Almost 80% of people are bound to suffer from the problem of lower back pain at some stage in their life. In today’s uncomfortable lifestyle, this problem is noted as one of the common as well as most disturbing physical problems. After any episode of low back pain that has lasted between two and six weeks, or if there are frequent recurrences of low back pain, physiotherapy is often recommended. Usually a spine specialist considers physiotherapy at the initial stage, particularly if the pain is severe.
The main aims of physiotherapy are to decrease pain, increase function, and provide knowledge to prevent further recurrences. Physiotherapy for low back treatment usually has two components that include Passive physiotherapy that helps in the reduction of the patient’s pain to a more manageable level and the other one is Active exercises.
What is Passive Physiotherapy?
In Passive Physiotherapy, spine physicians mainly focus on decreasing the pain with passive physical therapy or modalities). These therapies are known as passive because they are done to the patient. Heat/ice packs, TENS units, Iontophoresis and Ultrasound are some of the examples of the modalities.
The Heat and/or ice are easily available and are the most commonly used types of modality and each type of therapy helps to reduce any kind of muscle spasm and inflammation. The TENS Units for Electrotherapy basically use electrical stimulation to modulate the sensation of low back pain by overriding the signals of pain that are sent to the brain. In the process of Iontophoresis the steroids are delivered through the skin. The steroid is applied to the skin and then an electrical current is applied that causes it to migrate under the skin. Further, those steroids produce an anti-inflammatory effect on the area that is causing pain. This kind of modality is especially effective in relieving acute cases of lower back pain. Whereas, Ultrasound is a form of deep heating that involves application of sound waves to the skin to penetrate into the soft tissues. This is very much useful in relieving acute episodes of pain that also enhances tissue healing.
What does it mean by Active Physiotherapy?
With Passive physiotherapy, active physiotherapy is also recommended as a necessity to rehabilitate the spine. In general, the whole therapy encompasses a combination of Stretching for back pain exercises, Strengthening for back pain exercise and Low-impact aerobic conditioning.
People suffering from lower back pain are recommended to stretch their hamstring muscles once or twice daily. For the strengthening of the back muscles, 15 to 20 minutes of dynamic lumbar stabilization or other prescribed exercises should be done every other day. In lower back treatment core muscle strengthening is considered to be really important. It is strictly recommended to learn these exercises correctly physical therapist or other qualified health professional in order to see the best of benefits.