Almost everyone suffers from low back pain at some point in their lives. Most recover in a few days, but for some the pain lingers and becomes chronic, making low back pain the world’s leading cause of disability. Most commonly, mechanical issues and soft-tissue injuries are the cause of low back pain. These injuries can include damage to the intervertebral discs, compressions of nerve roots, and improper movement of the spinal joints. The single most common cause of lower back pain is a torn or pulled muscle and/or ligament. A low back sprain or strain can happen suddenly or can develop slowly over time and repetitive movements. Strains occur when a muscle is stretched too far and tears, damaging the muscle itself. Sprains happen when over-stretching and tearing affect ligaments, which connect the bones together. Both Sprains and strains have similar symptoms and PT treatments are also similar.

What are the common causes of a low back sprain and low back strain?

• Lifting a heavy object, or twisting the spine while lifting
• Sudden movements that place too much stress on the low back, such as a fall
• Poor posture over time
• Sports injuries, especially in sports that involve twisting or large forces of impact

While sprains and strains do not sound serious and do not typically cause long-lasting pain, the pain can be quite severe.

Pain is considered chronic once it lasts for more than three months and exceeds the body’s natural healing process. Chronic pain in the low back often involves a disc problem, a joint problem, and/or an irritated nerve root.

Common causes include:

• Herniated Disc
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• Facet Joint Dysfunction
• Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction
• Spinal Stenosis

Why are some people able to recover quickly from low back pain?

For many, the answer may be early treatment with physical therapy, according to a new study by researchers at John Hopkins Medicine. The goal of the study was to determine if early PT for patients with lower back pain had an impact on their overall heath care resource utilization. They analyzed healthcare data from 2010 to 2014 for nearly a million U.S. adults with acute low back pain, excluding those suffering from serious disorders such as arthritis or spinal cord injuries. About 10% of the patients received early treatment with physical therapy. The study showed patients getting early PT were significantly less likely to see a chiropractor, orthopedic surgeon, or pain specialist after 30 days than those who did not get physical therapy. They were also less likely to get advanced imaging, epidural steroid injections, or visit an emergency room. The researchers also estimate healthcare costs for a typical patient getting early PT was about $500 less over those 30 days than those not receiving physical therapy.

As the U.S. population ages, the prevalence of lower back pain is expected to increase, along with the associated costs of treating it. With advances in imaging and treatments, the cost of managing lower back pain today has also increased substantially. Additionally, previous studies have found that physical therapy and regular exercise significantly reduce low back pain.

Other studies also found little evidence to support the use of opioids, spinal injections, and acetaminophen for low back pain. The findings of this John Hopkins study may have important implications that could guide health care policy when examining downstream health care costs and resource utilization.

For Help With Neck Pain or a Consultaion, Visit One of Our Clinics

Rancho Bernado Physical Therapy Clinic

Carlsbad Physical Therapy Clinic

Carmel Valley Physical Therapy Clinic

Mission Valley Physical Therapy Clinic

National City Physical Therapy Clinic

Vista Physical Therapy Clinic

We all know we benefit from exercising, aerobic activity, strength training, balance and stretching.  Regular exercise also helps improve bone density, which prevents fractures; improves balance which makes falls less likely. But if walking, or going to the gym has lost its appeal, there are still a variety of ways to achieve your regular exercise.  For example, joining a team is fun, allows you to meet new friends and work toward a common goal. For example, Your local recreation center or YMCA will offer adult leagues for several sports. And with rules for older age groups such as no running or jumping for basketball, it minimizes injuries but is still a good workout. Here is San Diego, we can also find leagues for more social sports such as dodgeball, kickball, and bowling. 

How can we stay fit and healthy as we age?  Keeping an active lifestyle, we need to have aerobic activity and anaerobic activity. But, older individuals also need to emphasize balance and speed to help avoid falls.  Benefits of a consistent fitness routine are improved strength and endurance, reduced stress, improved sleep patterns, lowered blood pressure and cholesterol, weight management, and a potential of slowing the aging process.

