Low Back Pain - Sparks Physical Therapy

You’ve had an x-ray or MRI. Now what?

You’ve had an x-ray or MRI. Now what? Many doctors are reporting that MRIs and X-rays are overused for lower back pain. Why are they saying this? Unless something serious like a spine infection or what we call progressive neurologic deficits are...

How can exercise help low back pain?

How can exercise help low back pain? There is strong evidence supporting the use of exercise for low back pain. This includes acute (short episodes), chronic (long-term) and the presence or absence of sciatica. The benefits of exercise for low back...

Who Benefits Most from Lumbar Strengthening Exercises?

Who Benefits Most from Lumbar Strengthening Exercises? As mentioned in the “Treatment Based Classification” section, we are less concerned with identifying the “exact cause” of low back pain as we are looking for clinical features that show a...

Stress, Nutrition and Sleep

Believe it or not, pain is not a sensation. Pain is a protective response from the brain when it senses stimuli it interprets as dangerous. Think of pain as like an alarm.

Dry Needling

Dry needling is an intervention physical therapists perform using very thin needles like acupuncturists use. Dry needling can be quite helpful for low back pain and effects last for a week or two. How does it work?

Stim, Ultrasound, Heat or Ice

Many of my patients say that my practice is the first PT clinic they have been to where we do not include electrical stimulation, TENS, iontrophosis, laser treatments, ultrasound, heat, ice, etc. as part of their treatment at the end of the session.

Benefits of Spinal Manipulation

Spinal manipulation is a technique that involves putting a quick stretch through the spine, that may or may not cause a cracking sound. It was once believed that these spinal manipulations put the spine “back into place,” resulting in pain improvement.

Surgery for Back Pain?

This question of when or if surgery is recommended for back pain is a very real one for those suffering. The answer to this question though, will absolutely depend on who you ask and maybe more importantly, who a person first chooses to see for their back pain.

Lumbar Radiculopathy/Radicular Pain/Sciatica/Stenosis

While you will see words like “radiculopathy,” “radicular pain” and “sciatica” used interchangeably, they have different meanings. Radiculopathy implies “true” neurological findings. This may include a loss of strength, reflexes and/or sensation.

Red Flag Screening

While this report mentions some of the harms of medical imaging (X-rays, MRIs, etc.), they do have their place. To determine if a patient needs to be sent for an X-ray, MRI or other form of medical imaging, we want to be close to 100% certain a red flag is not present.