Spine Specialist Near Me in Oakland, MO

Spine specialist near me in Oakland, MO. Spinal conditions can make normal tasks like walking up the stairs painful, and disturb how our bodies function. For physically active people, back issues can keep you from being at peak performance. For workers, it can hinder your ability to put food on the table for your Oakland, MO loved ones. For others, it can prevent us from taking walks or playing with our grandkids as we’d like to. Physical therapists who specialize in the spine can help return to the functional and pain-free life you’re looking for. Through safe and proven exercises and treatment plans, Axes Physical Therapy can help you live your best life. If you’re prepared to at long last be free from a crippling back condition, schedule an evaluation with an Axes Oakland, MO spine specialist, or call the Axes location nearest 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 disrupting your daily life, ask your doctor if physical therapy with a spine specialist in Oakland, MO can be safe and effective for you. You can also visit one of our offices for one of Axes’ complimentary injury screenings.

The Human Spine

The spine supports both our physical bodies, and how our bodies communicate. It extends from the base of your skull to your tailbone. The spine is made up of:

Vertebrae

The spine has 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 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 are the only ones that can move; the others are immobile.

Facet Joints

Facet joints connect the vertebrae. They allow your back and neck to extend, bend, twist, and rotate. 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 circular cushions between the vertebrae that absorb the stress and shock the body incurs 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 shock, and an outer ring of tough fibers known as the annulus fibrosus that protect the disc and connect the vertebrae.

Spinal Cord

The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure, from your brain to your pelvis, where the nerves continue into your lower extremities. The spinal cord is protected by the vertebrae and other tissue. The nerves branch out to other parts of the body through openings 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

The spine also has muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Ligaments connect vertebrae and holds them in the correct structure. Tendons attach muscles to the vertebrae, and the muscles are what powers the spine’s movement.

Achieving the lifestyle we want depends on all of these parts working together and functioning properly. A variety of factors can interfere with the spine and keep you from the things you love doing. When that happens, a spine specialist in Oakland, MO like Axes’ physical therapists can provide safe and effective relief.

What Injuries Can a Spine Specialist in Oakland, MO Treat Me For?

The American College of Physicians developed guidelines that include 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 work injury, Axes’ Oakland, MO spine specialists can help you live your best life. Some of the common conditions we provide relief and improved function for in Oakland, MO are:

• Disc Injuries — Herniated discs and bulging discs can be caused by either acute trauma or general degradation as we get older. They put pressure 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 greatly decreases flexibility.
• 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 lower spine. Symptoms include debilitating pain, weakness, and numbness through your buttock and leg.
• Spinal Stenosis — Stenosis occurs when the spinal cavity becomes too narrow and puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. It can cause pain, issues with walking or other movements, and loss of sensation in the extremities.
• 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. It can also be caused by autoimmune disorders. The term “arthritis” describes over a hundred conditions, most of which are possible in the spine.
• Axial Back Pain — Also known as nonspecific back pain, this refers to pain isn’t brought on by a clear, diagnosable cause. Nonspecific 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 is causing your back pain or injury, our Oakland, MO spine specialists will form a team with you and your physician to come up with 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 can be part of a holistic treatment plan that reduces pain and other symptoms and regains optimal mobility.

If what’s ailing you requires surgery, we can work with you in your pre- and post-surgical rehab in Oakland, MO to help attain the best results possible.

What a Physical Therapy Spine Specialist Can Do For Me in Oakland, MO

Physical therapy is becoming an increasingly popular non-invasive treatment plan for a variety of musculoskeletal conditions. According to a paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, physical therapy can get the same relief and results for some back pain as surgery, without the same recovery time or risk of adverse side-effects. Early intervention by a licensed Oakland, MO physical therapist has been demonstrated to limit long-term opioid dependence.

A qualified spine specialist will be able to determine what is causing your pain or other issues, and create a treatment plan based on your medical history, your age, and the lifestyle you wish to achieve or get back to. Through numerous different exercises and techniques, physical therapy can limit symptoms, improve the function of your spine by increasing strength and flexibility, increase range of motion.

Physical Therapy for Spine Conditions

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

• Manual Therapy — Our Oakland, MO manual therapists are experts at using subtle pressures and stretches to alleviate symptoms and improve function caused by muscle or joint dysfunction. Hand-on services we may use to treat you include:
  • Trigger point dry needling
  • Soft tissue mobilization
  • Joint mobilization and manipulation
  • Trigger point massage
• Guided Exercise — Safe exercises are essential for getting your body stronger and more flexible. In addition to limiting 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’re moving on from an injury, only to aggravate it. We’ll educate you about your injury and how it affects your body’s function, so you’ll know how to stay healthy in the future. Injury prevention includes:
  • Patient education
  • Lifting education
  • Activity modification
  • Conditioning

Your treatment plan in Oakland, MO will be based not on just recovery or pain relief, but on getting you to your best possible movement health and helping you stay 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 services we offer in Oakland, MO include:

• Beginner Running Program
• Chronic Pain Treatment
• MCL Injury
• Shoulder Pain
• Injury Prevention
• Mobility
• Knee Injury
• Joint Pain
• Sciatica

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

Don’t allow a spine condition prevent you from living the life you want. At Axes, our Oakland, 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 licensed and knowledgeable Oakland, MO spine specialist to help you, schedule an appointment with Axes Physical Therapy now or contact the location most convenient for you