Spine Specialist Near Me in Femme Osage, MO

Spine specialist near me in Femme Osage, MO. Lower back issues can make normal tasks like walking up the stairs excruciating, and keep us from optimal movement health. For athletes, back issues can prevent you from being at peak performance. For workers, it can prevent you from putting food on the table for your Femme Osage, MO family. For others, it can prevent us from going on bike ride or playing with our children as we’d like to. Physical therapists with a spine specialty can help return to the functional and pain-free life you’re seeking. By developing a custom treatment plan, based on techniques proven to work, Axes Physical Therapy can help you achieve the lifestyle you desire. If you’re prepared to at long last move on from the issues holding you back, request an appointment with an Axes Femme Osage, MO spine specialist, or call the Axes location nearest you.

Missouri law requires a prescription for physical therapy. If you’re recovering from a back or neck injury, or are find that back pain is disrupting your daily life, consult with your physician about if physical therapy with a spine specialist in Femme Osage, MO is what you need. You can also come see us for one of Axes’ complimentary injury screenings.

The Anatomy of the Spine

The spine supports both our physical bodies, and how our bodies communicate. It starts at the base of your skull and ends at your tailbone. There are several different parts of your spine:

Vertebrae

The spine consists of 33 vertebrae, which are small bones that stack on top of each other to form the spinal canal. Every vertebra has a hole in the middle to safeguard the spinal cord and its nerves. There are five vertebral groups. There are:

• 7 vertebrae in the cervical region (your neck)
• 12 vertebrae in the thoracic region (your middle back)
• 5 vertebrae in the lumbar region (your lower back)
• 5 vertebrae in the sacrum region (the triangle shaped bone that connects to the hips)
• 4 vertebrae in the coccyx region (your tailbone)

The 24 vertebrae in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions provide mobility; the others are fused when we’re babies.

Facet Joints

Facet joints are the small joints that connect the bony tips of vertebrae on the back of the spine. They allow your back and neck to extend, bend, twist, and rotate. They are lined with cartilage and lubricated with synovial fluid, allowing the bones to move without grinding against each other.

Intervertebral Discs

Discs are the flat, round cushions between the vertebrae that absorb shock and prevent the vertebrae from grinding against each other. There is one disc between each vertebra. Discs have a “gel-like” center known as the nucleus pulposus, which allows for mobility and absorption, and an outer ring of tough fibers known as the annulus fibrosus that prevent the gel-like center from leaking out.

Spinal Cord

The spinal cord is a collection of nerves that travel through the vertebrae, from your brain to your pelvis, where the nerves continue into your lower body. The spinal cord is protected by the vertebral column. The nerves branch out to other parts of the body through holes in the vertebrae known as the neural foramen. The spinal cord allows our brain to tell our bodies to move, and our brains to receive sensory information from our body.

Soft Tissue

Surrounding and within the spine are also muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Ligaments connect vertebrae and holds them in the correct structure. Muscles are attached to bones by tendons, and power their movement.

Achieving the lifestyle we want depends on all of these parts working together and functioning properly. Numerous different factors can interfere with the spine and severely limit your ability to enjoy the activities you love most. When that happens, a spine specialist in Femme Osage, MO like Axes’ physical therapists can get you back to the lifestyle you desire.

What Conditions Can a Spine Specialist in Femme Osage, MO Treat Me For?

The American College of Physicians recommends certain physical therapy treatments for people living with lower back pain and neck pain. Whether you’re living with chronic pain or recently suffered a sports injury, Axes’ Femme Osage, MO spine specialists can help you live your best life. Some of the common conditions we help with in Femme Osage, MO are:

