Spondylolisthesis Therapy

The most common non-surgical approach to relieving the pain associated with spondylolisthesis is to begin a therapy program. Therapy can play a big role in reducing painful symptoms allowing for a faster recovery and the avoidance of long-term pain.

Therapy for spondylolisthesis can do several things.

1. Calm or reduce the amount of pain.


2. Strengthen areas that are weak that might be leading to pain.


3. Stretch areas that are tight that might be leading to pain.


4. Provide the person with knowledge of what they can do to avoid pain.


5. Assign an at home program to continue improvement.

Calm Or Reduce The Amount Of Pain

The first thing therapy can do is to help relieve the pain. Soft tissue inflammation and possible nerve compression might be causing severe pain.

Various techniques, modalities, or stretching may be used by the therapist to achieve the quickest path to relief. The exact path would depend on the patient, condition, and other various factors.

Strengthen and Stretch Areas That Might Be Leading To Pain

Once the pain is reduced, therapy can aid those who suffer from spondylolisthesis by attacking the weaknesses and imbalances that lead to the pain.

For example, hyperextension (excessive backwards bending), is a common issue for someone who suffers from spondylolisthesis. A poor movement habit associated with this issue is to create movement with their low back instead of using certain muscle groups to accomplish the movement.

Reducing the amount of hyperextension is a hard thing to do for people who suffer from spondylolisthesis because most of the hyperextension is caused by a certain muscular weakness or tightness.

Therapy would include certain stretches, strengthening exercises, and techniques to attack these areas that can lead to hyperextension. Therapy would also help to teach proper patterns of movement to reduce the stress the back absorbs.

Provide The Patient With Knowledge On How To Avoid Pain

Therapists and doctors are knowledgeable people and are around to help. These helpful people will explain to the patient what they can do to avoid the pain.

One important thing for patients to remember is to always ask questions. Make sure to question your professional about treatment, symptoms, and the current state of pain. This will give the professional the information they need to help the patient avoid pain.

Having knowledge about this condition is a key component for the recovery process. The more questions that are exchanged and answered, the better the chances of a successful recovery.

Provide An At Home Program

Patients may also receive stretches and exercises to do on their own at home. This is also an important step to the recovery process. Due to the limited amount of time spent in therapy, performing the stretches and exercises at home serves as a major component of the long-term recovery process.

Many of the programs will come with step by step instructions on how to perform the exercises along with the frequency to do so. The at home program is an important step to keeping people healthy for the long run.

The role of therapy is very important to those that suffer from spondylolisthesis. Understanding how the therapy process works will help to ease any discomfort or fear of taking the first big step to recovery.