Category: Lower Back Pain

Should I see a Chiropractor or a Physiotherapist?

Posted on Education, Lower Back Pain, Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy (also known as physical therapy) and Chiropractic care share a similar space in the treatment and management of pain and stiffness in your body. Both are practised by licensed professionals with years of education in the sciences, but their approaches can be slightly different.

Physical Therapy/PhysiotherapyChiropractic Care
Pain-free movement is one of the key primary goals.Pain relief and alignment of the spine are key primary goals.
Focuses on how the body moves and functions as a whole.Focuses mostly on issues related to back pain, neck pain, joint pain in the arms or legs, and headaches.
Physiotherapists help you perform stretches and exercises, as well as performing some manipulations for certain conditions, to improve your mobility.Chiropractors perform manipulations and adjustments to help your body heal itself.
Physiotherapists work in just about any healthcare environment, as well as your home.Chiropractors usually need specialised spaces and equipment to perform adjustments and manipulations.

Which therapy should you choose? 

So, what’s the best way to determine which type of therapy is right for you? That really depends on the type of condition you have and your specific needs.

Sometimes, depending on your condition, you may even want to use both Physio and chiropractic care to help relieve pain and improve your quality of life.

Have any more questions? Feel free to email us at info@capitalphysiotherapy.com.au and one of our team would be happy to discuss how we can help you!

Why Do My Lower Back Pops & Clicks?

Posted on Education, Exercise, Lower Back Pain, Physiotherapy

Does your lower back or the back of your hip keep making popping noises while you do leg raises exercises? If it clicks and pops without pain should you be concerned? Can this problem be fixed? Well this is what we will be discussing in .

Our lower back is joint at the pelvis and then to the hip, this joint that connects your lower back to your pelvis is what we call the sacroiliac joint or in short the (SIJ) joint.

This structure is mostly stabilised by very very strong  ligaments around the area, hence if for some reasons your  ligaments are loosening and you don’t have the muscles strength around that area  to stabilise this structure, it will start to move every time you move your legs and your back creating a popping sound with or without pain.

If it’s causing popping sensation without pain should you be concerned? The answer is Yes. Even if you don’t feel the pain you should still be concerned as this issue is an indication that you have weak lower back and hip muscles and if left untreated you will have a higher risk of developing lower back or hip issues down the track. Especially for women, if you are already experiencing SIJ clicking now, if you are planning to have a baby in the future you have a very high risk of having lower back issues throughout the pregnancy and even after the pregnancy when there is more weight on your back and when the hormone of the pregnancy relaxes the ligaments even more.

Our back has our back muscles and bum (hip muscles) that works together to specifically stabilise this joint while they are moving. These muscle groups are what we call the Posterior Oblique Sling muscles.  

Want to know more about Melanie – Our Hawthorn Physiotherapist?

Meet Melanie Lim, a Bachelor of Physiotherapy Graduate from the University of Melbourne. She has gained a wealth of clinical experience through both public and private systems during her undergraduate studies to be here today at Capital Physiotherapy’s Hawthorn Physio clinic.

She has completed advance training to specialise in a range of physical therapy treatments such as sport, dance, pre and postnatal, and dry needling. With a keen interest in treating and educating her clients (and YouTube audience), she aims to create custom pain treatment management plans for the Hawthorn community, and Melbourne at large.

At the Hawthorn physio clinic, Capital Physiotherapy offer bulk billing for their patients. Get in contact with Melanie today and book an appointment for a one on one session with her!

Additional Information:

We also provide Telehealth Consultation for your safety and convenience during this pandemic.

Keeping in mind these tips/advice are of general nature and do not take your injuries/history into considerations. If you are experiencing any pain or would like an individualised tailored program to help improve your dancing, I highly recommend you speak to any one of your physiotherapists to guide you through your rehab journey.

Here at Capital Physiotherapy, our women’s health physiotherapists are the experts in helping you to fix your issues as well as all the discomfort that comes with it!

We can help you lead a healthier and pain free lifestyle.

