Physiotherapy for back pain

Back pain can be helped with physiotherapy

Do you suffer with chronic back pain? Does back pain stop you going to work, playing with your kids or enjoying sport? You’re not alone if back pain is having a big impact on your lifestyle. Back pain is one of the common physical problems that currently affects millions of people worldwide. Physiotherapy is a proven way to overcome back pain and you’ll find it is readily available near to where you live.

The back’s movement and function can be affected by ageing, illness, injury or disease. When this occurs, we need assistance to develop or restore that function and this is where physiotherapy can help. When back pain occurs it is typically from the bones (known as vertebrae), discs, muscles and ligaments not working together properly. Back pain in the lower region of the back can happen suddenly or develop over a period of time. More serious back pain can be from slipped discs, collapsed vertebrae, infections, TB or cancer. Physiotherapy is an ideal therapy to help with lower back pain.

Physiotherapy can help discover the cause of back pain

Physiotherapy aims to identify the cause of back pain and then increase, or restore the potential for movement to help overcome it. To begin with, a physiotherapist will examine your lifestyle taking into account any social, psychological and cultural factors. They will assess your mobility to see where the weakness lies and by observing your movement the physiotherapist can see what physical actions are aggravating the back pain. The physiotherapist will also ask a variety of questions about the back pain itself. These questions may include finding out when the problem occurred, what aggravates the back pain, previous range of movement in the back and how long the pain has been present. From this initial verbal and physical assessment the physiotherapist gains a clear history of the back pain problem.

Once the assessment has been carried out, the physiotherapist will explain where they believe the problem is and then devise a suitable treatment plan to help overcome it. Physiotherapy treatment will be tailored to your back pain problem and depending on its severity will last a number of sessions.

Physiotherapy methods for back pain

As each individual back pain problem will have its own treatment methods, it’s important to understand what methods a physiotherapist may use to treat yours. Physiotherapists are trained in a variety of methods including massage, manipulation, exercise, electrotherapy and hydrotherapy. Massage and manipulation are centuries old ‘hands on’ techniques that have developed over the years into an exact science. Massage and manipulation can encourage blood and fluid circulation, reduce swelling and ease pain. Specific exercises (which you will be encouraged to do at home) restore movement through muscle strengthening and flexibility. The physiotherapist will target the back area and associated muscles when devising an appropriate exercise programme for your back pain.

Electrotherapy employs equipment that will send electrical impulses through the muscles. This therapy causes the muscles to contract which helps blocks pain messages that are sent to the brain. Hydrotherapy promotes movement, reduces tension in muscles, increases circulation and reduces pain by using the resistance and weightless environment of water.

These physiotherapy methods help to increase well-being which in turn can help reduce back pain and any related stress. A physiotherapist will also teach you how to achieve and maintain a correct posture and avoid over-extending and over-flexing the back muscles which can increase the risk of developing back pain. With determination and regular sessions, physiotherapy can decrease back pain with the potential to remove it from your life completely.

Article submitted by
Daniel Alexander, GoToSee Journalist

Date published
22/08/08

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