What is Rehabilitation?
Exercise and fitness have been recommended for low back pain for many years. It is only recently however that the scientific understanding
of muscle strength, length, speed and co-ordination in relation to low back pain has been understood. At the Chiltern Health Centre we regularly prescribe exercises to patients but due to busy lifestyles and work commitments the compliance rate for home exercise is only around 10%. Although exercise alone can bring back muscle strength, muscle speed does not always recover after injury and can leave us prone to further attacks.
To prevent further attacks of back pain we recommend that our patients also have Sensory Motor Rehabiltation. This consists of making the supporting muscles of the spine both strong and fast, so that they can respond quickly and efficient to the sudden movements that our spines are subjected to on a daily basis.
Muscle speed is regained by balancing on unstable surfaces, ensuring that you do not fall over and hurt yourself. These include rocker and wobble boards, wobble shoes, wobble cushions and gym balls.
Musculoskeletal rehabilitation is a supervised program of stretches and exercises designed for patients with disorders, conditions or injuries to the muscles, bones and joints. Exercise programs are prescribed and supervised by a personal trainer/ physical therapist and may involve weight machines, free weights, Swiss balls, exercise bikes, balance boards, mat work and resistive exercise bands.
Our musculoskeletal rehabilitation programs are designed to improve sensory motor ability, encourage mobility, improve functional capacity, reduce symptoms and improve wellbeing.