Mitigating Back Pain with Physical Therapy

Back pain is one of the most common physical ailments in the United States. Chiropractor work and prescribed medication serve well to either temporarily alleviate or cure back pain. However, those with chronic back pain know full well that remedies are not a one-size-fits-all. When you’ve been struggling for an extended length of time, it may be time to see a physical therapist for your back pain.

Physical therapists are trained to perform treatment interventions including therapeutic exercises to improve core strength and flexibility, manual therapy techniques to improve vertebral mobility and decrease muscle tension, and pain-relieving modalities for all types of back pain. Kyle Ingwersen, Osceola Regional Health Center physical therapist, regularly works with spinal pathology patients on getting back to life as they knew it before their pain.

“We are able to treat any part of the spine from the skull to the sacrum and everything in between. Common spinal diagnosis treated by a physical therapist include degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, disc herniation, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, spinal instability, and piriformis syndrome”, he explains. “However, every patient with a back injury is different and interventions vary from person to person.”

The term “sciatica” refers to pain radiating down the leg along the path of the sciatic nerve. Based on the pathology and origination of the sciatic symptoms, your physical therapist will provide exercises that assist in centralization of symptoms, or facilitation of pain that moves closer to the spine instead of down the leg.

Back pain patients are benefited by utilizing their education and guidance to continue their therapy at home and make further progress. Kyle works with his patients on setting attainable goals to say goodbye to their back pain and get back to their life.

To schedule a physical therapy appointment for your back pain, call Osceola Regional Health Center at 712-754-5368.