• Disc Injuries — Herniated discs and bulging discs can be the result of either an injury or wear and tear as we get older. They can impinge on a nerve which can cause severe pain along your neck and back and limit strength. Degenerative disc disease occurs as the cushioning in your spine wears away, and can have symptoms similar to herniated discs.
• Sciatica — Sciatica refers to a variety of conditions which irritate the sciatic nerve, which is the largest nerve in the body and originates in the lumbar region. Symptoms include crippling pain, weakness, and tingling through your buttock and leg.
• Spinal Stenosis — Stenosis occurs when the vertebral column is too small. Symptoms include pain, problems with walking or other movements, and numbness or tingling in your hands or feet.
• Spinal Arthritis — Arthritis describes several different types of joint disease. It onsets as the cushioning between the joints degrades over time or from over-exertion. It can also be caused by autoimmune disorders. The term “arthritis” describes over a hundred conditions, most of which can affect the facet joints of the spine.
• Axial Back Pain — Also referred to as nonspecific back pain, this refers to pain that doesn’t have a known, recognizable cause. Common causes are obesity or poor posture.

Physical therapy can also help with soft tissue injuries such as muscle strains.

Whatever condition is currently ailing you, our Femme Osage, MO spine specialists will form a team with you and your physician to develop a treatment plan, based on proven strategies, and aimed at getting you back to the activities you love and a more comfortable life. While some conditions, like arthritis, won’t ever fully go away, physical therapy is an effective part of a comprehensive wellness routine that reduces pain and other symptoms and regains optimal mobility.

If you need surgery on your spine, we can work with you in your pre- and post-surgical rehab in Femme Osage, MO to help you be healthy for surgery and recovery quickly and safely.

Benefits of Working With a Physical Therapy Spine Specialist in Femme Osage, MO

Physical therapy is becoming an increasingly popular non-invasive treatment plan for a variety of musculoskeletal conditions. According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, physical therapy can get the same relief and results for some back pain as surgery, and doesn’t involve the same risk of complications. Early intervention by a licensed Femme Osage, MO physical therapist has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of long-term opioid use.

A spine specialist like those at Axes Physical Therapy will be able to find the root cause of your back problems, and design a treatment plan based on your medical history, your age, and the lifestyle you wish to achieve or get back to. Through a variety of exercises and manual therapy, physical therapy can limit symptoms, improve the function of your spine by improving strength and flexibility, boost range of motion.

Physical Therapy for Spine Problems

Depending on your specific condition, your Femme Osage, MO spine specialist at Axes may implement some of the following practices to help get you back to what you love doing most:

• Hands-On Care — Our Femme Osage, MO manual therapists are experts at using light manipulations and stretches to alleviate symptoms and improve function due to spinal issues. Hand-on services we may incorporate into your treatment plan include:
  • Trigger point dry needling
  • Soft tissue mobilization
  • Joint mobilization and manipulation
  • Trigger point massage
• Guided Exercise — Safe exercises are crucial for helping you build up strength, flexibility, and balance. In addition to decreasing symptoms now, certain exercises will allow you to maintain a well-functioning spine while going to work or doing the activities you love most. Exercises we might assign include:
  • Core stabilization
  • Postural retraining
  • Flexibility
  • Cardio conditioning
  • Strength training
  • Home exercise
• Injury Prevention — There’s nothing worse than believing you’ve gotten past an injury, only to aggravate it. We help you understand your injury and how it affects your body’s function, so you can learn how to be active safely. Our injury prevention program includes:
  • Patient education
  • Lifting education
  • Activity modification
  • Conditioning

Your treatment plan in Femme Osage, MO will be comprehensive and focused on getting you to optimal function and helping you stay there. Whatever your treatment plan includes, it will be based on time-tested techniques.

Other conditions we help treat in Femme Osage, MO include:

• Neck Pain Treatment
• Physical Therapy Clinic
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation

Count on Axes For Your Spine Specialist Near Me in Femme Osage, MO

Don’t allow a spine condition keep you from what you love doing most. At Axes, our Femme Osage, MO spine specialists are dedicated to positive patient outcomes. Your pain may not have been your choice, but you can choose to do something about it. For a professional and experienced Femme Osage, MO spine specialist to treat you, request an evaluation with Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location nearest you