Authored by Jason Meyer, DPT, clinic director, ATI Physical Therapy – Bourbonnais Mooney Dr.
Low back pain is one of the most common injuries treated by physical therapists. There can be several reasons for the low back pain and the pain may radiate into one or both legs. Along with pain, other symptoms may occur, including decreased leg strength and numbness/tingling in the legs. You may notice that different positions or activities relieve or aggravate your symptoms.
When a patient first sees a physical therapist to treat his or her low back pain, the therapist will perform an individualized evaluation of the patient to determine potential contributors to the patient’s pain. The initial evaluation will identify what problems need to be addressed during physical therapy, as well as set goals for treatment. Some common problems that physical therapists address in relation to low back pain are decreased core stability, decreased lower extremity flexibility, soft tissue restrictions in the back, altered joint mobility in the spine, deviated posture, and issues with body mechanics.
A typical treatment session begins with a warm-up, either active (such as light cardiovascular exercise) or passive (such as a moist hot pack) to warm up your muscles. Based on a patient’s individual needs, treatment may also include manual therapy, soft tissue mobilization (massage), stretches, core stabilization and lower extremity strengthening exercise, functional lifting exercises to help a patient return to their prior functional level, endurance exercises, and pain modalities to help alleviate pain and reduce muscle soreness after activity.
If you have low back pain and you think that you may benefit from physical therapy, schedule a complimentary injury screening at ATI or speak with your physician about a prescription for physical therapy treatments. Good communication between your physician and physical therapist will help to ensure that you receive appropriate treatments for your individual situation.