Back Pain & Physiotherapy Treatment

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Pain is an unpleasant experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. Human beings suffer a wide range of pain; emotional, physical and psychic.

Back pain is a very common condition, with about 80% of people suffering from it. Lower back pain is the pain in the low back area related to problems with lumbar spine, the disc between the vertebra, the ligaments around the spine, the spinal cord, the nerve roots, muscles of the low back, internal organs of pelvis and abdomen or the skin covering the lumbar area. It n can refer to pain, which remains centered in the low back region, as well as, pain, which radiates from the low back to the buttocks and/or legs.

Depending on the presence or absence of neurologic symptoms and signs LBP can be divided into:  Radicular & non radicular low back pain. Radicular LBP is radiated along the dermatome of a nerve root (radiculopathy) at its connections to the spinal column. A common form of radiculitis is sciatica, or radicular pain radiates along the sciatic nerve. It radiates up to thighs, calf & foot. Radiculitis symptoms may change from one patient to the next, depending on which nerve root is affected. Non-Radicular LBP is not associated with neurologic symptoms or sign or not associated with spinal nerve root compression. Pain is localized to the spine and paraspinal regions and does not radiate into the leg.

Physiotherapist should able to assess, diagnose & intervene with or without use of diagnostic imaging.

How Physiotherapy can help

Early treatment is the key to reduce your pain and getting back to full activity. Treatment focus on biomechanics, muscle imbalance, posture awareness, stretching & strengthening exercise improve symptoms quickly and reduce your chance of recurrence. If you seek out a physiotherapist immediately after getting back pain, treatment is extremely effective. Based on your examination, best treatment option for low back pain are:

1. Modalities: – Ultrasound, TENS, Cryotherapy, Heat, Shockwave, Traction.
2. Mobilization: Mobilization of facet joint help to reduce stiffness and improve joint movement of your spine. Thrust can be used to unlock facet joint and reduce excessive stress from muscle and movement become easier.
3. McKenzie Method: – It is series of exercise which help to reduce back pain.
4. Kinesiology Tapping: – If you get back strain it is very effective to reduce your pain.
5. Dry Needling: – If you back pain due to trigger point than dry needling is treatment of choice.
6. Stretching & strengthening: In our body antigravity muscle are prone to tight, So stretching to tight muscle and strengthening to core weak muscle.
7. Pilates: – It is low impact exercise that aims to strengthen core muscle while improving postural alignment and flexibility.

If your pain is chronic, do not fear, physiotherapy can still help!

You’re probably wondering whether you should bother doing any of these and why not just wait it out? Unfortunately, waiting it out will reduce symptoms, may not fix the reason you got back pain.

Dr.Dharmendra Kumar Sharma (MPT-Neuroscience,BPTh.)

Sr.Physiotherapist

Paras JK Hospital Udaipur