• Preventing low back pain with exercise

    Preventing low back pain with exercise

    If you were looking for the best way to treat and even avoid low back pain, look no further. Recent studies have demonstrated that specific forms of exercise, those intended to coordinate and stabilize deep trunk muscles, are the most effective way to prevent and deal with low back pain; a problem that most Americans will experience at some point in their lives. The low back, or lumbar region, is one of the most commonly injured areas of the body. If you, or someone you know, just sustained a low back injury this past weekend digging out from the snow, you may want to keep the benefits of specific, physical therapist guided, exercise in mind when trying to cope with your pain and avoid future recurrence.
    The medical literature consistently demonstrates that specific exercises, as prescribed by a qualified physical therapist, remain an effective means of dealing with and/or preventing low back pain. These simple, low tech activities have been shown to offer superior results to other forms of intervention, including some manual care, pain medications, injections, and even some forms of surgery.

    A new systemic review and meta-analysis, appearing in the January 2016 edition of JAMA Internal Medicine, which looked at 23 published studies, involving more than 30,000 participants, found that exercise alone was linked to a 35% reduction in risk for the development of low back pain. Furthermore, this study also demonstrated that a combination of exercise and education was associated with a 45% reduction in risk for low back injury for up to one year.

    So if you, or someone you know, is suffering with low back pain, or if you simply want to do your best to avoid that fate, then call one of our Physical Solutions offices to set up an appointment today with one of our qualified physical therapists.