From Ouch! To Ahhh! How Physical Therapy Moves You To A Pain-Free Life

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When you have back pain, you see a chiropractor. A chiropractor's adjustments can make a big difference, but so can physical therapy. Here are some examples of how these two practices work in tandem to lessen back pain and make you happily pain-free.

Hip Adjustments and Exercises

If you suffer from lower back pain, physical therapy immediately starts with hip exercises. While laying flat on your back, the therapist will roll just one hip toward the opposite side of your body and gently push or lean you into the stretch. You should feel this just above your buttocks, up to your waist, and through your lower back. The therapist starts with smaller movements until you feel the pain less and less, and then makes the movements larger and larger with each visit.

Likewise, the chiropractor will make adjustments to your hips. This helps release any pressure you may have on the sciatic nerves that travel through your hip sockets and down the backs of your legs. When pressure is released, pain is lessened, and the physical therapist can help move your hips more.

Rolling up/down Exercises and Shoulder Adjustments

Upper back pain is often felt between or near the shoulder blades. The physical therapist will have you perform roll-up and roll-down exercises that carefully stress the moving of each vertebra in a straight line and making each vertebra come off the mat and touch the mat independently of the others. At the bottom of the exercise, you are encouraged to flatten the whole of your back against the mat, making sure your shoulders are pinned downward as well. As you roll up, your shoulders should be the first thing to come up, followed by each of your vertebra after that. 

The chiropractor's visits, in this case, will include positioning your arms and shoulders in various fashions and leaning into your body until he/she hears a "pop!" Other movements in similar positions will call for a quick bounce on your upper torso to get the same sound effect. Both types of movements are forcing your body to release tension and relax muscles through the ribs, spine, shoulders and arms.

More Exercises and More Adjustments

The above just illustrates the therapy exercises and adjustments for upper and lower back pain. There are more exercises for each. There are also more exercises and different adjustments if you experience back pain in the middle of your back.

Contact a provider, like Refkin Joseph P DC, for more help.


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