Sometimes it feels like no matter what you do, you’re back pain just doesn’t seem to go away. When medication just doesn’t do its job, you should consider trying physical therapy to help ease your back pain. Now, no one is claiming that this is some sort of miracle cure, but the end goal of physical therapy is to lower the amount of pain you feel, give back some mobility and function, and help you from possibly causing yourself worse back pain.
Generally there are two parts in a physical therapy program for back pain; active exercises and passive physical therapy. Active exercises are pretty self-explanatory, they’re a combination of stretches, back strengthening exercises and low impact aerobic conditioning. Passive physical therapy on the other hand are called passive because it’s not something you do, but something that is done to you to help reduce your back pain.
As previously mentioned, active physical therapy, has several parts to it. If you’ve suffered from any type of low back pain stretching out your hamstring muscles daily can help not only relieve your back pain but also stop it from happening again. There are a number of types of stretches that can help alleviate your lower back pain. Low impact aerobics is another way to ensure for long term pain reduction. Something as simple as walking, bicycling, or swimming can help you with your back pain, but be sure to do it for 30 minutes three times a week for it to be effective. Strengthening your back muscles can help reduce your back pain. Just recall that it is important to do the exercises correctly so that you do not injure yourself or make your back pain worse. Be sure to get help from a physical therapist or another qualified health professional.
The most common and easily available form of passive physical therapy is heat and/or ice. Whether it’s an ice massage or heat packs, doing heat/cold therapy for your back might ease your pain. The following options should only be done by or with the approval of a physical therapist. If you get acute episodes of back pain an ultrasound can help relieve your pain and might enhance tissue healing. An ultrasound is a type of deep heating wherein sound waves travel through your skin and into your soft tissues. Another option is iontophoresis, which is a a way of delivering steroids through your skin. What happens is that the steroid gets applied to your skin and then an electrical current makes it go under your skin. Doing so will give an anti-inflammatory effect to where your back pain is coming from.
If you’re finding that your back pain is getting worse or hasn’t lessened no matter what you try, be to speak to a NJ physical therapy specialist for their professional help. Contact Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute today to make an appointment.
