Physical Therapy For Back Pain

If you are suffering from chronic back pain, then you know how disrupting it is to your daily activities. Back pain affects millions of people worldwide. It may be caused by sports injuries, falls, extreme physical workouts, or underlying medical conditions. Thus, back pain may just be a symptom of a medical problem, which may determine the type of back pain you are suffering from.

Most physically strenuous sports like football, basketball, swimming, baseball, etc. may all lead to back pain, especially if you land on your back during these activities. Back pain due to underlying medical conditions is prevalently seen in cases of arthritis, osteoporosis, slipped or herniated disc, scoliosis, and many more.

Since there are many causes and types of back pain, you should therefore seek medical consultation so that proper diagnosis is done. An accurate diagnosis is an important factor in the appropriate management of any condition including back pain.

After diagnosis of your back pain has been properly established, your doctor will outline the best treatment plan suitable to your case. Depending on your specific case, medications to relieve pain, drugs for your underlying medical condition causing your back pain, or surgery may be recommended.

But sometimes, management of chronic back pain can also be achieved by physical therapy. So your doctor may also prescribe this for you as an alternative natural option. Physical therapy helps in alleviating pain, promoting healing, preventing injuries and disabilities, and restoring function and movement. Your doctor may then refer you to a Physical Therapist, a skilled specialist who is professionally educated and trained to perform proper rehabilitation treatment.

After assessing your back pain, your physical therapist will determine whether your pain management will focus on passive or active physical therapy. A passive therapy may involve any or all of the following:

* Application of heat/ice packs

* TENS units

* Ultrasound

However, your physical therapist will most likely advise on active therapy too on top of the passive method. Active physical therapy involves engaging in exercises designed to relieve muscle stress and pain, and promote muscle strength such as:

* Stretching exercises

* Strengthening exercises

* Exercises to relieve pain

* Low-impact aerobic conditioning

Factors to consider

Although physical therapy involves the various stages of recovery such as treatment, healing process, injury or disability prevention, and function and movement restoration, you need to bear in mind that like any other forms of therapy, it is bounded by the patients' individual differences and their distinct reactions to therapy. You should remember that people are different in terms of body types and responses to physical stress, movement and alignment patterns, as well as physical activities, habits and practices.

It is very important therefore for individuals engaging in physical therapy exercises to be closely monitored individually by their physical therapists and their trained staff. Proper and close supervision by skilled physical therapists can lead to immediate corrections of improper habits, alignments, and movement patterns. So, if you are undergoing physical therapy for your back pain, be sure to perform it only under the guidance and supervision of your physical therapist to maximize the benefits of your therapy.