LOWER BACK AND NECK PAIN TREATMENT

Lower back and neck pain can be quite frustrating and it can prevent us from performing our best at work or at sport. Luckily, we provide pain relief treatments to help get you functioning normally again.

Causes of lower back and neck pain

There are many causes of lower back and neck pain, but the causes we see in the practice are:

Overuse, improper use, strenuous activity or heavy repetitive lifting
Injury or trauma
Poor muscle tone
Muscle tension or spasm
Joint problems
Disc injury

What to expect at your appointment

When you first see Alewyn, he’ll take a detailed medical history and ask about your work environment, lifestyle and any medications you take. He’ll also want to know more about the back/neck pain and how long you’ve experienced pain. Next, he’ll do a detailed physical examination, including looking at how you move and how your back and neck is working. In some cases, he may do a neurological assessment to see how well your nerves are working.

Treatment: spinal mobilisation and manipulation

We use a special manual therapy called spinal mobilisation and manipulation. This therapy includes techniques that glide joints in a rhythmic manner and/or use muscle contractions to loosen or restrict joints.

Since the effects of treatment can be short-lived, it’s important that you do the prescribed exercises to complement the manual therapy treatment.

Manual therapy can help to increase lubrication of the joints and reduce restrictive muscle spasms. Sometimes, we use mobilisation using direct pressure of the fingers and hands on the joints of the spine. Other times, mobilisation is done by assisting the body’s usual movements, such as twisting and bending.