Can Physical Therapy Help with Back Pain?

It is not uncommon to have aches and pains, especially after significant physical strain or a long day on your feet. Even the wrong shoes can make you feel “off.” Yet, for many people, back pain is more significant, ongoing, or debilitating, requiring more advanced treatment.

Physical therapy, or PT, could be a solution. PT for back pain enables you to see a significant improvement in pain levels, often through symptom reduction. Consider what PT for back discomfort and aches can mean for you.

Understanding Back Pain: Causes and Common Symptoms

Back pain happens for many reasons. The pain can feel different depending on the underlying cause. Some examples include:

• Burning pain
• Shooting pain
• Stabbing pain
• Aches and areas of tenderness
• Discomfort or limited ability to walk

Understanding why you feel those symptoms can be critical to finding relief. Some of the most common causes of back pain include:

• Muscle or ligament strain, often due to picking up something that’s heavy or turning quickly in an awkward movement
• Bulging or ruptured disks are brought on when these cushions between the bones of the spine compress and press on a nerve. This may be due to degenerative conditions or injuries.
• Osteoporosis, which happens over time as the vertebrae develop, breaks because the bones are brittle or porous.
• Arthritis, a common cause of lower back pain, happens when there is a narrowing of the space surrounding the spinal cord or the joints wear down.

Other conditions can also cause back pain. With proper examinations, your doctor can determine the underlying cause. Then, it’s possible to find a treatment. For many people, PT for back pain can be highly effective as a treatment.

How Physical Therapy Helps Back Pain

Applications of physical therapy can offer a wide range of benefits. This may include:

• Reduction of pain symptoms: By reducing compression on nerves and improving muscle and joint alignment, it’s possible for physical therapy to alleviate the underlying cause of the pain.
• Improved function: Physical therapy works to improve the way the muscles, ligaments, and joints work in this area of the body. Improved function results from better strength and stability in this area.
• Increased flexibility and range of motion: Helping your body to move properly gives you more freedom to do the things you want without pain.

A physical therapist will assess the back pain, the underlying cause, and opportunities for improvement. They can then focus on treating the specific restrictions you have and the cause of your limited movement and function. This helps the area heal and supports less risk for further damage in the future.

Techniques Used in Physical Therapy

After a full assessment, your physical therapist will then determine the best techniques for treatment. If you have lower back pain, this may include the use of stretching the muscles of the back. For those with shooting pain down into their hips, the use of physical therapy for sciatica could be helpful.

Potential techniques include:

• Strengthening exercises. For back pain brought on by poor posture or improper movements, strengthening exercises can offer help. PT for back pain in this case could focus specifically on building the muscles in the targeted area. It helps build strength to the spine and the muscles supporting it.
• Improved movement patterns. PT can help to retrain your muscle movements to improve function. By ensuring your muscles and bones are working properly, it is possible to prevent future back pain development.
• Manual therapy. This type of treatment allows physical therapists to apply specific pressure and manipulation of tissues, muscles, and joints to enable improved function. It can help to encourage healing in the area and reduce inflammation as a result.

Physical therapy can help encourage healing and proper function of the spine and muscles after an injury. It can also help improve function as you get older and develop degenerative conditions. As a flexible treatment tool, it’s easy to see the vast number of ways PT for back pain can be helpful.

Benefits Compared to Other Treatments

Physical therapy can offer significant help without as many complications or risks. There are several reasons to select this type of treatment as a first step in finding relief.

• It’s less invasive. Though other types of treatment may be necessary for serious accidents and injuries, for those who have mild to moderate pain, the use of physical therapy can be far less invasive than other methods.
• It creates a prevention plan. Not only does physical therapy help to improve symptoms, but it also works to strengthen the muscles in the treatment area. This may help prevent further complications over time.
• It may help you avoid or postpone surgery. For many patients, physical therapy may be able to do enough to help you avoid more aggressive treatment or loss of mobility. This could help build strength to reduce the risk of falls, too.

Preventing Long-Term Back Pain

If you wake up each morning with aches and pains after sleeping, that could be an early warning sign that you need to take action to protect your back, spinal column, and cord, as well as the muscles in this area. To prevent long-term back pain and complications to your health and well-being, it’s always wise to act as soon as you notice discomfort and pain.

Preventing long-term back pain may also be done with these strategies:

• Improve your core muscle strength.
• Align your posture to a better fit.
• Lift with care.
• Sleep on a supportive mattress.
• Remain active.

Contact Rock Valley Physical Therapy Today!

If you are struggling with back pain, whether it is upper or lower back pain, recognize that you have the opportunity to improve the way you feel. To achieve this goal, seek out treatment for your back pain now. PT for back pain relief starts with making a call to Rock Valley Physical Therapy. Contact us now to get in to see our physical therapists for the relief you need.