Back complaints
Back
The back is formed of the spinal column, the last part of the ribs and the surrounding soft tissue. The spinal column consists of the vertebrae, intervertebral discs and vertebral joints. There are also capsules, ligaments, tendons, fascia, muscles and nerves which connect with different parts of the spinal column. The combination of this structure ensures the stability, flexibility and debit distribution.
Back pain is a common complaint. About 80 % of adults get back pain once or more frequently. It affects primarily the lower back but it can also hit the upper back. In most cases, the pain can be removed in a few days or weeks ; however, some symptoms can be more serious.
It is essential to not continue with back pain but to have find out the cause and to treat it as soon as possible. Even with an acute really painful lumbago, you should start the physiotherapy without delay to avoid repetitive problems. Sometimes, the pain originates from another area of your body which irradiates to the back where you feel probably the most of the pain.
Symptoms of back injuries
Back pain often starts with a low-grade ache, normally combined with stiffness in your lower back. Symptoms can be diverse depending on the cause of the complaint. An overview of the symptoms that may occur :
- Pain that suddenly shoots into your back as a sort of blockage
- With a hernia, the pain is often in the lower back but can also exist in the neck or middle back. It is often radiating to the limbs
- Lower back pain and/or needles in the lower limbs, buttocks or feet
- Stiffness in the lower back
- Limitation of movement in the back
- Nagging and tired feeling in the back
- Pain during benching or turning the back
- Pain that gets worse when sitting or standing for a long time without movement
- Pain during lifting
- Less power in legs or arms depending on the back pain location
- Tensed muscle of the lower back and abdomen
- Lack of movement
- Pregnancy
- Scoliosis
- Treatment after back surgery
- Poor posture, posture problems
- Lumbago
- Herniae
- Arthritis
- Instability of the lower back
- Stress
- Fascia problems
Causes of back injuries
With 85 % of lower back pain complaints, no physical reason can be found. That means it is an aspecific back pain. With the remaining 15 %, there is a physical reason like a herniated disc or spinal cord compression. The causes of back pain are in many cases a combination of poor posture and a lack of movement with for example sitting jobs or overload. Below is an overview of the most common causes and the conditions we treat :
Consultation and treatment
We will start the first session with an intake consultation and body examination to find out where your pain comes from and how to treat it.
We are specialized in the treatment of back complaints, and we will directly help you to reduce/ remove the pain in your back, and to improve mobility. The kind of treatment can be either Manual Therapy, Fasciatherapy or Therapeutical massage, to be individualized to the specific complaint.
Besides hands-on treatments, we will give you tailored exercises to correct your posture and to improve the power, flexibility, length of the muscles/tendon, fascia and to improve the mobility of the vertebral joint. Thereby we will advise you on how to prevent the specific problem in the future.