Spinal Pain

A large proportion of what we see in SportsPlus Physiotherapy are spinal conditions. These vary greatly from the chronic lower back pain to athletic back pain. We see many people who are office based or driving for a living with mid and upper back problems.

We treat long-standing and acute neck problems. These can result from sports injuries of road traffic accidents. We are experienced in compiling legal reports for people who require them also.

Each spinal problem we assess and treat is very individual to the person presenting with it. No two people with the same injury will present the same and neither will they respond to the same approach to treatment. Rehabilitation programs must be bespoke to the individual and can only be effective when based on a thorough assessment.

There has been a trend over recent years of people with spinal problems thinking that they must have imaging in terms of x-ray and MRI scans done before embarking on physiotherapy. We would strongly discourage this. The evidence has shown that this can actually be detrimental to an individual’s recovery in certain cases as many of the findings on such investigation are incidental and not related to the symptoms the individual presents with. We would advise that an individual attends for assessment initially and on the back of gathering information about the condition and doing an objective examination your physiotherapist will be in a position to discuss with you whether it would be beneficial for you to be referred for imaging.

In a world of ergonomics and orthopaedic supports, e.g. expensive office chairs, special desks, lumbar supports, orthopaedic mattresses, people can find themselves spending a lot of money without having any benefit to their problem which can be very frustrating. We are of the opinion that it is best to address the problems and try to improve them rather than compensate for them. We find that too many people adjust their lives to their spinal problem rather than address their spinal problem so that they can live full and complete lives in comfort.

If you have a spinal issue that you would like to discuss with us please call us at SportsPlus Physiotherapy on 067-42837 or e-mail us on info@sportsplus.ie.