Low Back Pain

Back pain is felt because of problems with the muscles, fascia (connective tissue), discs, organs, nerves, or the spine itself. The pain may be acute or chronic. Sometimes the pain is felt down the back of the leg, and this condition is commonly referred to as sciatica because pain travels along the sciatic nerve from the buttock to the knee. Sometimes there is numbness, sometimes there is an ache, sometimes there is a sharp pain.

Low back pain, or what is referred to as lumbago, is very common in adults. In fact, ninety percent of us have at least one episode of low back pain in our lives.

Physical therapy addresses low back pain from a whole-person perspective, looking at posture, body mechanics, strength, stress, as well as tissues. Some of Ria’s techniques include use of the inversion table for traction, myofascial release in order to elongate tight tissues that are in spasm, joint mobilization, soft tissue mobilization, and of course core exercises as tolerated.

Sciatica

Sciatica can be treated effectively using Myokinesthetic, a manual treatment founded by Dr. Michael Uriarte which addresses the pain, burning, numbness and tingling that can occur with tension on the sciatic nerve. Some patients notice a decrease in pain in as little as 1-2 visits. For more information, please see www.myokinesthetic.com.