There are several areas to be sure to include in your fitness routine:

As we age into our golden years, one of the things we fear most is losing our independence. And one of the biggest causes of losing independence is fractures. A big example is a hip fracture, which often sends people to a nursing home and is linked to a shorter life span. Now, the question is what causes most fractures in older people. The answer is falling. There are several things you can do to prevent falls. We as physical therapists can do a formal strength and balance assessment, show you strengthening exercises, walking posture, and balance activities to help prevent future falls.  Even if you haven’t fallen but feel you could reduce your risk of falling, here is one of the simplest most effective exercises you can do. It’s called the chair rise and it can be done almost anywhere. Do this daily to strengthen the muscles in your thighs and buttocks which can help keep you steady on your feet.

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The idea that sitting can be harmful seems ridiculous at first thought. Sitting is a default human body posture, and when people work, socialize, study or travel, they often do so in a seated position. It’s second nature. However, that doesn’t mean sitting is harmless. It’s like eating — necessary, but harmful if you do too much of it. Unfortunately, sitting too much, is now at an all-time high. Over half of the average person’s day is spent sitting, doing things like driving, working at a desk or watching television. In fact, the typical office worker may spend up to a whopping 15 hours per day sitting. To battle this trend, standing desks are becoming increasingly more popular.

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Nothing makes a day at the office more miserable than neck and back pain. However, a lot of us deal with it every day. Americans are spending $50 Billion dollars a year on lower back pain. Physical Therapy is an important part of recovery but also a standing desk can be part of the solution to some of that pain. First, let’s take a look at why we experience the pain we do while sitting, and then look at how a standing desk can help.

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Usually we are thinking and talking about backpacks at the beginning of the school year. But, now that we are mid way into the school year, our kids may be complaining about the weight of their backpacks. Of course they need to use their back pack everyday and generally they are good at distributing the heavy load across their strong back and shoulder muscles. But we should be also be aware that overly stressing the back with a heavy backpack could strain the back, neck, or shoulders and cause back pain in our children.  A heavy weight carried in backpacks can:

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It is proven exercise prevents back-pain recurrence. This article is taken from the BottomLine Personal on November 1, 2016:

Supervised exercise reduced the chance of a repeat episode of back pain by 45% over a one year period. Shoe orthotics and back belts we almost useless. And the type of exercise did not matter – some programs focused on back muscles, while others combined aerobics with strength and balance training. Patients generally did two to three supervised exercise sessions per week. But the protective effects wore off after a year – probably because many people stopped exercising when they were no longer being closely supervised. Troubling: About 75% of people who have an episode of debilitating lower-back pain will have another within one year.

Statistical analysis of more than 6,000 studies involving back-pain prevention led by researchers at The George Institute for Global Health. The University of Sydney, Australia, published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

ProActive Physical Therapy can offer you rehabilitation for back pain and then give you the opportunity to enjoy the Beyond Rehabilitation program offered by Activ8 Athleticism in Carlsbad. For those of you with back pain, please consider this and call us for an appointment.

Often with injury comes inflammation. In order for the Combine athletes to be able to train and heal we need to control and eliminate their inflammation. It is equally as important to control inflammation/ swelling in all of our clients especially with acute or post surgical conditions. After their training sessions, the football athletes return to ProActive Physical therapy for modalities. We often use Game Ready as an excellent tool to help with controlling swelling/ inflammation. Game Ready^® is a leader in active compression and cold therapy technology for acute injury treatment and post-operative recovery.

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One of the challenges we face when working with Combine athletes is, they are training at a very high level daily and we need to use treatments that will allow for and help maximize their high level of training. Likewise, many of our clients feel the same way. Golfers don’t want to give up their weekly game. Runners and tri-athletes don’t want to miss any training days, high school athletes don’t want to miss any games. Even the “normal” activities such as driving, lifting, carrying things and working need to continue daily. Continue Reading »