Pain Medicine and Rehabilitation Plans
Dealing with chronic pain has begun taking precedence in recent times. This is evident in the emergence of pain management facilities all over the country. These are facilities that offer specialized care with great attention to detail. Dr. Steven Ferrer is a renowned pain management physician with great expertise and experience. More about pain management and rehabilitation techniques are discussed below.
What is Meant by Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation?
Physical medicine and rehabilitation is a sector of healthcare that aims at improving and recovering ability, function, and quality of life to persons with physical impairments.
This type of healthcare applies to both children and adults with chronic and acute pain, including those with long or short-term physical or cognitive disabilities and impairments. These issues may arise from neurological, musculoskeletal, or other medical conditions. The specialists aim to reduce pain and improve performance without the need for surgery.
Chronic Pain Management
Physicians use various techniques to treat pain, including physical therapy, exercise, intervention pain treatments, and medication management.
Some physicians may work together with other specialists to effectively manage complex functional, clinical, and psychosocial issues related to chronic pain management and restore function through pain reduction.
An example of chronic pain that can be dealt with is lower back pain. The various steps that can be taken to alleviate this pain include:
- Physicians make a particular diagnosis
- Development of a treatment plan
- The offering of treatment options
- Development of strength and flexibility to place the body parts into their proper positions
- Designing a total body fitness program to increase endurance and maintain body mechanics
Diagnosis and Treatment
When visiting your physician, a physical exam is usually performed to assess the intensity and factors, including reflexes, strength, walking ability, sensation, hip range of motion, and symptoms of other diseases.
X-rays are used to screen for various problems like fractures.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging and CT scans are performed to confirm a diagnosis or when rehabilitation proves unsuccessful.
Electromyography is done to record the electrical activity of your muscles.
The Significance of Proper Body Mechanics
Proper body mechanics are how your body moves throughout the day. This includes walking, standing, lifting, driving, and sitting.
Poor body mechanics causes most back problems. Incorrect and unsafe movements may subject your spine to abnormal stress that leads to unnecessary wear and tear, injury, and degeneration of spinal structures like joints and discs.
Therefore, proper body mechanics is crucial in maintaining the natural curve of the spine. These curves act as shock absorbers that distribute the stress during movement.
Good posture generally involves steps that may include:
- Stand with your feet apart
- Tuck your tailbone in and tilt your pelvic bone forward slightly
- Pull your shoulders back and lift the chest
- Lift your chin until it is on a horizontal plane
- Relax your mouth and jaw
Incorporating proper posture techniques may help you avoid various problems especially back pain. This, combined with other rehabilitation techniques, may alleviate your pain and improve the quality of your life. Check us out online for any pain management inquiries, or call our Glen Rock, NJ offices.