Physical Therapy For Back Pain

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:08:38 +0000

Physical therapy is a common treatment for people with back pain and injuries, but it is important to recognize that physical therapy is comprised of many different treatment methods. The right treatment must be instituted at the correct time for the patient to provide the best results.

In the beginning stages of treatment for back pain and injury, the primary problems tend to be inflammation, muscle spasm, and reduced mobility. The first goal of treatment is to reduce inflammation and muscle spasm. If the therapist proceeds too quickly to other treatments intended to enhance mobility or muscle strength, inflammation and spasm can be increased and the patient’s recovery can be delayed.

Treatments such as electrical stimulation and cold packs are often the first measures used to begin to control inflammation and spasm. These therapies are often more effective than medication in reducing the patient’s symptoms. Cold packs can be especially helpful when prescribed to the patient for home use to supplement in-office treatment, as the frequent application of cold therapy is the most effective means of reducing inflammation available. At the peak of inflammatory symptoms, using a cold pack for 10 to 15 minutes at a time as often as once every couple of hours will often decreased inflammation faster than even the best anti-inflammatory medication.

Once symptoms have decreased and the inflammation and spasm have subsided, treatments like massage and ultrasound may be helpful in alleviating soft tissue contraction and in improving circulation to damaged tissue to help with healing. At this stage, the severe pain is gone and the patient is primarily experiencing soreness and stiffness.

As symptoms continue to decrease, stretching and mobilization maneuvers can be utilized to increase the patient’s flexibility. Before transitioning to strengthening exercises, it is important to get the patient back to normal mobility as much as possible in order to avoid the reinforcement of abnormal movement patterns by strengthening the muscles.

Muscular strengthening and postural correction exercises can be introduced once mobility has returned to normal. In the case of back pain and injuries, poor posture and lack of muscle conditioning often contributed to the original injury or pain. It is especially important to re-condition the abdominal muscles and the muscles along the back of the spine to provide their normal postural support.

At least some of the exercises used in the physical therapy program should be those that can be done without special equipment, since it will be necessary for the patient to continue the exercises on their own once released from the physical therapist’s care. Rehabilitation machines can be very helpful during the patient’s treatment program, but they should not be the only type of exercise provided to the patient.

Through proper administration of treatment by the physical therapist, and proper instruction in appropriate self-care measures, the majority of back pain patients can recover and prevent future back problems.

Physical Therapy Tools: Kinesio Taping

admin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:03:07 +0000

The following video explains the physical therapy technique called kinesio taping, a method we use here in the physical therapy department at Advantage to treat sports injuries and sprains and strains.

Ice Is Cool!

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:37:40 +0000

When you have an injury, ice can be one of the most effective self-treatment methods you have at your disposal. While gel packs or a refillable ice bag are the more convenient than say the form of ice shown above, your ice therapy doesn’t need to be anything particularly fancy. A bag of frozen peas or corn kernels or some ice cubes in a plastic bag or wrapped in a towel will work just fine.

For best results with ice, there are some basic rules to follow:

Be Sure To Separate The Ice From Your Skin With A Layer Of Dry Cloth To Prevent Frostbite
Apply Ice For About 10 – 15 Minutes At A Time (Up To 20 Minutes For Thick Body Areas)
Allow Time For The Skin To Return To Normal Temperature Before Re-Applying Ice (1-2 Hours Is A Good Rule Of Thumb)
Use Repeated Applications For Best Results In Reducing Pain And Swelling

For sports injuries or any recent injury to an arm or leg that leaves the skin intact, ice is most effective as part of the RICE formula: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. This means avoiding unnecessary movement and exertion of the injured area, applying ice as described above, using gentle compression with either manual pressure or a compressive wrap, and elevating the body part so that it is even with or above the level of the heart.

Following these recommendations will help you to control inflammation and reduce pain. For pain and swelling lasting longer than a few days, or when in doubt, professional attention to the injury by a physician or physical therapist is highly recommended.

Physical Therapy For Sports Injuries

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:59:12 +0000

Sports Injuries Recover Faster With Physical Therapy

San Antonio weather allows for a wide variety of sports to be played all year long. Injuries are a part of any sport, although each sport will have a tendency towards certain types of injuries. Soccer players get more ankle and knee injuries. Baseball and softball players tend towards shoulder problems. Golf and tennis players often develop elbow and wrist injuries.

