Solutions for Low Back Pain
Treatment is tailored specifically to your individual needs, biomechanical/postural assessment and demands of your lifestyle.
Physiotherapy and Clinical Exercise treatments are available to:
- Improve core strength
- Improve posture
- Relieve recurring back pain
- Address impaired muscle function in back pain via specific motor control exercises
- Improve back muscle endurance capacity
- Relax tight superficial back muscles relieving unnecessary tension
- Pre and Post-Operative Care
This approach is beneficial for conditions such as:
- Low Back Pain / Injuries
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Disc Bulge (protrusion, extrusion, herniation)
- Hypermobility
- Osteoporosis
- Poor Core Strength
- Poor Posture
- Post-Operative Rehabilitation
- Sciatica
- SIJ Instability
- Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction / Pain
Low Back Pain – A Multimodal Rehabilitation and Treatment Approach
All back pain is not the same. The physical assessment seeks to identify the sensitized structures and underlying factors that drive the pain.
Treatment is based on the underlying mechanism that drive the pain or disability.
It’s important and empowering that the individual takes an active role in their treatment. By becoming aware of positions and movements that are stressors and aggravate pain.
Improve movement patterns and biomechanics.
Individualized specific graded exercises to improve stability and muscle endurance.
Sport oriented strength and conditioning for return to sport.
Causes and Capacity
We all have a functional capacity to deal with all our daily functional demands, as long as we adapt or don’t exceed this capacity we remain pain free.
Pain and sensitivity are often a direct result of exceeding the functional capacity of anatomical structures, by inappropriately overloading them statically or dynamical leading to pain sensitization.
Why Look at Movement
A directional movement assessment can help us understand why a structure is under pressure and what approach we can take to relieve that pressure.
These activities can be as simple as prolonged sitting, getting out of a chair, turning over in bed or bowling in cricket.
In sport knowing the mechanism of injury, can be fruitful, in determining the specific tissues involved.
Anatomy of the Spine: Areas of Functional Consideration
The Vertebral Spine
The spine travels from the skull to the pelvis. In a normal spine it has three curves, an inwards curve in the neck (cervical spine) called Lordosis, an outwards curve in the mid back (thoracic spine) called Kyphosis and an inward curve again in the low back (lumbar spine) called Lordosis.
For an optimal spine these segments should be balanced, known as a neutral spine.
Bones and Joints
Each individual bone of the spine is called a Vertebra with bony protrusions called processes, these act like levers for the muscles. The top and bottom of each vertebra has an End Plate allowing for diffusion of nutrients to the Disc.
Attached to the vertebra are the two Facet joints surrounded by its capsule, these guide the movements of the vertebra adding support and stability during movements.
Discs
Between each vertebra there is a Disc it provides some space between the vertebra allowing some cushioning and a degree of bending.
The outside rings are made of tough collagen tissue, while the inside is called the Nucleus made of a gel like substance that helps distribute the load throughout the disc.
The disc may increase 1-3 millimeters in height, because of fluid dynamics in horizontal position during the night.
Spinal Nerves
The spinal cord travels from the brain down the spinal cord, with nerves exiting at each spinal level.
Damage to the spine or disc can damage or irritate the nerve leading to a variety of symptoms including pain.
Sciatica: refers to pain that originates from the lumbar plexus (L4-S1) of the lower back and is felt into the buttocks and along the back or side of the leg.
Muscles
The ligaments and muscles manage the integrity and movement of the vertebral.
Muscles manage the motions and postures of the spine. They can act like guywires helping us control the various movements and shear forces applied to the vertebra of the spine.