Physical therapy is an important part of treatment for spinal stenosis, as it helps to relieve pain, increase joint spaces and flexibility and build strength. In order to use physical therapy as part of your treatment, you must first understand the basic principles. While physical therapy should always be supervised by a professional therapist or doctor, a few simple concepts can help.
Instructions
1. Use good posture while walking, sitting and even sleeping. By ensuring that the spinal column is properly aligned at all times, you can prevent spinal compression and help to relieve the pain of spinal stenosis. Education about proper posture is a fundamental part of physical therapy.
2. Stretch often to maintain range of motion, flexibility and to relieve stress on the spinal column. Stretching for spinal stenosis should include exercises for the entire body. Often gentle forms of pilates or yoga can be used as a form of physical therapy during and after recovery. Not only do pilates and yoga stretch the body, they also help you to gain strength, another key part of therapy.
3. Participate in gentle exercises that will keep your body moving and help to strengthen your muscles. The most common forms of exercise used for physical therapy and spinal stenosis include water aerobics, walking, cycling, yoga and pilates.
4. Apply heat to painful areas before exercising and stretching to improve circulation to the spinal muscles and increase flexibility. Heat should be applied for 15 minutes maximum; however, never apply heat to swollen, inflamed areas. After your physical therapy exercises and stretches, use ice for 10 to 15 minutes to flush toxins, reduce any inflammation and reduce pain.
Tags: physical therapy, spinal stenosis, pilates yoga, relieve pain, spinal column