Low back pain, along with death and taxes, remains one of the certainties of life. This condition affects over 90% of Americans and is often benign, but painful, in nature. Currently spending on low back pain is over 100 billion dollars a year and much of this spending can be attributed to unnecessary and unwarranted...
Low back pain remains the most common musculoskeletal diagnosis seen by primary care providers including Physical Therapists. While the majority of cases of low back pain are not serious in nature symptoms tend to be recurrent and can become chronic (> 3 months) if left untreated. As low back pain progresses from acute to chronic...
In the absence of rare spine pathology the only abnormal low back MRI is a normal MRI. After age 30 many of our spines will age and positive findings will become more common in patients with and without back pain. MRIs have tremendous sensitivity and can find even the smallest amount of pathology, but their...
Death, taxes, and low back pain are three of the certainties of life with over 90% of individuals reporting low back pain at some point in their lives. Our previous posts have described the ability of Physical Therapy to both accelerate a patient’s recovery from low back pain and reduce its’ risk of recurrence. A...
Physical Therapy is an excellent choice for low back pain with numerous research articles supporting its’ ability to rapidly reduce pain and disability. Many interventions utilized in our Boulder Physical Therapy practice, including manipulation and exercise, are designed to prevent low back pain symptoms from being chronic or recurrent. An interesting article was published identifying factors...
There is a current, albeit unproven, thought about the dangers of repetitive spinal flexion. Those who repeat this unfounded belief feel repetitive forward bending places the spine in a less than optimal position leading to back pain or injury. These thoughts have been disproven by the research and forward bending of the spine does not...
The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reviewed the evidence on the utilization of spinal manipulation for patients with acute back pain. Authors reported moderate evidence to support its’ use to both decrease pain and improve function. The majority of research on spinal manipulation is currently being performed by Physical Therapists to determine best...
Previous research has shown an improvement and regression of lumbar disc injuries with conservative treatments including Physical Therapy. Based on clinical practice guidelines and the available evidence, few patients with back and leg pain require surgical interventions for a lumbar disc injury. Many who pursue surgical intervention seek relief of their associated leg symptoms, but until...
Our previous posts have documented the success of Physical Therapy treatments on sciatica, radiating pain down the back of leg, compared to other conservative treatments and surgery. Specifically, no differences have been noted between surgery and PT at long term follow up. Another medical intervention for sciatica includes non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These...
As healthcare costs continue to rise, all stakeholders (patients, providers, and payers) are looking for ways to reduce costs associated with common conditions. In our field, we commonly see patients given generic, one size fits all exercise programs for common conditions including low back pain. Our previous post highlights the limitations of this approach including...