Spine Specialist Near Me in New Melle, MO

Spine specialist near me in New Melle, MO. Spinal conditions can make everyday tasks like sitting up painful, and disrupt how our bodies function. For athletes, back issues can keep you from being at peak performance. For breadwinners, it can prevent you from putting food on the table for your New Melle, MO loved ones. For others, it can keep us from taking walks or playing with our grandkids like we love doing. Physical therapists with a spine specialty can help you get back to what you love doing most. Through safe and proven exercises and treatment plans, Axes Physical Therapy can help you live your best life. If you’re ready to at long last be free from debilitating back pain, request an evaluation with an Axes New Melle, MO spine specialist, or get in touch with the Axes location most convenient for you.

Under Missouri law, a doctor needs to prescribe physical therapy. If you’re dealing with a recent injury or find that back pain is keeping you from the activities you love, consult with your physician about if physical therapy with a spine specialist in New Melle, MO is what you need. You can also visit one of our offices for 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 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 form the backbone. Every vertebra has a hole in the middle to protect the spinal cord and its nerves. There are five vertebral regions. 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 allow us to move; the others are immobile.

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 perform a variety of movements. Between the joints and bones are cartilage and synovial fluid, allowing healthy bones and joints to safely glide and slide during movement.

Intervertebral Discs

Discs are the circular cushions between the vertebrae that act as shock absorbers. Every two vertebrae have one disc between them. Discs have a softer center known as the nucleus pulposus, which allows for mobility and absorption, and a tough, circular exterior called the annulus fibrosus that protect the disc and connect the vertebrae.

Spinal Cord

The spinal cord consists of nerves that travel through the vertebrae, extending from the brain to your lumbar region, where the nerves continue into your legs. The spinal cord is protected by the vertebral column. The neural foramen are openings in the vertebrae where the nerves to go into other parts of the body. The spinal cord allows our brain to tell our bodies to move, and our brains to receive sensory information from our body.

Soft Tissue

The spine also has muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Ligaments connect bones together, hold them in place, and give them structure. Tendons attach muscles to the vertebrae, and the muscles are what powers the spine’s movement.

Living the lifestyle we want depends on all of these parts working together and functioning properly. 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 New Melle, MO like Axes’ physical therapists can provide safe and effective relief.

What Conditions Can a Spine Specialist in New Melle, MO Help With?

The American College of Physicians recommends certain physical therapy treatments for lower back pain and neck pain. Whether you’re dealing with pain on a everyday basis or recently sustained a work injury, Axes’ New Melle, MO spine specialists can help you live your best life. Some of the common conditions we treat in New Melle, MO are:

• Disc Injuries — Herniated discs and bulging discs can be caused by either acute trauma or wear and tear from aging. They can impinge on a nerve which can cause severe pain along your neck and back and limit strength. Degenerative disc disease occurs as a natural result of aging, 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 begins near your tailbone. Symptoms include crippling pain, weakness, and numbness from your buttocks all the way down to your foot.
• Spinal Stenosis — Stenosis occurs when the space inside your backbone is too small. It can cause pain, balance issues, and loss of sensation in the extremities.
• Spinal Arthritis — Arthritis describes several different types of joint disease. It occurs as the cartilage between the joints wears down over time or from over-exertion. It can also be caused by autoimmune disorders. There are over 100 types of arthritis, most of which are possible in the spine.
• Axial Back Pain — Also called nonspecific back pain, this refers to pain that doesn’t have a known, recognizable cause. Axial back pain can be caused by 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 New Melle, MO spine specialists will form a team with you and your doctor to develop an evidence-backed treatment plan to get you back to the activities you love and a pain-free life. While some conditions, like arthritis, won’t ever fully go away, physical therapy can be part of a holistic treatment plan that reduces pain and other symptoms and returns optimal mobility.

If your spine condition requires surgery, we can work with you in your pre- and post-surgical rehab in New Melle, MO to help you be healthy for surgery and recovery quickly and safely.

What a Physical Therapy Spine Specialist Can Do For You in New Melle, MO

More and more people are turning to physical therapy as a non-surgical option for a variety of issues affecting our musculoskeletal system. According to a study published By the American College of Physicians, 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 New Melle, MO physical therapist has been demonstrated to limit the risk of long-term opioid use.

A professional spine specialist will be able to find the root cause of your back problems, and create a treatment plan based on your injures, your age, and your desired activity level. Through numerous different exercises and techniques, physical therapy can limit symptoms, improve the function of your spine by improving strength and flexibility, enhance range of motion.

Physical Therapy for Spine Conditions

Depending on what is causing your back pain or spine dysfunction, your New Melle, MO spine specialist at Axes may implement some of the following practices to help return you to the activities you love:

• Manual Therapy — Our New Melle, MO manual therapists are able to use subtle manipulations and stretches to alleviate symptoms and improve function caused by muscle or joint dysfunction. Hand-on services we may include in your treatment plan include:
  • Dry needling
  • Soft tissue mobilization
  • Joint mobilization and manipulation
  • Trigger point massage
• Guided Exercise — Safe exercises are essential for helping you build up strength, flexibility, and balance. In addition to managing symptoms 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 gotten past an injury, only to suffer another injury in the future. We’ll educate you about your injury and how it affects your body’s function, so you can learn how to be active safely. Injury prevention includes:
  • Patient education
  • Lifting education
  • Activity modification
  • Conditioning

Your treatment plan in New Melle, 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 be based on peer-reviewed studies that those techniques have been proven to work.

Other conditions we help treat in New Melle, MO include:

• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy
• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy
• Migraine Relief
• Sprain and Strain Treatment
• Geriatric Physical Therapy
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Pain Management Services
• TMJ Treatment
• Herniated Disc Treatment

Call Axes For Your Spine Specialist Near Me in New Melle, MO

Don’t allow a spine condition keep you from the activities you love. At Axes, our New Melle, MO spine specialists strive for positive patient outcomes. You didn’t decide to live with this condition, but you do not have to decide to live with it. For a professional and qualified New Melle, MO spine specialist to help you, request an appointment with Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location nearest you