Most of us suffer from lower back pain at some point in our lives; be it from a sedentary lifestyle, spending hours at the office desk or from strenuous physical exercises. In most cases, a little bit of rest does the trick. However, if the lower back pain persists for 3-6 weeks, physiotherapy is recommended.

How does physiotherapy help?

The main purpose behind physiotherapy is reducing lower back pain and increasing muscle and bone function, so that such instances are avoided in the future. Physiotherapy is the first line of defence against lower back pain. More drastic measures such as surgery are undertaken once physiotherapy fails to do is job.

Physiotherapy is often recommended when the back pain is caused due to lifestyle factors, a minor injury like a fall or other moderate factors. For more severe back injuries, doctors recommend surgery straight away when there is no scope of performing physiotherapy.

Low-intensity back pain can be cured using a combination of heat packs, ultrasound wave therapy and Iontophoresis (using a localized current source to introduce medical ionic compounds to the body).

A physical therapy program for back pain usually has two components:

Passive physical therapy to help reduce the patient's pain to a more manageable level

Active exercises

Passive Physical Therapy - Modalities

The physical therapist may focus on decreasing pain with passive physical therapy (modalities). These therapies are considered passive because they are done to the patient. Examples include:

Heat/ice packs

TENS units

Iontophoresis

Ultrasound

Active Physical Therapy - Back Pain Exercises

In addition to passive therapies, active physical therapy (exercise) is also necessary to rehabilitate the spine. Here are some of the common exercises for back pain:

Back Stretch: Put your hands underneath your head while lying back. Bend your knees but put your feet on the ground. Roll your legs to one side and hold them there for 10 seconds. Repeat three times for each side.

Deep Lunge: For this, you need to kneel on one knee with the other foot pointed towards the front. Lift the back knee up and hold it there for five seconds and then bring it down. Repeat this exercise three times for each side.

One Leg Stand: This is the simplest of exercises. Hold on to a wall for support while standing and face towards it. Then slowly hold one leg and bend it behind you. Hold in the same position for five seconds before bringing it down. Repeat the process three times for each leg in five second gaps.

Physiotherapy for Back Pain

Spine surgery is conventionally performed as  open surgery , which means the region being worked on is opened with a long entry point to permit the surgeon to view and access the area. Technical and scientific advances have permitted more back and neck conditions to be treated with a less obtrusive surgical technique. The minimal invasive spine surgery (MISS) does not include a long cut, and it prevents causing damage to the muscles around the spine. As a rule, this causes less pain after the surgery and a speedier and healthy recovery.

Spine surgery is normally suggested when non-surgical treatments like medicinal or exercise based methods have not helped in lessening the excruciating symptoms of your back problem. Moreover, surgery is just considered if your doctor can pinpoint the correct reason of your pain, for example, a herniated circle or spinal stenosis. 

MISS is also called less obtrusive spine surgery. In these procedures, surgeons utilise particular instruments to get to the spine through little cuts. The surgery process is as follows:

During the surgery, a little entry point is made and the tubular retractor is embedded through the skin.
It is also inserted into the delicate tissues down to the spinal cord.
This makes a passage to the little range where the problem exists in the spine.
The tubular retractor holds the muscles open and is set up all through the surgery.
The surgeon gets to the spine utilising the little instruments that fit through the focal point of the tubular retractor.
Any bone or disk material that is expelled goes out from the retractor.
Any gadgets needed for the fusion process, for example, screws or rods, are embedded through the retractor.
A few surgeries require more than one retractor.
Keeping in mind the end goal to see where to put the entry point and embed the retractor, the surgeon is guided by fluoroscopy.
This strategy shows ongoing X-ray pictures of the patient's spine on a screen throughout the surgery.
The surgeon additionally utilises a microscope to enlarge the view through the retractor.
Towards the end of the procedure, the tubular retractor is expelled and the muscles come back to their original position.
This restrains the muscle damage that is more ordinarily found in open surgeries.
It is very important to talk about these risks with your doctor before your surgery or procedure.

Infection: Antibiotics are consistently given to the patient some time before, during, and regularly after the surgery to reduce the danger of infections.
Bleeding: A specific measure of bleeding is normal; however, this is not commonly dangerous.
Pain in the grafted area: Some patients will encounter surgical pain at the bone joint site.
Recurring symptoms: A few patients may encounter a repeat of their side effects.
Pseudarthrosis: Patients who tend to smoke are more prone to pseudarthrosis. This is a condition wherein there is insufficient bone formation. In case that this happens, a minor surgery may be required.
Nerve damage: It is possible that the nerves or veins might be harmed during these operations. These complications are extremely uncommon.
Blood clots: Another complication is blood clots in the legs. This poses a threat because these clots can break off and settle in the lungs.

Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery - A Guide On What To Expect?

A sprain refers to a break or a tear in any of the ligaments of your body. A ligament is a band consisting of tissues that connect the bones at any given joint in our body.

A strain on the other hand refers to a tear or a break in the entire muscle itself or a tendon (the band of tissues that connect the muscle to the bones).

Occurrence
Sprains usually take place due to unforeseen incidents like falls, accidents, and such other things that forces the body part to go out of its normal position. The most common types of sprains that people suffer from are ankle sprains which affect about 25,000 people every day on a worldwide basis.

Strains usually happen when you twist a whole muscle or a tendon. This condition most commonly occurs in cases of sportspersons who are engaged in contact sports like hockey, football, rugby, and such others.

Symptoms
The identification signs of sprains and strains are mostly very similar, which are listed below:
1. Pain and discomfort in the joints
2. Visible swelling or inflammation seen on the joints
3. Bruising of the affected area
4. Tenderness and softness of the affected joint

The overall intensity of the above mentioned symptoms might differ basis on the severity of the condition that is directly proportional to the nature of injury that you have faced. Some pains are so light that it may not affect your daily routine at all, whereas some pains are so intense, that you might not be able to move your affected joint at all.

