Low Back Pain Physiotherapy
Many people struggle with back pain and neck pain, and many of them continue to have on-going maintenance treatments.
I have a proven track record of helping people relieve their pain and get back to doing the things they love. Even when they’ve had their pain for years and have had loads of treatment.
Manual Therapy
Manual therapy, ultrasound, manipulation, acupucture, exercise prescription and many other therapies are given by Chartered Physiotherapists, but physiotherapy is often not very effective at providing pain relief.
NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recommends manual therapy treatment when it is combined with exercise prescription, but not on its own. Many people have multiple treatments with physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors but remain with significant back pain and limitation of their daily lives.
Back Pain Diagnosis
If spinal pain does not settle within the expected time, once physiotherapy and painkillers have been tried, the commonest next step is referral to a spinal unit.
Spinal surgeons can do three things:
- Decompress nerves
- Fuse bones
- Correct spinal deformities
Decompression is a common operation, fusion less so and correction of spinal alignment is the least frequently employed.
However, spinal surgeons operate on a very small proportion of the people they see overall. Most people are given an MRI scan, a diagnosis based on the examination and the scan and then returned to the care of their GP.
This leaves most people with spinal pain without a solid diagnosis and without a clear route they can take to get out of their problem.
X-Rays and MRI Scans
Many people believe they are stuck with the pain becauses they have been diagnosed with a herniated disc, nerve root compression, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, wear and tear and instability.
However, these conditions also occur in people who have never had back or neck pain. And when people recover from their back pain episodes, the X-ray and MRI findings will not have changed.
Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain is the number one most disabling and costly musculoskeletal condition that we commonly suffer from. Doctors and physiotherapists divide it into two rough categories as they differ in important ways.
Acute Low Back Pain
Acute back pain is that short term sudden or recent occurrence or worsening of lower back pain that can occur when we are straining at heavy lifiting or often for no obvious reason.
Most the pain usually settles down in a few weeks on its own and people go back to their normal lives. Spinal manipulation may shorten the period of more severe pain but does not make any significant difference to the overall recovery.
The cause of back pain is rarely known and most people do not need to see a doctor unless there are red flags, signs of a serious medical condition, which are rare but important.
Longer term problems can develop when the back pain does not settle as expected, and if it becomes persistent beyond three months it is called chronic back pain.
Chronic Back Pain
Chronic back pain is defined as back pain lasting more than three months. This is very common and most people do not suffer significantly and cope with their back pain very well. However, a small number of people have disability which limits their ability to perform normal life tasks.
When someone has troublesome lower back pain for a long time, what might have happened in the back is much less important. Factors which influence recovery have much more to do with attitudes, beliefs, fears and anxieties and how we behave due to these.
Physiotherapy for Pain Relief and Normal Life
Back and neck pain is 95% due to how we use our body, what we believe and how we think. This is good news because it can be changed. Without manipulation, without core stability, without ultrasound and without corsets. And without you needing to protect your back or be fearful.
Will quickly identify the factors driving your pain. We then set about showing you how to change these factors, often resulting in a rapid improvement in your pain and abilities.
I’ll coach you on your journey back towards pain relief, guiding your improvement so you get back to your normal activities as soon as possible. I want you to learn to be your own therapist so you don’t need me any more to manage your problems.
Low back, neck or any other pain due to a serious underlying medical condition is very uncommon. However, should this be the case, I have the skills and expertise to identify this quickly and to refer you promptly to the appropriate medical expert.