Back Pain Treatment & Management
Lower back pain is an extremely common condition, with up to 80% of the global population experiencing back pain at some point during our lives. Although the underlying pathology of lower back pain is usually not serious, it is an important condition to address, not just on a personal level but even the considerable impact on the economy due to time taken off work.
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What causes back pain?
Whilst the vast majority of patients who experience back pain will recover within six weeks, a small number go on to develop chronic back pain and a gradual deterioration of functionality.
However, targeted back pain treatment that focuses on your specific condition may be able to assist with managing the problem, alleviating soreness and improving mobility.
Most back pain is the result of irritation or poor function of the bones, joints, ligaments or muscles in your back. Such irritation can be the result of vertebral dysfunction, a common condition that occurs when the spinal vertebrae compress or irritate the delicate nerve structures of your lower back.
Other causes of lower back pain include inflammatory arthritis (e.g. ankylosis spondylitis, Rheumatoid arthritis), and fractures due to osteoporosis. Back pain may also be ‘referred’ from another location, as your back tries to compensate for weaker muscles in other areas of your body.
Less common conditions causing low back pain include cancer (usually from another source such as the prostate or lung), serious infections and compression of the spinal cord.
Assessment
One of our qualified and experienced physiotherapists will take a detailed account of your history with lower back pain. From here, we can conduct orthopaedic, neurological and spinal examinations to determine the exact cause of your musculoskeletal condition. Other tests might include X-rays and digital scanning, if necessary.
Treatment
Physiotherapy treatment of low back pain focuses on restoring function to poorly moving spinal joints, as well as reducing muscle tension and increasing muscle strength. This may result in improved movement, reduced pain and deceased nerve irritation.
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We tailor our Dandenong and Noble Park back pain treatments to each individual we work with – treatment usually consists of spinal and soft tissue mobilisation, core stabilisation advice, strengthening exercises, stretching and heat/cold therapy. If you’d like to seek evidence-based treatment for your back pain, please get in touch with us.
Frequently Asked Questions.
A Physiotherapy session involves our Physiotherapist taking you through a thorough professional physical assessment followed by a diagnosis of your specific problem. Physiotherapists help you understand what causes the problems and related injuries as part of our educational approach to integrating the treatment with your lifestyle. This is then followed by a variety of treatment techniques and exercises to assist your return to mobility and full function.
The average physiotherapy session varies from 20 – 30 minutes, with most patients receiving a structured series of exercise and stretches to do at home to complement their treatment in our physiotherapy clinic. All our treatments are one-on-one in private treatment rooms – we never see more than one patient at a time. You do not need a Doctor’s referral to see our Physiotherapists and health funds will pay a rebate for part of the cost of your physio consultation.
Our Physiotherapists use the latest hands-on techniques such as joint mobilisation, manipulation, stretching, taping, soft tissue techniques and dry needling to assist in pain management and injury recovery. We also focus on personalised exercise programs involving biomechanical analysis, specific muscle activation, strengthening and conditioning exercises, balance and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, postural correction, and core stability training to assist in the restoration of the physical function, injury rehabilitation and performance of the body.
Physiotherapists are experts in the prevention of all kinds of injury, particularly sports injuries. We work with health club practitioners and provide advice or complement training techniques in preventing injury. Our physiotherapists will discuss any important lifestyle factors such as training programs, sporting goals, workstation setups and postural correction to help prevent problems from recurring or better still, from happening in the first place. In many cases there is more than one cause of your pain, especially if it is a chronic or recurring problem.
Whether you have injured yourself while working out in the health club, doing normal activities at home, at work or on the sporting field, our Physiotherapists will help you recover in a speedy, complicated-free treatment to get you back to your normal activities. Physiotherapists focus on the assessment, maintenance and restoration of the physical function and performance of the body and minimise your chance of re-injury. Getting you back to your fitness regime quickly is what Physiotherapists aim for.
At your initial visit your physiotherapist will perform a thorough physical assessment enabling them to diagnose your condition. Once your condition has been diagnosed your physiotherapist will then explain it to you and specific treatment will be recommended and commenced to help solve your problem. This process is likely to take around 40 minutes.
A Doctor’s referral is welcome but not necessary if you are attending one of our clinics as a private patient. You do however require a referral from your Doctor if your problem is related to a motor vehicle accident, or if you are a Veterans’ Affairs patient.
You do not need a Doctor’s referral if your problem is related to a workplace injury. However, your first medical certificate will need to come from your Doctor.
If you are in a Private health Insurance Fund and are covered for Ancillary Cover or “extras’’ then you will be eligible to receive a rebate. Currently there is only limited funding for treatment of chronic conditions via Medicare.
At our clinics we use an electronic payments and claiming system called HICAP’s. This system allows you to automatically claim your rebate from your Health Fund immediately following your treatment. All you need is to present your Health Fund Card to one of our receptionists who instantly process your claim. Once this is completed all you are required to do is pay the ‘gap amount’ (the difference between the treatment fee and the rebate you received from the Health Fund). This can be paid with cash, cheque, credit card or EFTPOS.
There are some provisions for limited physiotherapy costs to be covered under Medicare. To qualify for this you must be suffering from a condition that has been present, or is likely to be present for at least 6 months and your GP must be currently using a personally managed EPC (Enhanced Primary Care) multidisciplinary plan. If you meet these two criteria then this may enable you to receive up to 5 Medicare funded treatments per year. To find out all necessary details ask your GP or contact us for more information.
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LOCATIONS
Dandenong Clinic
1/82 Stud Road
Dandenong VIC 3175
Noble Park Clinic
128 Chandler Rd, Noble Park VIC 3174, Australia
