Many people suffer from lower back pain and attempt to find relief through chiropractic care, massage, and sometimes surgery without success. If you are suffering from lower back pain, another alternative that has been found to reduce lower back pain significantly is physical therapy.
If you’re looking for an effective fix for lower back pain or want to focus on performance training, physical therapy can help you significantly. Keep reading below to understand the benefits of physical therapy for lower back pain to keep you active and to help you move better in your daily life.
Common Symptoms of Lower Back Pain
Your physical therapist will need to know your symptoms so they can help identify the source of the problem. They will ask questions and do some testing to determine the cause of your lower back pain to help develop a personalized treatment plan to help alleviate your pain and strengthen your body.
Common symptoms of lower back pain you should share with your physical therapist include the following:
- If you have a sharp pain that travels down your leg
- If you have pain that increases with sitting
- If you have pain that improves or worsens when you shift position
- If your pain is worse in the morning or in the evening and if it improves with movement
- If you have any numbness, tingling, or weakness in your leg or foot
If you are experiencing symptoms such as loss of bladder or bowel control, fever, chills, numbness in the groin area, unintended weight loss, or severe abdominal pain along with lower back pain, it’s critical to seek immediate medical attention.
Identifying the Type of Lower Back Pain
#1. Acute Lower Back Pain
If your lower back pain lasts six weeks or less, it’s considered acute pain, which is often a result of a sudden injury such as a fall, accident, or heavy lifting. Acute pain disrupts how the nerves, discs, muscles, and spine function together and is almost always caused by an injury to the joints, ligaments, muscles, or discs.
#2. Subacute Back Pain
A subcategory of acute pain is subacute pain lasting six weeks to three months.
#3. Chronic Lower Back Pain
For anyone with lower back pain that lasts longer than three months, it’s considered chronic lower back pain. Most of the time, the exact cause is difficult to pinpoint and often can stem from problems such as herniated discs, osteoarthritis, scoliosis, spinal stenosis, or degenerative disc disease.
#4. Neuropathic Lower Back Pain
Often considered chronic back pain, neuropathic back pain patients usually experience electric-like sharp and stabbing pain generally accompanied by tingling, numbness, or weakness down their legs to their feet.
How Physical Therapy Helps People With Lower Back Pain
An experienced physical therapist has undergone extensive training in various physical therapy techniques that can significantly improve your core muscle strength to help support your lower back. You may have tried other modalities, such as chiropractic or massage care; however, working with a skilled physical therapist to set up a personalized treatment plan can help you significantly.
Usually, physical therapy goals will include the following:
- Improving the overall strength and stability in your lower back
- Improving your range of motion
- Reducing and relieving lower back pain
- Improving your ability to function, keep active, and return or maintain daily activities
- Educating you on helpful stretches and exercises that you can do at home
Physical Therapy Methods to Help Lower Back Pain
Your physical therapist will use both passive and active physical therapy to improve mobility and flexibility, increase your strength and restore your ability to live an active lifestyle.
Components of Active Physical Therapy
Active physical therapy includes using exercises to strengthen muscles that work together to help support your core and lower back.
Your physical therapist may also recommend the following manual therapy techniques to help you move with more manageable pain, greater ease, and confidence to return to an active lifestyle quickly. Some of these treatments may include the following:
- Joint and soft tissue mobilization
- Dry needling
- Passive stretching and myofascial release
If your pain stems from habitual poor movement patterns, your physical therapist may include movement control exercises. These exercises are ideal for retraining your spine muscles to improve support and control your spine through your various daily activities and ranges of motion.
You’ll be given stretches and exercises at home to help improve and maintain your range of motion and relieve tight and sore muscles. Proper stretching and exercising the lower back muscles are essential to alleviating lower back pain, keeping you active, and improving your quality of life.
For example, your physical therapist may suggest treatment that includes a repeated motion program if the pain stems from pressure or irritation on a nerve from spinal stenosis or a bulging disk. Patients who have lower back pain due to these conditions often have numbness, weakness, tingling, and pain that travels down the leg.
Components of Passive Physical Therapy
Passive physical therapy recommendations to use alongside active physical therapy to help relieve pain may include using hot or cold packs to reduce inflammation or dry needling trigger points.
Ways to Reduce and Prevent Lower Back Pain
Here are some great tips to help you reduce and prevent lower back pain.
- Keep your back muscles strong and maintain optimal spine curvature
- Keep active and avoid excessive bed rest
- Participate in strengthening and stretching exercises at least two days a week.
- Maintain good posture when you need to sit and minimize the length of time you sit.
- Use a footstool when sitting to keep your knees and hips at a right angle
- Keep your feet flat when sitting, and avoid crossing your legs
- Utilize a back support at the curve of your back
- Avoid lifting heavy objects alone, keep your back straight, and bend at the knees using a wide stance when lifting.
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Buy supportive, quality shoes with low heels and walk with proper posture
- Sleep on your side on a good mattress with medium support, place a pillow between the knees
- For sleeping on a firmer mattress, sleep on your back with a pillow under your knees
How to Find the Best Physical Therapist for You
To find the best physical therapist near you, you can ask your doctor, a friend or do a google search for “a physical therapist near me” or “physical therapy near me.” Even if you have seen a physical therapist before, it’s essential to understand that different ones use various techniques and have other areas of expertise and skill levels that can lead to excellent results.
Get Your Lower Back Pain Fixed at Inspire Health Physical Therapy
Physical therapy can help reduce, prevent, and treat injuries for anyone, from active adults, moms, busy entrepreneurs, athletes, and more, and is a safe and effective option that offers significant benefits for patients of all ages.
The patients at Inspire Health Physical Therapy in Miami experience less pain, improved mobility, and better overall physical function and quality of life. We are here to empower you and create a personalized treatment plan to get you better faster and reduce your chances of re-injury.
Contact us today to speak to a physical therapist.
