When Physical Therapy Fails to Relieve Low Back Pain
You’ve tried all kinds of treatments for your low back pain, and now you are in Physical Therapy, but you aren’t achieving the results you had hoped for. Now you are wondering if surgery is your only option?! At OrthoRegen®, we see patient after patient tired of their pain, fed up with treatments that haven’t worked, yet still seeking an alternative to surgery.
Why Hasn’t Physical Therapy Worked?
So you have been to quite a few sessions of physical therapy, but have seen only limited results, and are still experiencing low back pain. Some of the goals of physical therapy include helping you to move and to increase function. Muscle strengthening is also an integral part of the therapy. Very often, these treatments are quite beneficial. But the people who come through our door are those who do not reach the goals they desire.
Strengthening of the spine is crucial for pain relief. And physical therapy can help to strengthen the core musculature of the torso to relieve spasms. This may help temporarily to allow the vertebrae to return to their natural positions.
In the lower back, the lumbar interspinalis muscles attach to the vertebrae at the spinous processes on both sides of the spine. They are important for stabilization of the spine during normal back movements and to help maintain good posture.
However, when the connective tissue (like the spinal ligaments) are injured that hold the vertebrae in place, the vertebrae will continue to “slip out of place.” And without repair of ligament injury, which physical therapy cannot address, then physical therapy may only bring temporary or limited relief. Compromised supportive ligament attachments become unable to maintain stability. When this is the case, physical therapy will not reach maximum benefit.
What Is the Answer for Injured Ligaments if It’s Not Physical Therapy?
Fortunately, there is a treatment that is specific to the repair of injured ligaments. Prolotherapy is a Regenerative Orthopedic treatment option that has been studied for many, many years, and has been shown to effectively repair injured and damaged ligaments. Physical therapy is wonderful for relieving and strengthening muscle pain and weakness. Prolotherapy can repair ligament and tendon injury.
How We Treat Low Back Pain at OrthoRegen®
We utilize Regenerative Orthopedics for low back pain. In many cases, Prolotherapy is the treatment of choice to strengthen the ligaments that have become damaged. Once the ligaments are repaired and strengthened, exercises to strengthen the musculature will once again be encouraged, possibly even physical therapy.
Movement is very important, and exercise can help to reduce pain. Muscles work to move the joints. That’s their place. Ligaments provide stability, muscles provide movement. And in the lower back, large muscles are an integral part of the lower back’s job supporting the weight of the body, and moving it threw the many motions and functions the back is called upon to perform. But remember–strong ligaments provide the stability.
How Does Prolotherapy Help With Ligament Injury?
Injury to any part of the spine will affect other parts, since the vertebrae work so closely together. If one area becomes injured, unstable, or loose, more force is placed on the other vertebral sections. This is why Prolotherapy is such an appropriate treatment for back pain, because the treatment can be used in a comprehensive fashion to treat all of the affected areas. Every vertebrae and each injured, weak, or loose ligament can be addressed. That means if multiple levels are involved, they can all be repaired, strengthened, and tightened with Prolotherapy. The result is less pain and increased ability to move, function, and exercise the low back.
All types of exercise and even physical therapy will work better when the ligaments are strong. Physical Therapy is often a very effective treatment to eliminate acute pain in the lower back. But when it stops working or fails to bring the relief you seek, the problem may be underlying ligament injury. Consider Regenerative Orthopedics to effectively repair the source of the pain.
Over time, after a traumatic injury, the ligaments will start to elongate and become loose and lax. Physically demanding activities or even sedentary postures can lead to this gradual loosening over time. Muscle spasms will develop because of these elongated ligaments. Swelling may occur, and eventually, arthritis will develop as the body attempts to stabilize the area by creating bone spurs.
Regenerative Orthopedics Strengthens Ligaments
Regenerative Orthopedics strengthens the ligaments of the spine and prevents further degeneration. It gets to the underlying issue causing low back pain. Prolotherapy is a type of Regenerative Orthopedics.
The Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation concluded, “Prolotherapy can be regarded as a safe way of providing a meaningful improvement in pain and musculoskeletal function compared to the initial status. …5% dextrose is a more simple and painless solution for Prolotherapy and also has a high success.”(1)
Remember, when back pain is an issue, the muscles may be in spasm because they are overcompensating for the injured ligaments as they try to stabilize the spine. Regenerative Orthopedics is the best treatment to repair the ligaments and get to the root of the back pain problem. Additionally, in cases of degenerative disc disease, Prolotherapy tightens the ligamentous structures and limits the abnormal vertebral motion, reducing the incidence of discogenic low back pain by improving stability.
References
(1) Solmaz I, Orscelik A, Koroglu O. Modified prolotherapy by 5% dextrose: Two years experiences of a traditional and complementary medicine practice center in Turkey. Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation. 2021(Preprint):1-8.
