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Mend Physical Therapy Blog and Injury Information
Lack Of Hip Mobility Impacts Low Back Pain Symptoms

Do you have low back pain? At our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy clinics we often examine your hip mobility even though your low back is your area of complaint. Adjacent areas to the back, including the hip, can influence how we move and perform each day. A recent study investigated the relationship...

Dry needling for low back pain

Dry needling treatments performed by Physical Therapists have gained in popularity among both clinicians and patients with low back pain.  The treatment is designed to reduce pain and restore muscle function.   Inserting small, monofilament needs into trigger points within painful muscle groups can lead to immediate changes in pain and movement.  While the mechanism of...

Are Kettlebell Swings Helpful and Safe for Low Back Pain?

The majority of people with low back pain will demonstrate altered coordination and communication between the nervous system and muscles.  This leads to altered movement patterns which may perpetuate symptoms and lead to more chronic low back pain and muscle imbalances.  Primary movers for our movement patterns (example: glutes) may be substituted for weaker, less tolerant...

Steroid Shots No Better for Back Pain Than Placebo

The use of low back injections is often utilized for patients with low back pain and nerve pain (radicular pain) and/or leg numbness, pins and needles, or nerve root weakness (radiculopathy). In an older adult these symptoms may be due to a narrowing of the canals in which the low back nerve roots exit (lumbar...

How Important are my Image Findings for Low Back Pain?

Is a picture worth 1000 words? When having low back pain, you may undergo an MRI or CT scan. As our technology continues to improve MRI and CT scanners have become more proficient at finding changes in our low back. This higher imaging quality comes with a cost in that many of these positive findings...

When Should I See Someone for My Low Back Pain?

Strains and irritation to the low back can be very common but extremely frustrating when lasting longer than a few weeks. The low back (Lumbar Spine) is a large and resilient structure that can handle tremendous forces and movement; however the loads of activity can supersede the capacity of the low back tissue can handle....