Our physiotherapist will be able to give a full assessment on you and come out with individualised advice/ treatment plan that is tailored for your particular needs.

At Capital Physiotherapy, your initial appointment is 40-60minutes long. This allows our physios to be thorough in their assessment, as well as giving them enough time to give you treatment on the same consultation!

For any physiotherapy related concerns drop us an email info@capitalphysiotherapy.com.au 

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Tips and Exercises to Relieve Back Pain During Pregnancy

Posted on Education, Lower Back Pain

Due to the relaxant that is release to your body during pregnancy to prepare for labor, your ligament will all be loosening and our lower back especially right at the tail bone area (SIJ), this structure is mostly stabilised by ligaments, hence when your ligaments are all loosening up, and you don’t have the muscles strengthen to stabilised this structure, it becomes painful when you are moving.

I’ll show you some tips and exercises that you can do to help relieve your back-pain symptoms.

Sacroiliac Joint Pain (SIJ pain) is pain felt at or near the sacroiliac joints of your pelvis as a result of sacroiliac joint dysfunction. These are joints located at the 2 dimples of the lower back. The pain often feels deep within your lower back and can occur on one or both sides of your back. In some cases, pain radiates down to the buttock and the back of the thigh.

While pain may begin at any time during pregnancy, SIJ pain on average begins in the 18th week of pregnancy and becomes more intense as the pregnancy progresses. The pain usually spontaneously resolves within 3 months post delivery. But in some cases it can become chronic and disabling.

This video will educate mother-to-be on SIJ pain, when and how it happens, and what should be done to treat this issue.

If you do suffer from back pain, I highly suggest you seek professional help ASAP.

At Capital Physiotherapy we can accurately diagnose your pain and give you tips and strategies to help make your pregnancy journey a smooth and pain free experience.

Keeping in mind, these exercises are of general nature and do not take your health injuries/history into consideration. In order to fully rehab your discomfort, you will still need to continue to progress to harder exercises that are specifically tailored for you,  in order to feel pain free while working or exercising.

Here at Capital Physiotherapy, our physiotherapists are the experts in helping you to fix your issues as well as all the discomfort that comes with it!

We can help you lead a healthier and pain free lifestyle. 

Our physiotherapist will be able to give a full assessment on you and come out with individualised advice/ treatment plan that is tailored for your particular needs.

At Capital Physiotherapy, your initial appointment is 40-60minutes long. This allows our physios to be thorough in their assessment, as well as giving them enough time to give you treatment on the same consultation! 

Our Physiotherapy Clinics in Melbourne

Hawthorn Physio Clinic

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South Yarra Physio Clinic

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How to Fix my Lower Back Pain Forever

Posted on Education, Lower Back Pain

There are 4 different groups of muscles that work together to keep our lower back stable. Just working on the core alone, will not fix your lower back pain!

1. The Primary Sling

The Primary Sling also known as the transverse abdominis muscles. These muscles wrap around your spine like a back brace and it acts like a back brace to help support your back and it is the most common “core” muscles that people are talking about to help lower back pain in the mass market.

2. Posterior Oblique Sling muscles

The posterior oblique sling muscles consist of our latissimus dorsi muscles and our gluteal muscles working together to create this cross section force which helps stabilise your lower back. It is especially useful to stabilise movement like twisting and bending over.

3. Anterior Oblique Sling muscles

Our Anterior Oblique Sling consists of the external oblique muscle and your inner thigh muscles. These muscles work together to stabilize the front of your trunk in movement like running, and throwing action.

4. Lateral Sling

Our Lateral Sling consists of the gluteus medius muscles and the inner thigh muscles. They work together to keep you hip and pelvis in the perfect alignment when you are moving.

Any one of these groups that is weak will cause lower back discomfort.

In this video, I will show you some tips on what you can do to help strengthen these muscles groups. 

Keeping in mind these exercises are just the basic exercise that we start off with to fully fix your lower back injuries you will still need to continue to progress to harder and more functional exercises in order to feel pain free in your daily activities.

