How Can You Recover the Issue of Low Back Pain with Physical Therapy?

Usually, patients who experience low back problems are referred for physical therapy treatment. This physical therapy treatment includes a four-week nonsurgical treatment plan before considering other treatments like surgery for back pain.

The main purpose of physical therapy is to reduce pain, increase and improve muscle functionality and educate patients on how they can prevent and reduce future back problems.

What to Know About Low Back Pain

Low back pain is a common problem in which people experience continuous pain in the low back area and feel difficulty performing daily activities. Most people experience “non-specific low back pain,” the most common kind of back pain. It can be defined as “The pain in the low back region which has no specific pathology.”

Kinds of Low Back Pain:

Low back pain is divided into three subtypes depending on the period of back pain:

• Acute low back pain usually proceeds for less than six weeks and is the most regular type of back pain.
• Sub-acute low back pain proceeds between 6-12 weeks. The patient feels continuous acute pain in the lower back region.
• Chronic low back pain is an episode of low back pain in which pain lasts for 12 or more weeks.

Generally, doctors consider the pain which lasts for three or more months as chronic low back pain. About more than 80% of health care expenses are associated with chronic pain. Almost one-third of patients with chronic back pain have been suffering from moderate continuous back pain for about one year. According to records, more than 7 million people in the US are restricted from performing daily activities as a result of chronic back pain.

What Can Cause the Issues of Low Back Pain:

Low Back Pain is perhaps the most notable reason individuals go to the subject matter expert or make bungles on their work. The expert can identify with a test or an assessment by the master of muscular health. Conditions regularly associated with back torment issues include:

1. Muscle or Tendon Strain:

Repeated, genuinely difficult work or an unexpected messed-up advancement can strain back muscles and spinal ligaments. In the event that you’re in a helpless condition, the predictable strain on your back can cause troublesome muscle fits.

2. Expanding or Cracked Bones:

Broken bones go about as cushions between the bones (vertebrae) in your spine. The sensitive material inside a circle can lump or break and push on a nerve. Regardless, you can have a distending or broken plate without back torture. Bone expanding is as often as possible discovered when you have spine X-radiates for some other clarification.

3. Osteoarthritis:

It can impact the lower back. From time to time, joint irritation in the spine. Likewise, the issue can incite a narrowing of the space around the spinal rope, a condition called spinal stenosis. Your spine’s vertebrae can encourage troublesome breaks if your bones become penetrable and frail.

4. Twisting:

The bend of the spine can consolidate scoliosis or kyphosis. The disfigurement may be identified with lower back torture if it prompts the breakdown of the plates, viewpoint joints, sacroiliac joints, or stenosis.

5. Injury:

Extraordinary breaks or divisions of the spine can provoke torture. Lower back torture that makes after a physical issue, similar to a motor vehicle incident or a fall, should be restoratively surveyed.

6. Pressure Crack:

A crack that happens in the round and hollow vertebra, where the bone basically collapses on itself, can cause unexpected torment. The type of crack is generally normal because of frail bones, for example, from osteoporosis, and is more normal in more established individuals.

Common Treatments and Surgeries for Low Back Injuries Patients:

However, normally most sportsmen and athletes who experience low back pain or injury manage their pain at home with different exercises and home treatment. But if you experience any severe injury, then you should never delay visiting a doctor or physical therapist.

Your doctor can request some tests like X-ray, CT scan, MRI report, etc., to check the intensity of your injury and select a suitable treatment for you. Most doctors refer back injury patients to physical therapy before moving towards advanced treatment and surgery options.

A physical therapist can help you to manage your back injury with the help of suitable exercises and treatments to strengthen your back muscles, improve their function and treat pain by relieving pressure on your spine. The other physical therapy treatments for low back pain or injury are:

• Dry-Needling Treatment Plan
• Hands-on Manual Physical Therapy
• Orthopedic Physical Treatment Plan

Surgical Option for Treating Low Back Pain:

If a person is suffering from a severe back injury like spondylolysis or HNP, and other treatments and techniques don’t work to reduce the pain, he may need back surgery.

