Your spine is very complex and consists of many joints, soft tissue, a spinal cord and hundreds of nerves that run to your arms and legs. It’s the essential anatomical feature that connects your arms to your legs and allows you to move around and live a healthy, vibrant life. Our physical therapists are skilled in the treatment of the spine and fully understand the anatomy, physiology and functional aspects of your spine.
At Professional Physical Therapy, our licensed physical therapists receive advanced clinical training in the treatment and management of various spinal conditions. If you’re suffering from middle back pain, low back pain, neck pain, whiplash, disc bulges, pinched nerves, sciatica, spinal stenosis, and post-surgery pain from laminectomy, discectomy and spinal fusion, chances are your spine needs some attention.
How physical therapy can help your spine
The spine and discs are surrounded by muscles, and strengthening these muscles means less stress is being placed on the discs and joints of the spine. Although most cases of lower back pain will get better on their own, active exercise and a personalized regimen of spinal physical therapy will help reduce your pain and improve function. An ongoing exercise program also reduces the likelihood that the back pain will return in the future.
How do I know if I need spinal physical therapy?
Back pain is the most common type of chronic pain in the U.S., and if you’ve been living with back pain for a while, you’re probably thinking about surgery. The good news is, surgery isn’t the only option. In many cases back pain can be effectively treated with a customized regimen of physical therapy.
Here are some of the most common reasons people seek help:
A slipped disk that isn’t healing
Bone spurs in your spine
Stenosis
Weakness or numbness in your arms and legs
Trouble walking or using your hands
Lack of bladder or bowel control
A broken or dislocated bone in your back
A spinal tumor
Common exercises that can help relieve spinal pain
Most physical therapy programs that treat neck and low back pain will include a combination of the following exercises.
Stretching
A regular routine of stretching, combined with active exercise, will go a long way toward helping maintain your normal range of motion and provide relief for muscles suffering from disuse. It will also help prevent muscle spasms from poor posture. Regular stretching of the lower back muscles, abdominal muscles, hips, and legs, will help prevent you from having back issues. Following a stretching routine that has been personally designed for you by a physical therapist is always the best course of action, and we specialize in creating targeted stretching regimens tailored to each client.
Stabilization
The point of dynamic stabilization exercise is to strengthen the secondary muscles of the spine and help support the spine through various ranges of motion. They may require the use of exercise balls, balancing machines or specific stabilizing exercises.
Core strengthening
These are specific exercises designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles and lower back muscles to provide a belt of muscle around the spine.
Core strengthening exercises usually include:
Abdominal strengthening workout routines, including as sit-ups, crunches, abdominal machines, and leg raises.
Lower back exercises, which can be performed on machines or by lying on the stomach and slowly raising the chest off the ground. This forces your lower back muscles to hyperextend the spine.
‘Good-mornings’ – this exercise is great for strengthening the lower back muscles, requiring the patient to stand with legs straight and shoulder width apart, with a broom-stick or weighted bar across the shoulders. The patient then slowly bends forward until the face is parallel to the floor and then raises back up.
There is a range of different ways to experience neck and back pain, and none of them are comfortable. Our spinal physical therapists understand this, and will develop a rehabilitation program specially designed to meet your individual needs.
Here are some of the treatment methods we typically use to get our patients standing upright again.
Pain Modulation Techniques
Manual Therapy
Joint Mobilization
Manual Muscle Stretching
Manual Traction
Soft Tissue Mobilization
Exercise Therapy
Self-Management Techniques
Heat/Cold Therapy
Are you experiencing back pain?
Our physical therapists will customize a back and spine physical therapy plan just for you. We will work in an effective way to get you back on your feet, focused on your wellness before, during and after therapy.
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Insurances We Accept
Below is a condensed list of insurances we participate with throughout our network of physical therapy clinics. Find your particular provider below based on your area. For a complete listing of all insurance providers and individual plans by name: CLICK HERE FOR OUR FULL INSURANCE PAGE.
Amerihealth Caritas (effective date 4/27/2020 - NH)
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (NH)
BCBS Massachusetts (MA)
CeltiCare (MA)
Commonwealth Care Alliance (MA)
Fallon Health (MA)
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (MA, NH)
Health New England (MA)
Magna Care (MA, NH)
Magna Comp (Workers' Compensation – MA, NH)
Martin’s Point Health Care (NH)
Mass General Brigham Health (formerly AllWays Health Partners)
Massachusetts Health (Medicaid – MA)
Medicaid (MA, NH)
Medicare (MA, NH)
Med Risk (Workers' Compensation – MA)
No Fault (Various Carriers)
One Call (Workers' Compensation – MA, NH)
SPNET (Workers' Compensation – MA, NH)
Streamline (Workers' Compensation – MA, NH)
TRICARE (MA, NH)
Tufts Health Plan (MA, NH)
Tufts Medicare Advantage (MA)
Tufts Public (Medicaid – MA)
UniCare (MA)
United Health Care (Optum – MA, NH)
WellSense Health (Formerly BMC – Boston Medical Center – MA)
Workers’ Compensation (Various Carriers)
Convenient physical therapy clinics near you
We provide treatments for spine related injuries and pain from our physical therapy clinics in Manhattan, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Fill out the form above, or contact a clinic near you to speak with a Professional Physical Therapist and spine specialist today.
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