Here at Capital Physiotherapy, our physiotherapists are the experts in helping you to fix your shoulder issues as well as all the discomfort that comes with it!

We can help you break this habit and lead a healthier and pain free lifestyle. 

Our physiotherapist will be able to give you individualised advice/ treatment plan that is tailored for your particular needs.

 At Capital Physiotherapy, your initial appointment is 40-60minutes long. This allows our physios to be thorough in their assessment, as well as giving them enough time to give you treatment on the same consultation! 

If you have physiotherapy related concerns, visit our Footscray clinic or the one nearest you or drop an email at info@capitalphysiotherapy.com.au. We also have Telehealth Consultation for your safety and convenience during this pandemic.

How to Fix Rounded Shoulder

Posted on Education, Lower Back Pain, Physiotherapy

Do you slouch over your computer screen/Phone/ tablet?

Do you feel tired after sitting straight for more than 5minutes?

Do you feel that having a “good posture” is one of those things that people mentioned but can never really be achieved?

If your answer is Yes to all three of the above questions. We are here to change that!

Rounded shoulders are mainly caused by:

  1. Tight front muscles
  2. Stiff mid back
  3. Weak back  muscles

Postural Dysfunction has become one of the most common causes of injuries that we see in our clinics.

Having a poor posture can cause:

  1. Neck pain
  2. Headache
  3. Back pain
  4. Hip pain
  5. Shoulder pain
  6. In continence
  7. Constipation
  8. Poor digestion
  9. Poor blood circulation

To fix your rounded shoulder you must first stretch the tight component which is what we are showing you today. Once you have stretched these tight structures you will then need to move on to strengthening your postural muscles.

Here at Capital Physiotherapy, our physiotherapists are the experts in helping you to fix your posture and all the discomfort that comes with it!

We can help you break this habit and lead a healthier and pain free lifestyle. 

Our physiotherapist will be able to give you individualised advice/ treatment plan that is tailored for your particular needs.

 At Capital Physiotherapy, your initial appointment is 40-60minutes long. This allows our physios to be thorough in their assessment, as well as giving them enough time to give you treatment on the same consultation! 

If you have physiotherapy related concerns, don’t hesitate to visit us at any of our clinics near you or drop an email at info@capitalphysiotherapy.com.au. You can also do online booking and we provide Telehealth Consultation for your safety and convenience during this pandemic.

Top 5 Ways to Relieve Back Pain

Posted on Lower Back Pain, Physiotherapy

Back problems are common conditions.

It is estimated that 70–90% of people will suffer from lower back pain in some form at some point in their lives.

Lower back pain can be very difficult to diagnose if you do not know what signs and symptoms you are looking for.

The most common cause of back pain are:

  • Spondylosis
  • Spondylolisis
  • Spondylolithesis
  • SIJ dysfunction
  • Facet joint pain
  • Disc bulge/ herniated disc/ slipped disc

With the last 2 being the most common among all lower back pain causes.

Watch our YouTube Video:

Lower back pain signs & symptoms are very similar however the root of the cause can differ greatly from one individual to another.

There are a lot of structures in our back that can cause pain.

It is therefore very important to find out what structures are causing your particular back pain before trying out further rehabilitation exercises.

It is of utmost importance to get your back pain assessed and diagnosis accurately as it will greatly affect the type of strengthening exercises you do to help improve your back pain.

Here at Capital Physiotherapy we can help you accurately diagnose and treat your back pain.

If you still have issues with your pain or if you wish to continue your rehab for full rehabilitation of these issues  I strongly encourage you to book a session with one of our fully qualified physiotherapists here in Capital physiotherapy. Our physiotherapist will be able to give you more individualised advice that is tailored for your particular needs. You may contact us via email at info@capitalphysiotherapy.com.au.

Facet Joint Stiffness

Posted on Education, Lower Back Pain

Back pain is a common condition that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. It may become debilitating to the point it can stop you from enjoying activity, working, or even sleep.  

