In previous blogs we have discussed the limitations of imaging, including MRI, for musculoskeletal conditions including low back pain. The presence of pathology including disc herniations, nerve compression, arthritis, and degenerative disc disease increases with age in both pain free and painful individuals. The high degree of positive findings among asymptomatic individuals questions the ability...
Low back pain remains one of the constants in life, but thankfully is easily treated with Physical Therapy interventions including spinal manipulation, strength training, and directional exercise. Authors report 85-90% of low back pain symptoms cannot be attributed to any one tissue or pathology and remain non specific in nature. These findings, in part, have...
The 3 inevitable events in our society include death, taxes, and low back pain. Many of us will experience a significant episode of low back pain in our lives but the vast majority of these symptoms are not associated with serious pathology such as fracture or cancer. In our previous posts on low back pain...
Lumbar spinal stenosis is a relatively common condition in older adults with an estimated incidence of 1 in every 1000 adults over 65 years old. Age related changes in the spine lead to increased weight bearing across the posterior elements of the spine, arthritic changes in spinal joints, and decreased cross sectional area in the...
The old saying that you can’t unring a bell is true in imaging for musculoskeletal conditions. Most patients cannot unsee their MRI results despite improvements in their symptoms and activity level with Physical Therapy treatments. Once terms such as bulging or degeneration have been utilized to describe their spines they never regain full confidence in...
Many of our outdated theories on why individuals have muscle and joint pain have been questioned and disproven by more recent research studies. One example includes the association between running and future knee osteoarthritis. Instead of confirming the old theory based on the wear and tear hypothesis moderate running has been shown to have a...
The black and white areas of health care are easy to navigate but the grey areas separate the novice from the experienced clinician. Uncertainty is part of health care and often clinicians make absolute statements in order to make themselves more comfortable in the grey areas of practice. In Physical Therapy, statements including “do not...
Early access to Physical Therapy services (direct access) has been previously shown to reduce a patient’s cost of care by up to $1500. In addition to its’ cost savings, direct access to Physical Therapy treatment has been shown to be a safe and effective short and long term treatment plan for patients with musculoskeletal pain....
Lumbar spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the bony canals in the spine which surround the nerves which supply our lower extremities. The condition is common among aging adults, > 60 years old, and can lead to symptoms such as single or bilateral leg pain, numbness, pins and needles, and/or weakness. Often leg symptoms are...