Low Back Pain

Case Description: Pt. is a 62 y/o female who presented to physical therapy with a long history of LBP.  She had recently made several trips to either urgent care or to the ED due to the severity of her LBP.  She struggled with anxiety and depression and was very worried about her physical health and the increasing frequency of her LBP, which had not improved with prescription of muscle relaxers or narcotics.  

Objective Measures: The patient was seen for 12 physical therapy visits over a 2 month period.

Tests and Measures	Initial Evaluation	Day of Discharge from Physical Therapy
VAS for Pain	2-5/10	0/10
Oswestry Disability Scale	16% disability	0% disability
Hip Strength	Grossly 3 to 3+/5	Grossly 5- to 5/5
Trunk ROM based on expected norms	FLEX: 100%    EXT:  50%    Sidebend R: 75%  Sidebend L: 100%    Rotation R: 50%   Rotation L: 50%	100% for all and non-painful
Lifting	Strong avoidance to lifting due to fear of LBP	Able to lift 25 lbs from floor  10+ times without LBP

Summary:  Pt. attained full trunk ROM without LBP and reported that she had no limitations in her daily function.  Her treatment consisted of core control activity, patient education/training with ergonomics and functional exercise focused on daily tasks like lifting and squatting.  At a 1 month follow up, she reported that her LBP was totally gone and she felt like a new person.  

Patient Comments at Discharge: “Full Potential has excellent therapists who care and progress at a steady pace. They have excellent equipment to facilitate healing and build strength. All of the staff was kind and supportive. Thank you!”

Sincerely,

Luke Vander Zouwen, DPT
Full Potential Physical Therapy