Back pain can involve multiple components of your spine, which includes:   

  • Joints
  • Muscles 
  • Ligaments
  • Nerves 

Back pain is not only limited to mechanical issues, as levels of pain can increase due to stress, duties of work and daily activities, sleep pattern, eating and drinking habits, which can be addressed in later blogs. Today’s blog topic will focus on the lumbar facet joint pain, which are the connecting points on the sides of your spine that allows and restricts certain movements such as bending forward and backward, twisting, and side-bending. The facet joints can become stiff or irritated due to various reasons, including:

  • repetitive or overuse twisting or rotating 
  • abrupt/unexpected movements of the spine
  • increased loads to the spine (i.e. weight, running, jumping) 
  • excessive side-bending or twisting of the spine

Your spine is especially strong and can withstand many aspects of load to it. However, sometimes, excessive movements that don’t allow the facet joint to rest can irritate the facet joints. Rest assure, physiotherapists are specialised in treating and planning programs to help reduce and prevent future back pain events.

If you have been experiencing back pain that includes but not limited to:

  • Pain or tenderness in lower back 
  • Local tenderness/ stiffness alongside the spine of the lower back 
  • Pain, stiffness, or difficulty in certain movements (i.e. side-bending, standing up straight) 
  • Referred pain down the butt or legs

At Capital Physiotherapy, we have clinicians who have experience in treating back pain. The service may include deep tissue massage, mobilisation, dry needling and exercise, depending on your presentation. We are conveniently located at South Yarra, Footscray, and Balwyn. You may drop an email at info@capitalphysiotherapy.com.au or do an online booking here.

Back Pain – Sacroiliac Joint

Posted on Lower Back Pain

Adding on to our repertoires of back conditions, a common source of pain in the lower back is the sacroiliac joint (SIJ). We’ve already talked about this topic just a bit in the pregnancy blog. Let’s go into a bit more details about it. 

This joint is the connection point between the lower back to the pelvis. This is an extremely stable joint held by many ligaments in the front and the back which make the joint relatively immobile. Furthermore, muscles above and below the joint act together in a sling-like fashion to stabilize the SIJ.

Pain coming from this joint occurs more frequently in females. One of the reason for this is due to the shape of the hips. The female hip is wider in comparison to the male hip which allows the forces of gravity and the weight of the body to act on the joint with greater leverage. Another reason is ligaments can be laxed from child bearing. During pregnancy, ligaments become loose to prepare for childbirth. Unfortunately, that means the stability of the SIJ is compromised and can lead to pain.

To add to this condition, the laxed ligaments does not go back to the way they were before after childbirth. Once a ligament is relaxed and stretched out, it’s rare for the ligament to return to its original length. This means it is very important to strengthen the muscles around the joint to increase the stability of SIJ and prevent SIJ related back pain from returning.

Again, SIJ is not the only thing that can cause back pain. There are many structures in the back that can give rise to pain, so it’s a good idea to get an expert to take a look. At capital physiotherapy, we have physiotherapist would have seen many presentations of back pain. We understand everyone’s pain presents uniquely and will individualize our treatment pain to best manage your pain. 

If you’ve got concerns regarding your back, Contact us at info@capitalphysiotherapy.com.au or visit one of our clinics located in Balwyn, Footscray and South Yarra to get started on a management plan that is best suited for you. 

The Slipping Vertebrae Spondylolisthesis

Posted on Education, Lower Back Pain

There’s lots of ways that the back can be injured. We’ve covered one condition that is relatively common one, which would be the bulging disk . Now let’s go over another condition, only not as common in everyday life activities: spondylolisthesis.

This word is a bit of a mouth full and it does describe something a tad more rare than the disk bulge. Let us first review some basic anatomy of the spine. The spine is made up of various segments called vertebra and each vertebra has a body and a tail portion. In spondylolisthesis, there is a fracture of a specific tail portion of your vertebrae called the “pars interarticularis”. Due to this fracture, the stability of the spine becomes compromised and a section of the spine can slip forward.

