Strains and irritation to the low back can be very common but extremely frustrating when lasting longer than a few weeks. The low back (Lumbar Spine) is a large and resilient structure that can handle tremendous forces and movement; however the loads of activity can supersede the capacity of the low back tissue can handle....
Did you know the more movies Nicolas Cage makes; the more people drown in pools? Or the worse the rating of M. Night Shyamalan on Rotten Tomatoes; the less total newspaper sales? There is a significant difference between correlation and causation in the world and is especially noted in medicine. As we all deal with...
Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a common diagnosis given to those experiencing low back pain. The gold standard of diagnosing stenosis is using an MRI to determine closure of natural occurring spaces of the lumbar spine. At times the closures can contribute to impingement of nerves or spinal canal which can lead low back pain...
Low back pain remains one of the most common symptoms seen by both physicians and Physical Therapists. Physical Therapy remains the gold standard for the conservative treatment of low back pain due to its’ clinical effectiveness and cost savings vs. other forms of treatment including usual care. In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice we consistently...
Physical Therapists aim to utilize clinical objective tests to confirm their evolving hypotheses on the source of patient’s current symptoms. One of the most beneficial areas of our Physical Therapy and orthopedic research has involved the confirmation or refute of known clinical tests to identify patients with or without a given diagnosis such as an...
Healthcare demonstrates significant swings of the pendulum in examination and treatment trends. Thankfully the medical evidence helps balance these swings allowing us to come to a more appropriate balance in clinical practice. Unfortunately, unchecked bias in a clinician, such as confirmation bias, can lead to missed diagnoses and inappropriate treatments. In Physical Therapy, this can...
Death and taxes are said to be the two certainties in life for adults, but Ben Franklin may have added low back pain given its’ current prevalence. Up to 90% of adults will report an episode of low back pain during their lifetimes. Fortunately, the vast majority of these episodes are not secondary to any...
Low back pain continues to affect many Americans leading to pain, loss of function, missed work days, and higher health care expenditures. Much of this cost is attributed to the often unnecessary utilization of advanced imaging and procedures such as injections and surgery. Previous research has shown early access to Physical Therapy without a prior...
Physical Therapy remains the first line treatment for lumbar disk injuries due to its’ non invasive nature and clinical effectiveness. The natural history of disk injuries is not well established but preliminary data covered in prior blog posts demonstrates regression of these injuries over time. A recent case study in the New England Journal of...
There are few treatments more effective for the prevention and treatment of injuries and musculoskeletal conditions than resistance training. Unfortunately, many Americans are not performing enough strengthening to prevent the loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) which begins to occur in the 3rd decade of life. After age 30 we begin to demonstrate a progressive loss...