Has anyone had PT for low back pain and did it help?

It is the major thing that has helped me.

A lot depends on the PT and his experiences. The first one I had gave me a bunch of set exercises and charged me a lot for Laser treatments not covered by Medicare. They didn’t work. The second one was more thoughtful and tried different things. He helped me to use a cane so I don’t feel the strain in my lower back when walking. But he couldn’t do much about the sciatica pain.

The same here. I think when it's bad enough it does do anything to help, it makes it worse.

Strengthening the back muscles and core muscles has worked for me, absolutely. I’ve always been told strengthening the muscles around the spine, upper lower, other core muscles, etc., helps the spine by taking off some of the load. Since i have compressed nerves, my last epidural from UCSF worked for me, I’m pain free but do continue the back/core exercises three times a week (I should be doing them five days, but ….)

You don’t say what your pain is from. I have scoliosis and compressed nerves from stenosis. If your PT is not helping, I’d move on. There are a handful of basic low back exercises you can find on youtube, of course, but working with someone to make sure you do them correctly would be very helpful. Good luck! Hope you can find someone who listens.

@mishacosette
How did you get injured and how long ago? What imaging (X Ray / MRI / ultrasound / CT scan) did they do and did they send you to pain management? Are you taking any pain medication? Are you doing any therapy?

Did you break your leg? Did you injure nerves and blood vessels? Did they need to do surgery?

I am like the others that have posted. Having PT and physical therapy is away for the insurances to justify I needed surgery. When one needs surgery then it won’t help. But MRIs, x-rays and an orthopedic surgeon and pain management team and therapy are all necessary ways to figure out if you need surgery or not. There are rare people along this road that will do so much exercise and strengthen their core so well that they can bypass surgery. But I have not found that to be women only a few men, and they exercise at least four hours every single day. For the rest of us surgery is preferable so we can get back to our lives. And then an exercise routine that maintains our muscle Strength to support those joint replacements is critically important. You didn’t tell us much about your physical state so nobody can give you a very specific answer but the best suggestion I can offer is to put a really good team in place going forward. They will always recommend exercise, but in order to slow down the progression of degenerative conditions it has to be the right kind of exercise. I have left many PT situations because the companies were not truly interested in my specific situation and just provide generic exercise exercises which I can do at home.

Hi, about seven yrs. ago I had a knee replacement/ Then seven yrs later when my mom died. I began having pain and numbness in my legs. It was very bad every time my father yelled at me. Then at night it was really bad with Pain.all through my legs, Noone knew what was wrong so my surgeon determined i needed a hip replacement. I dont think. idid. So after that there was still pain , but better. I would get worse every time my father raged at me which was a lot over money, because i took on my mom's responsinilities. Iwas 69.
so I found a womnderful pain doc, and i was almost cured until I fell and broke my hip and femur. The pain was so bad i want to die. Six months out. The femur is better but now it seems I have a lot of nerve damage and the numbness is still there. My dad is 100 and has caretakers. I am afraid he is going through what was meant to be my inheritance. I didn't break any blood vessels that i know of. I tired. I am turning 72 and thought i would be traveling the world now. So i am still searching. thingabout stem cell replacement at Mayo,

@mishacosette
Did you break the hip you had replaced or the other hip? Which leg did you break?

If I were in your shoes, I would have a MRI done of my lumbar spine/lower back and hips/pelvis to see if there is stenosis, spinal cord or nerve root/nerve or blood vessel compression causing your pain.

I had lower back/hip/buttocks/leg/foot pain, weakness and numbness and the source of my pain was my lumbar spine and torn gluteal and hamstring muscles.

Did you have a neurologist do EMG/nerve conduction studies of your lower limbs? It will identify damaged nerves and problems with spinal cord communication to muscles. It may also be good to do a ct scan myelogram to check nerves.

You may have injured your back and hips/legs when helping care for your mother.

Hi, Let's see. I had one hip replacement for arthritis. The other hip I broke with my femur. No I wasnt with my mother when she was sick. I came back a week before she died, Luckily she didnt suffer too long I do have spinal stenosis and I dont know if my new pain doc knows. I have had every mri and scan there is, I had a emg. and it was normal. I even had a brain Mri. I thought i had ms. I have a rod and screws in my femur and hip. I am bionic. i've been diagnosed with nerve damage. I had a grat pain doc, who was helping me and then he discharged me .long story.

Can u tell me if urs is disc oriented or SI pain? I am gonna look up the exercises u mentioned. I have had sacral cranial therapy and at the time it helped. I have never gotten rid of my pain in 42 yrs. I am now 69 and have some disc degeneration. I am thinking about an impar ganglion block. I take cymbalta/ Valium/ Tylenol and if I have to hydrocodone. TY