Try Physical Therapy Before Considering Back Surgery
Back pain can sometimes be an incapacitating condition. Back pain, which can range from a dull ache to excruciating pain, can prevent you from performing the simplest of daily tasks or the activities that you once enjoyed.
While nearly 80% of adults experience back pain at some point in their lives, the treatments available to help them are diverse. Despite this, many people are quick to believe that surgery is the best option for relieving back pain. The truth is that over 90% of back pain can be treated without surgery. Back pain is not for the faint of heart; it is invasive and has potentially dangerous side effects.
Physical therapy – one, or a combination of physiotherapy, chiropractic, athletic therapy, and massage – is a natural form of pain relief that promotes long-lasting recovery. If you’re in the Oakville, ON, or the surrounding area and you want to learn more about the benefits of physical therapy, contact Leaps and Bounds: Performance Rehabilitation today!
How can I find relief with physical therapy?
Many people associate physical therapy with post-operative care. While it is important in assisting patients in their recovery after surgery, it is also an excellent pain relief tool that may help you forgo surgery altogether. A physical therapist has in their pain relief arsenal soft tissue and joint manual therapies, as well as therapeutic modalities like acupuncture.
However, most people are unaware that pain relief frequently necessitates exercises – strengthening, mobility, and cardiovascular. The idea would be to expose you to a tolerable dosage of each and gradually expose you to more, as you begin to adapt and your pain subsequently reduces.
We are not going to lie, oftentimes this is a slow process. But much of it will require your active and independent participation where the physical therapist eventually becomes more of your coach.
Surgery for back pain and physical therapy
If it is deemed that you do need back surgery, you may already have a recovery plan in place that includes physical therapy. What you may not know is that physical therapy is a great way to prepare for surgery as well. Physical therapy can not only improve your cardiovascular function, but it can also strengthen muscles and bones leading into your surgery.
Even a few sessions with a physical therapist can reduce postoperative care by more than 25%. Because most back surgery procedures require lengthy recovery periods, the idea of cutting it by a fourth is appealing.
Who knows, there are those occasional few people who do so well with pre-operative physical therapy – physiotherapy, chiropractic, athletic therapy, and massage therapy – that they no longer require surgery!
Ready to find relief?
If you are in the Oakville, ON, or surrounding area and you are contemplating surgery or have already scheduled one, contact Leaps and Bounds: Performance Rehabilitation to schedule a consultation today!