankle. You keep training around the injury whenever it’s safe to.

What recovery looks like

Sprains and strains usually rebuild over 4–8 weeks; tendon problems reward patience, often 8–12 weeks of graded loading. Before discharge you’ll pass return-to-sport tests — hop, strength, and control benchmarks — instead of guessing whether you’re ready. Individual results vary.

Posture + desk strain

For the eight-hours-at-a-screen economy. Includes workstation coaching.

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What it is

There’s no single “perfect posture” — the problem is stillness. Hours in one position leave hips tight, the mid-back stiff, and the neck and shoulders doing work they weren’t built for. The result: burning between the shoulder blades, a heavy neck by 3 PM, headaches that clock in with your shift.

How we treat it

We restore motion where you’ve lost it — usually the mid-back and hips — with mobilization and soft-tissue work, then build the endurance your postural muscles need to carry a workday. You’ll leave with a short movement-break routine that fits between meetings, plus practical workstation adjustments that don’t require buying a $1,500 chair.

What recovery looks like

Most desk-strain patterns respond quickly — noticeable change within 3–6 visits — because the tissue is irritated, not injured. The lasting fix is the habit change, which is why the home routine is deliberately short enough to survive a busy week. Individual results vary.

Headaches from the neck

Tension-type and cervicogenic headaches — the kinds that start below the skull.

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What it is

Two common headache types have strong ties to the neck: tension-type headaches — the band-of-pressure kind fed by neck and shoulder tension — and cervicogenic headaches, where irritated upper-neck joints refer pain into the head, usually one-sided and worse with neck positions. Your exam sorts out which pattern fits, and whether we’re the right clinic at all.

How we treat it

For neck-driven headaches: restoring upper-neck joint motion, releasing the suboccipital and shoulder muscles that feed the pattern, and strengthening the deep neck flexors — an approach with solid research support for cervicogenic headache. We’ll also help you map triggers like screen setup, sleep position, and stress-clenching.

What recovery looks like

When the neck is genuinely the driver, patients often report headaches becoming less frequent and less intense over 4–8 weeks of care. Migraines and other primary headache disorders are physician territory — we treat the neck-related contributors and co-manage with your doctor rather than overpromise. Sudden, severe, or neurologically unusual headaches need urgent medical care, not an adjustment. Individual results vary.

Not sure which one is you?

That’s what the assessment is for. One visit, a real diagnosis in plain English, and a plan with a finish line.

Book an assessment Call (970) 555-0142