Regardless of the type of injury, physical therapy can often play an important role in the athlete’s recovery. The basic components of sports injury treatment are usually the same regardless of the type and location of the injury:

Control of inflammation
Protection of the injured area to prevent further injury
Once the inflammatory stage has passed, mobilization, stabilization, and rehabilitation of injured structures takes place

Physical therapists most commonly control inflammation by means of cold packs and electrical stimulation. These are usually used frequently in the first week or two following an injury.

Protection of the injured area may be achieved through various means, including the application of tape, pre-made braces, air casts, slings, wraps, and indirectly through the use of crutches or other supportive aids. In the initial stages of an injury, damaged tissue is vulnerable to further injury, so supporting and protecting the injured tissue is important to keep things from getting worse and allowing healing to begin.

Protection of injured areas may continue for some time even after the main symptoms are gone, because the stresses that athletes place on their bodies can cause re-injury if the damaged tissues are not supported. Braces and special taping methods like kinesiotaping may be used for this purpose.

Once the initial inflammatory stage of an injury has passed, the real importance of physical therapy is just beginning. It is important to restore normal mobility to injured joints and surrounding tissues and to strengthen muscles to provide stability and support. A good physical therapist knows how to push his or her patients just enough so that they make progress without overdoing and causing an exacerbation of symptoms.

Depending on the type and severity of the original injury, some form of ongoing preventive therapy may be needed. In such cases, physical therapists prepare patients for discharge by instructing them in home exercise and self-treatment methods and make sure that the patient knows what to do to prevent future problems.

Physical Therapy And Headaches

admin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:55:17 +0000

Headaches Are Often Caused By Musculoskeletal Problems.

Physical therapy can often help with chronic headaches because many headache problems originate from underlying musculoskeletal conditions.

The most common type of headache is the muscle tension headache. While the name obviously suggests that the cause of these headaches is muscle tension, there is a bit more to it than that. The big issue in alleviating muscle tension headaches is to find out what is causing the muscle tension and address the underlying cause(s).

In most cases, abnormal tension in the muscles that produce headaches is the result of either physical trauma or chemical reactivity resulting from emotional stress and/or toxins.

Physical trauma does not have to be a major injury, such as from a fall or car accident to be sufficient to cause problems. In fact, many people suffer from the effects of “micro-trauma”, which is small amounts of joint and soft tissue damage that occur gradually over a long period of time from things like poor posture or repetetive stress injuries. For example, people who work at computers all day will often slouch forward as they work, putting stress on the muscles in the back of the neck and across the tops of the shoulders and eventually contributing to tension headaches.

Chemical causes of muscle tension and related headaches can come from stress hormones released in the body in response to emotional stress, and/or from exposure to toxic substances. Toxins that can induce muscle tension headaches aren’t all things that come with poison warnings on them though. Food additives, nicotine, caffeine, and even medications that are intentionally consumed can be big headache culprits as well. One other common source of chemical irritation that causes muscle tension headaches is dehydration from inadequate fluid intake.

From a physical therapy perspective, tension headaches can be addressed in several ways. Treatments like ultrasound, electrical stimulation can be used to break up abnormal muscle contraction. Massage techniques may be employed to enhance tissue circulation and manually release tight areas. For those people with postural problems that contribute to ongoing muscle tension, rehabilitative exercise can be used to balance muscles, improve skeletal alignment, and normalize the stresses on the neck and shoulder area.Your physical therapist will also likely recommend changes in your work station and/or lifestyle choices when applicable to your case.

By correcting the underlying causes of muscle tension, headache issues can be quickly resolved with the help of a good physical therapist.

If you’ve been suffering with chronic headaches, we invite you to contact our office for a free consultation to find out what we can do to help you.

For more information, be sure to check out all of the resources at the Physical Therapy San Antonio website.

Car Accident?

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:05:53 +0000

: A Car Accident May Damage You More Than Your Car

A car accident can cause a lot of problems: pain, missed work, dealing with the body shop and insurance company, arranging alternate transportation, etc.. In most cases, the worst of the physical pain and hassles have been dealt with within a few weeks, but in many situations, the problems are really only beginning.

Whether or not you experienced major pain at the time of, or within a few days of a car accident, subtle biomechanical problems often result from the trauma. Because the forces on the body that occur during an auto accident happen very quickly – often faster than your nervous system can react, it is easy for you to suffer injuries that you may not even be aware of.

