Balance Disorder Management: 5 Invaluable Benefits of Aquatic Therapy
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Conservative Care for a Herniated Disc: 6 Treatments That Can Help You Avoid Surgery
Herniated discs are among the most common structural causes of neck and back pain. When a herniated disc compresses nearby nerves, it can lead to tingling, pain, and muscle weakness in your extremities.
Although most herniated discs heal on their own within 4-6 weeks, some continue to cause prolonged pain and other symptoms. The need for surgery is rare with herniated discs, but it may be a last-resort treatment. However, many conservative treatments can help heal a herniated disc that doesn’t involve surgery.
Our expert physical therapists at Elation Physical Therapy in Houston, Pearland, and Katy, Texas, use the latest nonsurgical techniques to treat herniated discs. Here, we review six of our most effective options:
1. In-office or virtual physical therapy
At Elation PT, physical therapy is our main specialty. It’s also one of the primary treatments for a herniated disc.
At either our office or in the comfort of your home with virtual care, a trained physical therapist teaches you exercises to reduce pain and build strength in your back. We train you to improve spinal mobility so you can ease pain at the moment and prevent future herniated discs.
2. Manual therapy
Manual therapy is a subtype of physical therapy in which physical therapists use hands-on techniques to manipulate your joints and tissues.
These techniques can reduce muscle tension and stiffness, improve mobility, and reduce pain. They also improve blood flow in a targeted area, which can help injuries like a herniated disc heal faster.
3. Posture therapy
Sometimes poor posture contributes to a herniated disc, either causing it, making it worse, or prolonging the pain. Posture therapy trains you to improve your body mechanics, which allows a herniated disc to heal and prevents new back pain.
4. Aquatic therapy
Aquatic therapy involves strength and mobility exercises performed while submerged in water. Thanks to hydrostatic pressure and buoyancy, it is especially easy on the back and joints.
Our team might recommend aquatic therapy to strengthen your back and help your herniated disc heal, especially if your pain makes regular physical therapy difficult.
5. Home exercise programs
Our team can give you a home exercise program to use between physical therapy appointments or independently. We teach you to perform these exercises safely and properly so you can accelerate your progress in physical therapy.
6. Dry needling
Dry needling is an excellent treatment for pain, including pain from herniated discs. Its purpose is to release muscle tension in concentrated areas and reduce nerve root irritation.
During a dry needling session, our team inserts very fine needles into targeted bands of muscle tissue. This usually causes a muscle spasm, but generally, the treatment isn’t painful. The needling technique helps draw blood to the area to improve circulation and initiate healing.
To discuss conservative herniated disc treatments with our expert team, call Elation Physical Therapy or book an appointment online today.
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