Back Pain

For most physical therapist clinics, back pain is a frequent presentation. The human spine has four main areas, the cervical (neck), thoracic, lumbar (low back) and sacral (base of spine).

Back injuries can be categorized in two, acute and chronic pain. Acute pain starts quickly and lasts less than six weeks. It is a common type of back pain caused by things like falling, lifting something heavy, sports injury or prolonged activities.

A chronic back pain gradually develops over a longer period, lasting for more than three months, and has long-term problems. For this condition, a thorough diagnosis is essential to lay the foundation for appropriate treatment and rehabilitation.

Common back injuries
Postural back pain
Bad sleeping positions, poor work desk set up and standing posture may all be contributing factors of postural back pain. Your spine will remain strong and stable if you practice healthy posture.

Disc bulge
This condition causes pressure on the surrounding nerves with symptoms of back pain, leg pain, pins and needles and possible numbness. Physiotherapy treatment is advisable with additional further checks like MRI scan.

Sciatica
The injury is characterized by pain going down the leg from the lower back. Some known causes may include a disc bulge, muscle spasm or poor posture.

Exercise muscles to alleviate back pain
It's advisable to visit a physical therapist or a physician and discuss whether the following workouts are possible as these exercises require supervision to see if you are activating the correct muscle groups.

Neck and shoulder stretch - This type of stretching can include chin to chest stretches or ear to shoulder stretches.

Back exercise stretches – This includes back flexion exercises done when lying on the back and pulling both knees to the chest while flexing the head forward until a comfortable stretch is felt in a balled-up position.

Hip and gluteus stretch – The exercise can be done through hip stretching while standing with feet shoulder-width apart or piriformis muscle runs.

Our physical therapists are trained in giving these exercises and can offer you a comprehensive exercise program to help reduce your back pain.