Question by Alicia Marie: Does Physical Therapy Help Lower Back Pain?
I have lower back pain and my doctor has told me I need physical therapy. Both my mother and my father in law have had physical therapy for their lower back pain and said it made them hurt worse.

Has physical therapy helped anyone else with lower back pain? What kind of exercises do they have you do? I have Multiple Sclerosis and going through a “flare up” with it right now (I am hardly able to walk, bend, move my hands/arms…hell I can’t even dress myself). I am not sure if I will even be able to do the exercises.

Best answer:

Answer by Jason F
My girlfriend actually just started seeing a physical therapist for lower back pain. She is extremely happy with her decision. The therapist says the pain has to do with the strength of her stabilizer muscles in that area. She is an aspiring figure competitor so she is always at the gym. The therapist said that the problem is that she’s building all of her bigger muscles quickly, but her stabilizers are falling behind and her lower back pain is the result. The therapist has her doing specific stretches and asked her to do pilates. Apparently pilates helps strengthen that area. Maybe you should give that a whirl. She is recovering very quickly.

Answer by N S
well i am a physical therapist and to tell you the truth, it’s crap shoot. if it’s chronic back pain, it’s difficult to cure. lots of therapists do not know how to treat it correctly, but at the same time, there are a lot of therapists who do know how to treat back pain correctly. you just have to find the right one. so don’t go to the one that your parents went to. i would give a therapist 3 sessions tops. if the pain is worse after the first treatment, tell him/her that it is worse (don’t just quit the place). see if the therapist could make adjustments to the treatment plan. if after another 2 sessions, if you don’t see a change or if it’s worse, you have to then find another therapist (even if the therapist is super cool).

unfortunately, heat is a great way to relax the back and help get rid of the pain. of course heat could exacerbate your MS. that is what i would normally recommend but not to you. local heat treatment might be okay, but not totally sure. right now, you might benefit from actually being admitted to a hospital so that a pain management doctor could may be prescribe you something for your low back pain. but at the same time, the hospital has super soft beds (to prevent bed sores) so that might exacerbate your back pain.

if you do go to the hospital, be wary of the therapists at the hospital since they usually do not know how to treat low back pain very well. but of course, i work in the hospital and i have good understanding of back pain. so maybe you’ll get lucky. therapists in the hospital are familiar with MS so perhaps they might have good suggestions for you.

if you don’t go to a hospital, you could have a home health physical therapist come to your home. you might want to ask your doctor about a therapist coming to your house.

but right now, positioning might be the only thing you can do to try to relieve back pain. i’m thinking that you’re pretty much bed bound right now. being in one position for a long time could exacerbate some back pain (not all back pain act the same). some people with low back pain prefer to sleep on a recliner. beds are very important in controlling back pain; if you have an old one or one that you are uncomfortable in, i suggest you get one that is comfortable. but don’t just lay in bed; find a comfortable chair to sit in some times.

later, when your MS has calmed down, you might consider pool or aqua therapy. i would ask a therapist in an out patient setting about it. yoga is also known to help many people’s low back pain.

i’m really sorry for what you’re going through. i don’t know if i helped you any, but good luck with getting rid of your back pain.

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