Sometimes these will correct themselves over time, but in some cases they don’t. When the subtle biomechanical dysfunctions remain over a long period of time, they create abnormal wear and tear on joints and surrounding tissues. It is this abnormal wear and tear that can cause symptoms to arise many months or even years after a car accident.

As the abnormal movement patterns continue over time, the body tries to reinforce the areas that are getting abnormal mechanical stress.

One of the ways that it does this is by causing muscles to stay tight and contracted to protect the area. Many people who have been in car accidents suffer from chronic muscle tightness, often in the neck, shoulders, and mid back (what a lot of people call “whiplash” pain). This muscle tension in turn can produce other symptoms such as headaches and symptoms running down one or both arms.

Another way that the body tries to reinforce areas of abnormal stress is by adding bone to the area. Bone spurs and ridges may form around overstressed joints and soft tissue attachments and tend to gradually get larger as time goes on. In some cases, the extra bone growth can begin to bridge joints, fusing the surfaces together and limiting mobility. In the case of the spine, the extra bone that forms after a car accident can begin to narrow the openings around the spinal cord and nerves, producing neurological compression and irritation which can be quite serious.

While these types of problems can be treated to varying degrees once they begin to produce symptoms, it is far easier to correct the subtle biomechanical dysfunctions that the car accident initially caused. If you get the appropriate corrective treatment early on, it will prevent or at least significantly limit the long term problems.

This is why it is important to seek out treatment soon after a car accident, rather than living with the pain and figuring that things will eventually get better on their own.

If you have been involved in an accident, it is strongly recommended that you be evaluated by a musculoskeletal specialist as soon as possible so that you can avoid the long-term problems that are so often the result of car accidents. Ideally, it is good to be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary team of experts such as we have in our San Antonio office, so that you can be evaluated from several different perspectives.

Don’t let your body be wrecked forever by your car accident!

The Right Kind Of Therapy At The Right Time

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:24:25 +0000

: San Antonio Physical Therapist Mark DeAnda, P.T. Assists A Patient With Shoulder Exercises.

Physical therapy can be remarkably helpful when the right treatment is applied at the proper time, but it can actually make things worse if the patient is forced to fit into a preconceived treatment protocol that is inappropriate for their particular circumstances.

For example, a patient with an acute disc herniation who is experiencing severe pain is not likely to do well with intense resistance training. This might seem pretty obvious, but you might be surprised how often a patient like this would be put into a resistance training program on day one of treatment by supposedly qualified therapists, simply because it is their usual protocol.

While rehabilitation with resistance training is usually an important part of the overall treatment plan for most patients, a good physical therapist is going to assess each patient individually and decide what will provide the best results the fastest and is within the patient’s tolerance.

A patient who is in severe pain will initially need therapies that are directed at reducing pain, inflammation, and muscle spasm. As the symptoms improve, they can gradually be transitioned into more rehabilitative treatments intended to enhance strength and stability and to improve the individual’s tolerance to activities.

A good physical therapist knows when to push a patient a little bit to get them past their fears and to prevent them from being lazy in their rehab activities. But pushing a patient who is simply being lazy and/or is holding back out of fear of pain returning is much different than asking a patient who can barely move without excruciating pain to lift weights.

By initiating the right treatment at the right time, a good physical therapist ensures that the patient will recover as quickly as possible and will have the best long-term outcome.

It’s Not So Much What You Lift, But How You Lift It

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:21:13 +0000

: Good Lifting Form Protects Your Back

One of the most common causes of low back injuries is poor lifting form. Many people with lifting-related injuries assume that the reason they hurt their backs was because they tried to lift something that was too heavy. In reality, if they used proper lifting form, chances are they would not have been injured, even if they tried to lift something that weighed more than their muscles could lift.

Even a very light object can cause a back injury if poor lifting form is used. In fact, just your own body weight is sufficient to cause a back injury if you put it in a mechanically-compromised position – specifically, bending forward at the waist.

Most people have heard that they should bend their knees when they lift something, but that’s not the whole story. Even with your knees bent, it is still possible to bend forward at the waist, and it is this position that places the lower spine in jeopardy.

The picture above shows good lifting form: bending at the knees with the back straight and the head up. It can be difficult to know what position you are in while lifting unless you happen to be in front of a mirror though. One trick that helps ensure that you use proper lifting form is to intentionally “stick your butt out” and keep your upper body as close to perpendicular to the ground (straight up, rather than bent forward) as possible.

By using proper form, you can safely lift whatever amount of weight your legs and arms can handle without having to worry about your low back.