Treatment
Some of the common methods to cure a sprain or a strain are listed below:
1. Rest the area which is affected
2. Apply ice bags or cold compress to soothe the pain
3. Compress the affected joint using a compression tape
4. Place the affected joint on an elevated area to speed up the healing process

Sprain Versus Strain

Neck cancer refers to the formation of cancer cells in the throat or neck region of your body. Neck cancer is commonly seen in people above sixty years of age. But people above forty can also have the chances of getting neck cancer. Though the symptoms of neck cancer can vary from one person to the other, 

Some of the common symptoms are stated as follows:

 Neck cancer affects the voice box, so a change in your voice can be noticed.
 Weight loss is also a symptom for neck cancer.
 A person suffering from neck cancer can also suffer from dysphagia or difficulty in swallowing.
 Sore throat in some cases can be considered as a symptom of neck cancer
 Bleeding from mouth or through your nose is also a common symptom for neck cancer.
 Ear pain in some cases is a symptom of neck cancer.
 Coughing persistently is also regarded as a symptom of neck cancer.
 Sometimes a lump in the neck is also noticed and it is usually painless.
 Some people also encounter breathing problem.
 In some cases a swelling of the neck, jaw or eyes can also be noticed.

Neck cancer involves certain risk factors too. Neck cancer can be treated in many ways. The following are few treatments available for neck cancer:

 Surgery: your doctor can conduct a surgery for removing the tumors from your neck region. The doctor may decide to do either a microsurgery or laser treatment or endoscopy.
 Chemotherapy: if the tumor spreads to other regions or is large in size, then your doctor may recommend chemotherapy. 
 Radiation: it is used to destroy the malignant cells. It is usually conducted after removing the tumor.

These three are the common treatments followed by doctors. Your doctor may also take help of other treatments like administering drugs to control the growth of cancer cells. But, sometimes treatments fail to work if the process of metastasis starts. So you should not ignore it, as soon as you encounter any of the symptoms stated above, visiting an oncologist is highly recommended.


Neck Cancer Symptoms and Treatment

The human body is so amazing yet sometimes, it is delicate. The condition of cervical spondylitis is one of the examples of this being the case. It is also known as cervical disc disease and is reputed to cause a pretty large amount of pain! That being said, it is not as if this pain cannot be reduced. After all, physiotherapy can make almost any situation better and this is pretty much the case with cervical spondylitis, as well!


Neck traction happens to be one of the popular methods prescribed by physiotherapy to help people who are suffering from cervical spondylitis pain. What is done in this process is that the neck is extended but at a very slow rate. While this may not seem like much itself, why this helps is that it goes a pretty long way in taking a lot of pressure off the discs of the spine. While it is true that neck traction is a thing which can be performed at home, it is very important to check with a professional physiotherapist to make sure that the technique that one is practicing is faultless so as to make sure that any painful accidents are not allowed to take place and make the situation worse than it already is!


Physiotherapy is all about engaging in activities which help make the condition better. So, when a person has cervical spondylitis pain, the therapist will spend some time with him or her so that the neck can be slowly adjusted and this will help the range of motion of the person s neck improve by quite a large margin.


There are quite a few other ways to go about relieving the pain caused by cervical spondylitis by making use of physiotherapy. For example, deep tissue massage does have a large number of fans who swear by it. This is also the case when it comes to electrical stimulation. As a matter of fact, both of these are quite popular as a means to get the patient in the right condition for healing exercises to have their full effect.


After all the effort which is put in by the person by the way of exercise, it can be said to be important that he or she makes use of a cervical pillow, which is more commonly known as a neck pillow and a cervical collar, which can help the process of realignment. With correct physiotherapy, cervical spondylitis pain will soon be history!


How Can Physiotherapy Help Alleviate Cervical Spondylitis Pain?

Broken bone is commonly known as bone fracture a d it occurs when an exorbitant amount of force is applied causing the bone to split or shatter. While some minor fractures lead to cracks and crannies, others may lead to complete breakage of the bones. Despite being hard, bones are formed in such a way that they can absorb pressure to only a certain extent, beyond which they break. Statistically, the incidence of broken bones are most common in children and in old age people.

Causes of Bone Fracture
Bone fracture can be caused due to a number of reasons; both intentional and accidental. Some of them include:
1. Accidents and injuries: Sports injuries, being hit by a car and tripping and falling are some of the typical episodes.
2. Old age: Diseases such as osteoporosis and brittle bone disease are common in aged people. As bones tend to become more fragile among the aged, they are at a greater chance of bone fractures.

Type of bone fractures
Primarily bone fractures are of four types, based on the way the bone splits. They are:

Complete fracture: This type of fracture refers to a complete breakage of the bone wherein the fracture may occur at various parts of the bone.
Incomplete fracture: In this type of fracture, the bone partially breaks instead of splitting entirely.
Compound fractures: This is a type of a fracture wherein the bone breaks past the skin. It is also known as an open fracture.
Simple fracture: In this type of a fracture, the bone breaks without causing an open wound on the skin.
Treatment of bone fractures
In case of a broken bone, the immediate course of action would be to reach for the first aid box. This can be done to stabilize the bone prior to hospitalization. Icing the injury, elevating the injured area to prevent further swelling and covering the wound with bandages are common measures. In many cases, people also make household splints (made of newspapers) to keep the bone stabilized. Hospitalization and especially surgery, can be also opted for in case of severe fractures.

Bone Fracture - Understanding the Types + Causes

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