Spine Specialist Near Me in Mehlville, MO

Spine specialist near me in Mehlville, MO. Lower back pain can make basic tasks like sitting up painful, and keep us from our best possible movement health. For people who play sports, back problems can prevent you from being at the top of their game. For workers, it can prevent you from providing for your Mehlville, MO family. For others, it can keep us from taking the dog for a walk or playing with our grandkids like we love doing. Physical therapists who specialize in the spine can help return to what you love doing most. Through safe and proven exercises and treatment plans, Axes Physical Therapy can help you achieve the strength, flexibility, and pain relief your body needs to be at its best, and that you need to live your best life. If you’re ready to at long last be free from debilitating back pain, schedule an appointment with an Axes Mehlville, MO spine specialist, or reach out to the Axes location nearest you.

Missouri law mandates that a prescription is required for physical therapy. If you’re recovering from a back or neck injury, or are living with chronic pain, consult with your physician about if physical therapy with a spine specialist in Mehlville, MO is right for you. You can also take advantage of one of our free injury screenings.

The Human Spine

The spine is our central support structure, and allows our brain and body to coordinate with each other. It begins at the base of your brain and ends at your tailbone. There are several different parts of your spine:

Vertebrae

The spine has 33 vertebrae, which are small bones that form the backbone. 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 first 3 regions provide mobility; the others are immobile.

Facet Joints

Each vertebra is connected to two facet joints which connect the bones to each other. They allow your back and neck to perform a variety of movements. They are lined with cartilage and lubricated with synovial fluid, allowing healthy bones and joints to safely glide and slide during movement.

Intervertebral Discs

Discs are the flat, round cushions between the vertebrae that absorb the stress and shock the body is put under when moving. There is one disc between each vertebra. Discs have a softer center called the nucleus pulposus, which gives them flexibility and allows them to absorb impact, and a tough, circular exterior known as the annulus fibrosus that prevent the nucleus pulposus from leaking out.

Spinal Cord

The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular collection of nerves, extending from the brain to your lumbar region, where the nerves go into the lower part of your body. The spinal cord is protected by the vertebrae and other tissue. The nerves branch out to other parts of the body through holes in the vertebrae called 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 attach vertebrae, hold them in place, and give them structure. Tendons attach muscles to the vertebrae, and the muscles are what powers the spine’s movement.

A well-functioning spine needs all of these different structures to function properly and in unison to achieve optimal movement health and a pain free life. Numerous different conditions can make the spine damaged or unhealthy, which can keep you from the things you love doing. When that happens, a spine specialist in Mehlville, MO like Axes’ physical therapists can get you back to doing what you love most.

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

The American College of Physicians recommends a variety of physical therapy treatments for people living with lower back pain and neck pain. Whether you’re living with chronic pain or recently sustained a sports injury, Axes’ Mehlville, MO spine specialists can help get you feeling great again. Some of the common conditions we treat in Mehlville, MO are:

• Disc Injuries — Herniated discs and bulging discs can be caused by either acute trauma or general degradation 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 near your tailbone. It can cause to immense pain, weakness, and numbness through your buttock and leg.
• Spinal Stenosis — Stenosis occurs when the space inside your backbone is too small. It can cause pain, problems with walking or other movements, and numbness or tingling in your hands or feet.
• Spinal Arthritis — Arthritis is the inflammation of the facet joints. It onsets as the cartilage between the joints degrades over time or from over-exertion. Obesity, autoimmune disorders, and other conditions can also lead to arthritis. There are over 100 types of arthritis, most of which can affect the facet joints of the spine.
• Axial Back Pain — Also known as nonspecific back pain, this refers to pain isn’t brought on by a clear, diagnosable cause. Common causes are obesity or poor posture.

Physical therapy can also help with muscle strains, whiplash, and other more acute injuries.

Whatever condition is currently ailing you, our Mehlville, MO spine specialists will work with you and your doctor to design a treatment plan, based on proven strategies, and aimed at getting you back to the things you love doing most 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 treatment plan that reduces pain and other symptoms and returns optimal mobility.

If what’s ailing you requires surgery, we offer pre- and post-surgical rehab in Mehlville, MO to help your surgery go as well as possible.

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

More and more people are turning to physical therapy as a non-invasive treatment plan for a variety of issues affecting our musculoskeletal system. According to a paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, physical therapy is just as effective as surgery for certain types of back pain, without the same risk of complications. Early intervention by a licensed Mehlville, MO physical therapist is proven to reduce the risk of long-term opioid use.

A knowledgeable and experienced spine specialist will be able to find the root cause of your back problems, and design a treatment plan based on your current and previous medical conditions, how old you are, and the lifestyle you wish to achieve or get back to. Through numerous different exercises and manual manipulations, physical therapy can limit symptoms, improve the function of your spine by improving strength and flexibility, boost flexibility.

Physical Therapy for Spine Issues

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

• Manual Therapy — Our Mehlville, MO manual therapists are experts at using light pressures and stretches to alleviate symptoms and improve function caused by muscle or joint dysfunction. Manual therapy we may use to help you include:
  • 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 reducing pain now, certain exercises will also help overall function and improve movement health. Effective exercises for spine conditions include:
  • Core stabilization
  • Postural retraining
  • Flexibility
  • Cardio conditioning
  • Strength training
  • Home exercise
• Injury Prevention — There’s nothing worse than believing you’ve overcome an injury, only to suffer another injury in the future. We help you understand the musculoskeletal system and how yours is being affected, so you’ll know how to protect your spine while being active. Injury prevention includes:
  • Patient education
  • Lifting education
  • Activity modification
  • Conditioning

Your treatment plan in Mehlville, MO will be based not on just recovery or pain relief, but on getting you to your best possible function and keeping you there. However we recommend treating your spine condition or back pain, it will designed based on peer-reviewed studies that those techniques have been proven to work.

Other conditions we help treat in Mehlville, 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

Call Axes For Your Spine Specialist Near Me in Mehlville, MO

Don’t allow a spine condition keep you from living the life you want. At Axes, our Mehlville, MO spine specialists strive for positive patient outcomes. Your pain may not have been your choice, but you do not have to choose to live with it. For a licensed and qualified Mehlville, MO spine specialist to treat you, schedule an evaluation with Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location closest to you