• Spondylolysis Surgery usually includes the fusion of the spine. In this surgery, the doctors “weld” the cracked or fractured vertebrae into a single bone to reduce the chances of any future injury.
• Surgery for herniated discs from HNP is done to reduce pressure on the spine and spinal nerves. This surgery includes various techniques, but the primary goal of all techniques is to create more disc space.

Surgery can cause muscle stiffness and other back problems, so it is important to follow all instructions of your surgeon and exercise according to your physical therapy treatment plan to be able to recover quickly.

When to Visit a Physical Therapist:

If you don’t take signs and symptoms of low back pain seriously, it can become a serious problem. If you experience any symptoms of low back pain and feel difficulty performing daily activities and tasks, then you should visit your doctor or physical therapist. Some symptoms need immediate medication; in case they are not treated, they can lead to a serious problem. Some common symptoms are the following:

• Reduced Muscular Control: if you experience a quick loss of muscular control in the hip, thigh, calf, toes, or shin, then you should immediately visit your doctor or physical therapist. Loss of muscle control can restrict your mobility, like you feel difficulty raising your leg, walking upstairs, etc.
• Reduce Bladder Control or Bowel Function: if you experience loss of bowel or bladder control, it can be a sign of compression on your spine or back nerve. The primary sign of it is you feel difficulty urinating. If all these symptoms happen with low back pain, then it is a sign that you should not delay visiting your doctor.
• Medical History of Cancer: If you experience the onset of low back pain, it is good to see your physical therapist, especially when you’ve any cancer history. Although it is quite rare, your doctor will order some tests to diagnose any metastatic problem and start treatment.
• Any Recent Trauma History: In some cases, the onset of back pain results from any recent trauma or vehicle falls incident. If you’ve been through any recent trauma and are suffering from acute back pain, it is good to visit your doctor to diagnose any fracture or other back problem and start its treatment before it becomes worse.

Physical Therapy Movements and Exercises for Low Back Pain Treatment:

Passive treatment plans work for low back pain treatment, but in addition to all these treatments, physical therapy also plays an important role in improving spine structure and movement. Generally, the following physical therapy treatment techniques are used for treating lower back pain problems:

Stretching Exercise:

Physical therapists include stretching exercises in treatment plans to improve the patient’s muscle strength. Hamstring stretching should be done once or twice daily at the same time to reduce pain and improve muscle strength.

Light Aerobic Exercises:

Aerobic exercises are the best treatment for long-term pain management. This may include bicycling, swimming, walking or water therapy, etc. these muscle-strengthening exercises must be performed for 30-40 minutes three to four days a week.

Heat and Ice Therapy Treatment:

Heat or ice massage can help to relieve muscle pain and inflammation faster than other treatments. It is the most common type of pain reliever therapy that is used to treat low back pain. Heat or ice should be applied for 10-20 minutes after every 2 hours. They are found to be more effective to use in 2-3 when the pain starts.

Final Verdict:

Low back pain is a common problem that affects about 80-90% of US adults, and they face difficulty in daily routine activities. According to statistics, about 80% of people spend billions of dollars on low back pain treatment and surgeries every year.
Physical therapy treatment can help to reduce and eliminate the causes and symptoms of low back pain. It is good to visit a physical therapy clinic before moving towards other advanced treatment options like surgery for back pain. Your physical therapist can suggest some exercise and movements reduce your pain, improve your muscle strength and function, and prevent future back pain issues.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

1. What is the quick and safe way to treat lower back pain?
Apply heat or ice to that area for instant relief from lower back pain. You can use pain relievers for fast pain recovery. It is good to sleep in the curled-up position with a pillow between your legs to support to your back muscles and spinal cord.

2. Can a patient completely recover from low back pain?
Normally, low back pain recovers over time. It can take a few days to 3- 4 months to recover completely according to the symptoms and intensity of back pain. According to their symptoms and pain intensity, most people with acute or mild back pain can recover within a few days, weeks, or months.

3. Can weak muscles also cause low back pain?
Weak muscles around your back and abdomen can encourage a forward-leaning posture due to the pressure on the spine increasing. It can cause lower back pain and reduce the strength to perform spinal movements. It can be treated with the help of physical therapy by practicing abdominal muscle strengthening exercises.