Low back pain or lumbalgia physiotherapy Mechelen
Low back pain or lumbalgia is a broad term and includes all conditions with pain localized in or around the lumbar spine. Lumbar complaints are the most common of all back complaints for the simple reason that they are most burdened. To be able to withstand the daily load, good stability is required. We can therefore see the low back as a more stable zone in the back. To keep the stability as high as possible, the mobility is less than in the other regions. The mobility should in this case mainly come from surrounding joints such as the hips and the upper back. Reduced mobility in these surrounding joints will lead to more movement in the lower back, a zone where you do not want to move too much or too far. The load will increase in this case together with the chance of pain or complaints.
Non-specific low back pain:
In 85 to 90% of people presenting with low back pain, no structural diagnosis can be made. This kind of back pain then gets the term non-specific low back pain. We can see this as a sort of overload of certain structures in the back such as the facet joints (blocked feeling) or the musculature (stiff feeling). An extensive screening by your physiotherapist will show exactly what can be the cause of the complaints.
We distinguish acute and chronic lower back pain:
Acute low back pain can occur after a certain period of overusing the lower back (eg bending over in the garden) or by a sudden torsion or flexion-extension movement of the spine resulting in severe pain.
Chronic low back pain is pain that stays present for more than 3 months. This is usually described as a stiff feeling in the morning that gets better during the day but gets worse when sitting or standing for a long time. The muscles that are responsible for moving and controlling the low back (glutes, quadratus lumborum, paraspinal musculature) are often very tense in these cases. These give a feeling of painful stiffness which can give problems when sleeping. Chronic pain is often seen with degeneration of the intervertebral discs and facet joints.
Non-specific low back pain is treated conservatively. After a visit to your doctor, you can start the rehabilitation which consists of reducing pain in the first place through manual therapy and mobilizing exercise therapy. Then we will focus more and more on exercise therapy. The exercise therapy is adapted to your complaint and the cause of the pain. In this way we always look at the whole body and not only at the low back.
Disc bulging or disc herniation:
An intervertebral disc can best be described as a shock absorbent cushion between two vertebrae. This consists of a nucleus pulposus inside and an annulus fibrosis around it. The nucleus pulposus has a rather gel-like structure while the annulus fibrosis serves as a protective ring around it. With movements in the back, the gel-like structure will also move along. When repetitively performing movements with a bad posture or when performing fast movement with a high load, it can happen that the nucleus pulposus pushes against the ring and causes a protrusion in this case we speak of a disc bulging.
In some more severe cases this structure pushes so hard that the ring tears and the gel-like structure comes out of the intervertebral disc. This structure, together with the accompanying inflammation, can give compression to the surrounding nerve root, resulting in nagging and shooting pain in the leg. We also often see a reduction in muscle strength and changed perception at the level of the skin.
Also in the case of a disc bulging or disc herniation, a conservative treatment is first opted. In the first place, you should make an appointment with your doctor. A CT or MRI scan may be required to confirm a final diagnosis.
After the visit to your doctor, we will look through a screening which exercises your low back will make pain free again. You also receive an exercise program for home and we ensure that the chance of recurrence is minimized.
