One of the most common conditions that we treat here at Oahu Spine & Rehab is lower back pain. Because of the strain that is put on the lower back in daily activity, at heavy labor jobs AND at desk jobs, this is an extremely common condition here in Kailua. When a patient with low back pain comes into our office, we create a specific treatment program for them that goes along with our four phases of care.
In the first phase of care we are focuses on pain relief. Depending on what our medical team has prescribed for you, you may receive chiropractic care, massage therapy, trigger point therapy, acupuncture, physical therapy or even be referred over to our OSR Weight Management team. Because our integrated health center offers you so many types of care, your pain should subside in anywhere from 1-4 weeks which is when we will move on to phase two.
Phase two here at OSR is corrective care. Now that you are out of pain, it is important that you are working with our office in order to stretch and heal the issues in your lower back. During this phase you will receive modalities that are meant to help warm up and stretch out your muscles. This phase is focused on the root of your problem. If your back pain is stemmed from how you sit at work, our physical therapy team will work with you on the best posture to have while you are sitting at your desk. If your lower back pain is stemmed from certain work outs, our team will help make sure that you are using the proper form in order to prevent further damage to your lower back. This phase can take up to four weeks as well because it’s important to correct the root of the problem.
After the corrective phase, you will enter phase three which is the strengthening phase. This phase is spent primarily with the physical therapy team and includes a lot of active physical therapy. During your appointments, our physical therapy team will show you exercises that will work to strengthen your lower back. They will also give you a list of personalized at-home exercises that you need to complete on the days where you aren’t in the office. An important aspect of lumbar or lower back pain is your core strength. During this phase you may do exercises to strengthen your core and abdomen in order to make sure that your posture is stabilized which can greatly help your lower back. This phase can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks because of its importance. By increasing your strength you will be helping to make sure that you are not going to reinjure your back.
The final phase of care is the maintenance phase which is exactly what it sounds like! At this point you should be fully functional and pain free. In this phase you will come to OSR 1-2 times a month for as long as you see fit! Usually these visits include a chiropractic adjustment, trigger point massage and time with the physical therapy team to assure that your lower back is fully functional. If you are suffering from lower back pain on Oahu, call OSR today to come in for your consultation to find out how OSR can help you, 488-5555!
