Back Pain Relief

Our spines are designed to move. One of the most common causes of back pain is poor posture/prolonged positions. Our modern society is far more sedentary than past generations, and the incidence of back pain continues to grow.

Back pain caused by poor posture is commonly associated with prolonged activities like sitting and standing. When you sustain a posture, you can irritate the tissues in your body, leading to pain, dysfunction, and over time even inflammation or injury.

A back sprain occurs when you overstretch the ligaments in your spine, whereas a back strain occurs when you overstretch your back muscles. These types of injuries are often associated with a lifting injury or an accident (i.e., motor vehicle accident, slip, or fall).

The discs are specialized tissue between two vertebrae (i.e., spine bones). The discs help direct our spines’ movement and absorb forces and protect the bones from injury.

The discs are particularly vulnerable to injury from bending and twisting movements, primarily when associated with lifting in these positions. The disc is also susceptible to prolonged postures related to sitting or awkward tasks.

Injury to the discs can cause significant pain in the back and lead to a more serious condition known as radiculopathy (i.e., nerve pain) in your thigh, leg, or foot (aka sciatica).

The good news is that physical therapy at our Mountain Home, AR clinic can help you if you struggle with pain associated with disc problems.

Degenerative disc disease is another common cause of back discomfort and is most commonly associated with aging. Smoking, certain medications, and injury can also lead to degenerative changes.

Pain associated with degenerative disc disease often presents with changes to mobility and is commonly felt when initiating movement after a prolonged position (i.e., sitting, standing, or lying).

People often describe a dull, painful ache in the lower back that gets worse with standing or walking for lengthy periods.

Sciatica is the term used to describe radiating pain into the buttock that can travel down the back of the thigh. Often this pain is achy and spread out along these areas. Sciatica is a result of irritation to the sciatic nerve, which travels deep in the buttock and down the back of the leg. In about 20% of people, the sciatic nerve pierces through the piriformis muscle deep in the buttock instead of under it. This can make the sciatic nerve more susceptible to irritation and pressure from the piriformis muscle. The piriformis muscle helps guide hip movement, but can become very tight with prolonged sitting. This increased tightness causes pressure and irritation to the sciatic nerve causing pain.

Spinal Stenosis is a condition that typically goes hand in hand with spinal arthritis. Spinal stenosis refers to a narrowing of the central spinal canal or the canals where the nerves exit the spine to the lower legs (called foramen). These canals are made up of overlapping spinal bones (vertebrae) over another. With degeneration of the spinal joints, collapsing of the disc height or abnormal bone growth, the canals can narrow. This leads to rubbing and even pressure on the nerves, which can cause a multitude of symptoms.

Spinal Arthritis is a very common area for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The low back takes a tremendous strain throughout our lifetime, supporting the body, moving, sitting and repetitively bending. In addition to these contributing factors, arthritis can also be affected by genetics, age, previous injuries, diet and exercise.

With abnormal forces on the back, the cartilage on the joints at each level of the spine can rub down causing even wear, build up of bone and eventually bone on bone rubbing. This can result in painful movement of the spinal joints and chronic, achy pain in the low back. Much like an arthritic knee, the spinal joints are helped through restoring natural movement, improving support from the spinal muscles and proper posture.

There are many surgical procedures for the low back including discectomies, laminectomies and even spinal fusion surgeries. The goal of most of these surgeries is to remove any broken bone, tissues or discs that may be pressing on exiting nerves from the spine. Furthermore, bringing stability to the spinal area is critical. It is important that you discuss with your physician conservative treatments first, such as physical therapy before surgery is absolutely necessary.