With this forward shift, lots of things can cause pain, including the disk between the vertebrae, the bones itself and even the nerves that come out the side. If the nerves are not involved, the pain would likely stay that the back. If the nerves are indeed affected, you can have various neurological symptoms like numbness and tingling down the leg.

Fracturing this part of your vertebrae is pretty difficult. The most common occurrence of this condition with be in dancing. This is because most dancers are required to arch their back while performing high impact jumping type movements. The combination of both movements causes much stress on the tail portion of the vertebrae, therefore placing dancers at a higher chance of getting this injury.

As common as back injuries are, diagnosing the exact structures can be rather difficult. If you have any issues with your back, it’s a good idea to get a professional to have a closer look and make sure everything is okay. At Capital physiotherapy, we have physios who have plenty of experience with identifying the correct treatment for back injuries. If you’re in the neighbourhood near our clinics located in Balwyn, Footscray and South Yarra, book with one of our friendly physiotherapist by emailing us at info@capitalphysiotherapy.com.au to get you back to the activities you love.

Exercises for Back Pain Relief

Posted on Exercise, Lower Back Pain

One in 6 Australians experiences lower back pain at some stage in life.  Symptoms of lower back pain can be debilitating – pain can remain localised in the lower back and in some cases can refer down the legs.  It also restricts movements which then affect work and simple activities of daily living such as putting shoes on, sitting and pulling pants up etc.

Despite pain with movement, exercises are recommended over rest.  Avoid prolonged sitting or standing as remaining in stationery positions tends to disengage muscles that are essential to provide stability to your back.  Keep it moving help relieve pain and assists in the recovery. Here are some gentle exercises that can provide some relief to your back pain:

  Hip flexor stretch

  • Hip flexors are commonly tight for those who sits a lot as it remains in a shortened position when sitting.  Tight hip flexor can contribute to back pain as it attaches to the spine.
  • By performing this stretch as in the picture, you’ll feel tension at the front of the back leg. Push your hips forward to deepen the stretch.
  • Hold for at least 30secs.  Do 3-5 times on each side daily.

Glutes stretch

  • This stretch targets the gluteal muscles and can easily be done when in the office or commuting on the train
  • Sit with one leg crossed, lean forward and gently press the knee of the crossed leg down. You’ll feel a stretch on the side of the hip.

Cat and camel

  • This exercise aims to gently get your back moving
  • Start on your hands and knees.  Make sure your hands are under your shoulders and your knees are directly under your hips.
  • Slowly drop your stomach down and then gently arch your back up.
  • Do 10 times every morning and night

Bridging

  • This exercise strengthens hip muscles that tends to be switched off when sitting for long.
  • Start by lying down with knees bent. Making sure hips, knees and ankles are in line.
  • Lift hips up and lower down with control
  • Do 15-20 per set and 2-3 sets daily.

Pelvic tilt

  • This exercise targets your core muscles which assists in providing stability for your back
  • Prepare by setting up the same as the last exercise.
  • Tuck your tailbone in to flatten the curve on your back, hold for 5-10 secs then relax. You should feel your tummy muscles contracting.
  • Do 5-10 secs hold for 10 times every day

Walking

Although simple, walking is one of the dynamic exercises that is effective in engaging many different muscles. It is also a low impact exercise that can replace running or other high intensity when you have back pain.

If you are suffering from back pain, physios at capital physiotherapy can assess, diagnose and provide you with the right exercises to relieve pain and get your back moving.  Capital physiotherapy is also passionate at injury prevention, so give us a call if you would like more exercises and strategies to prevent recurring lower back pain.

Images from http://www.legacyneuro.com/fitness-friday-maintain-healthy-back/

https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/blogs/wellness-insight-landing/sports-medicine-and-fitness/hip-flexor-stretch

https://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-you/stretching/seated-glute-stretch/

https://goodexerciseguide.com/the-exercises/bridging-exercise/

https://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/how-to-be-more-mindful-just-by-breathing-and-walking