Back Pain
Back pain is usually mechanical: a strained muscle, an irritated disc or stiff joints, not serious damage. Physical therapy can help by easing the pain and then building the strength and movement habits that keep it from coming back. Western Slope Rehab and Performance treats lower back pain and middle back pain in Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade, Orchard Mesa, Appleton, Clifton and the Redlands.
What is behind your low back pain
Most back pain has one of a handful of sources. Finding which one is yours decides what we do first.
Muscle strain
You pulled a muscle in your back lifting, twisting or after a long day of yard work. The area can seize into back spasms that make it hard to stand up straight.
Herniated or bulging disc
A disc that bulges or pushes out can irritate nearby nerves. Bending forward, coughing or sitting often makes it worse.
Degenerative disc disease and stenosis
Discs thin and joints change with age, and the spinal canal can narrow. Many people have these changes with little pain, and exercise can help many of those who do.
SI joint pain
The joint where your spine meets your pelvis can cause a one-sided ache low in the back or over the buttock.
Back pain from sitting, bending and lifting
If your back pain shows up after a day at a desk or when you bend to tie your shoes, the way you move and the way you load your spine are usually part of the story. Your physical therapist watches how you sit, hinge, squat and lift, then coaches changes you can use at work and at home.
Short-term pain (acute) and pain that has lasted for months (chronic) are handled a little differently, but the advice on rest is similar for both. Complete bed rest tends to slow recovery. Staying active within what you can tolerate usually does more for your back than lying still.
How we treat it at WSRP
Your plan is built from what your evaluation finds. It may include:
- Manual therapy and joint mobilization to ease stiff, guarded areas
- Directional preference exercises: repeated movements that show which direction calms your pain
- Core stabilization exercise, progressed through Therapeutic Exercise
- Dry Needling for tight, painful muscle knots
- Lifting and posture training for your job, your sport or your day with kids
Pain going down your leg?
Pain that travels past the buttock into the thigh, calf or foot, or comes with tingling or numbness, points to an irritated nerve. That has its own page on Sciatica. Hip and groin pain that gets mistaken for back pain is covered under Hip Pain. Back pain during pregnancy is best checked with your OB or midwife first.
What your first back pain visit covers
Your story
When it started, what makes it better or worse, and what you need to get back to.
Movement and strength testing
Your physical therapist checks how your spine, hips and legs move, tests strength and screens for nerve involvement.
Hands-on assessment
Joints and soft tissue are checked for tenderness and stiffness.
Your plan
You leave with a starting set of exercises and clear guidance on what to do and avoid this week. See Your First Visit for what to bring.
See a doctor first if...
Most back pain is not an emergency, but these need medical care right away.
- You lose control of your bladder or bowels
- You have numbness in your groin or inner thighs
- You have a fever along with back pain
- Your pain started after a serious fall or accident
For the first three, go to the emergency room. After a fall or accident, call your doctor or go to urgent care before starting physical therapy.
Back pain that keeps returning
If back pain has become part of life, long-lasting back pain is often tied to joint wear, past injuries or work demands. See Arthritis & Joint Pain for joint pain, Chronic Pain for pain that has lasted months, and Work Injuries & Workers' Comp if it began on the job.
Get your back moving again in Grand Junction
We see patients from Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade, Orchard Mesa, Appleton, Clifton and the Redlands. You can start physical therapy without a referral from a doctor in most cases. Some insurance plans, including Medicare, still need a doctor to sign the plan of care. Read more on Direct Access or call (970) 314-9822.
We see patients from Grand Junction and the surrounding Grand Valley: Fruita, Palisade, Orchard Mesa, Appleton, Clifton and the Redlands.