Back pain is a growing condition – and in 2020, it impacted over 600 million people around the world. Whether it’s due to poor posture, muscle strain, or underlying medical conditions, back pain can have a huge impact on your overall mobility.
Physiotherapy is a highly effective form of treatment for managing and relieving back pain. In this blog, we will explore various physiotherapy exercises that can be used to help decrease pain in your back and improve overall health.
Understanding Back Pain
Back pain is a condition that is becoming more and more common and is having various impacts on people’s lives. The condition can be categorised into different types based on its cause and duration:
- Acute Back Pain: This can last for a few days to weeks and is often due to an injury or a temporary condition.
- Chronic Back Pain: This type of pain is often experienced for over three months and can be due to ongoing conditions such as arthritis disc degeneration.
- Referred Pain: This is pain that originates from another part of the body, such as the kidneys or gastrointestinal tract, but is felt in the back.
Where possible, try to determine the type and cause of your back pain when seeking effective treatment. Physiotherapists often utilise a wide range of techniques and treatments such as manual therapy, education, and exercises which they can tailor to your specific needs.
Causes of Back Pain
If you are experiencing consistent back pain and are unsure why this may be, there are various factors that you should be aware of that may be contributing to the condition. Understanding the common causes of back pain can be beneficial in helping you manage and prevent a recurrence of the pain in the future.
Here are some of the key contributors that often contribute to back pain:
- Muscle of ligament strain
- Poor posture
- Degenerative disc disease
- Herniated or bulging discs
- Scoliosis
- Inflammatory conditions
Physiotherapy Treatment for Back Pain
Back pain is a growing concern that is impacting the lives of older adults, often aged 60 or older. However, physiotherapy has recently proven to offer many benefits for pain relief when treating various types of back pain.
Unlike other forms of treatment and medication, physiotherapy takes a different approach by focusing on the body’s natural healing process and addressing the underlying causes rather than just the symptoms. This approach to treatment not only provides better results but also reduces the risk of recurrence.
Physiotherapy is highly effective for addressing underlying causes and promoting overall healing. This is often due to the use of techniques by physiotherapists including:
- Spinal Manipulation: This technique involves applying controlled force to the specific areas of the back that are experiencing pain to help restore proper function.
- Manual Therapy: This form of therapy is a hands-on approach to healing and involves the use of skilled techniques.
- Soft Tissue Techniques: Addressing soft tissues in the body and repairing them with the use of gentle techniques to help relieve pain.
- Exercise Programmes: These programmes help guide individuals looking to improve their fitness levels.
Best Exercises to Use for Back Pain
Physiotherapy is an effective approach to treating back pain. The exercises used in physiotherapy are highly beneficial and can improve your overall flexibility, strength, and overall spinal health.
Warm-Up
Before completing any form of exercise, it is always important to warm up to help the muscles prepare and prevent any injuries. A simple and easy warm-up can include light exercises that aren’t too demanding on the body such as walking or marching in place.
Core Strengthening Exercises
Strengthening the core muscles provides better support for the spine and back pain. With the use of the right exercises, you can improve your overall core strength in no time. Here are some key exercises to implement into your routine.
1. Pelvic Tilts
Pelvic tilts help strengthen the lower back and abdominal muscles. Here is a routine to follow on how to perform pelvic tilts:
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Tighten your abdominal muscles and flatten your back against the floor.
- Hold for a few seconds, then relax.
- Repeat 10-15 times.
2. Bridge Exercise
The bridge exercise targets the gluteal muscles and lower back. The bridge is performed with the use of a specific routine, here is a simple routine for you to follow:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Lift your hips towards the ceiling while keeping your shoulders on the ground.
- Hold for a few seconds, then lower your hips back down.
- Repeat 10-15 times.
3. Plank
The plank exercise strengthens the core, including the back muscles. The plank is considered quite a simple exercise to perform. Here is how you can perform the plank correctly:
- Start in a push-up position with forearms on the ground.
- Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels.
- Hold the position for 20-30 seconds, gradually increasing the duration as you get stronger.
- Repeat 3-5 times.
Gentle Aerobic Exercises
Utilising low-impact aerobic exercises into your routine can improve your overall fitness and support back health.
1. Walking
Walking is a simple and effective way to improve cardiovascular health and reduce back pain. Here are some key tips to follow to maximise the benefits of the exercise:
- Start with short walks and gradually increase the duration and intensity.
- Maintain good posture while walking.
2. Swimming
Swimming or water aerobics provide a full-body workout with minimal impact on the joints and spine. Swimming can often be complex to perform, here are some tips to help you perform the exercise:
- Focus on strokes that do not twist the body excessively, such as freestyle or backstroke.
- Don’t overwork your muscles and joints and focus on slow movements.
Seek Physiotherapy with Concordia Clinic Today
Physiotherapy exercises are gaining a lot more recognition for their many benefits in treating and managing back pain. Utilising the exercises that we have mentioned in this blog into your daily routine will really help you alleviate pain, improve mobility, and prevent future recurrence.
Here at Concordia Clinic, we focus on all aspects of health and medicine and including physiotherapy we offer a wide range of treatments. We are highly passionate about your overall well-being and believe that there is no one better to keep you at the peak of your health.
If you are suffering from regular back pain and are looking to seek treatment, look no further than Concordia Clinic for effective treatments. We understand that everyone has their own needs which is why we tailor treatments to ensure we provide the best service possible and full customer satisfaction.
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