Low Back Pain

If you have ever experienced low back pain, you are certainly not alone. According to a 2012 survey by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), 61 percent of Americans said they have experienced low back pain, and of those, 69 percent felt it has affected their daily lives. The good news is that most cases of low back pain are not serious and will respond well to conservative, proven treatments such as physical therapy.

The following resources are provided to help you better understand how a physical therapist can help prevent and manage your low back pain, in many cases, without expensive surgery or the long-term use of prescription medications.

Move Forward Radio

On April 23, an expert panel discussed prevention and management of low back pain in a live Blog Talk Radio show.

Host Debbie Myers was joined by Mary Ann Wilmarth, PT, DPT, OCS, chief of physical therapy at Harvard University, Mike Ryan, PT, ATC, physical therapist and athletic trainer for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Colette Morgan, MD, with Emory University and AARP Georgia volunteer.  Click here to listen to the segment. 

Low Back Pain e-book

Low Back Pain: Management and Prevention is designed to help you understand the causes of low back pain and give you the strategies you need to manage it (and even help prevent it). It will also show you how a physical therapist (PT) can help you stay healthy, in shape, free of pain, and in many cases, avoid painful surgery and the side effects of prescription medication.

Infographic

Our Low Back Pain by the Numbers infographic details the common effects and causes of low back pain and provides an overview of how a physical therapist can design an individualized treatment plan to help you overcome and avoid low back pain.

Symptoms & Conditions Guides

Low Back Pain

Degenerative Disk Disease

Herniated Disk

Spinal Stenosis

Videos

Low Back Pain Tips

Snow Shoveling

Back Pack Safety

Proper Lifting Tips for Moms

Office Ergonomics

Physical Therapist Tips

Lifting tips

Gardening

Workplace Wellness

"Ask a PT" Answers

My job involves sitting at my computer for 9 hours a day. Could that be causing my low back pain?

Is a memory foam mattress helpful for back pain?

Can low back pain be caused by obesity?

Can physical therapy work as a long-term fix for spinal stenosis?

How much more effective is physical therapy than surgery in treating spinal stenosis?