Walking, cycling and swimming are good exercises for the spine, and help with back pain prevention when there's better flexibility and core muscle strength, when there's weight loss and increased endurance.
Low impact exercises including aerobics and pilates can increase flexibility, strength and endurance in your back and allow muscles to work better. "Bending and stretching exercises improve flexibility. Flexibility in the hips and legs also help in reducing strain on the back. Abdominal and back muscle exercises help condition core muscles to work like a natural corset to protect your back." says Dr Ngian Kite Seng, specialist orthopedic surgeon.
If the pain is more severe or persistent, further treatment often includes physical therapy. In patients with significant disc and facet joint inflammation, steroid injections may be used to help in recovery. For those with pain that is disabling or with significant nerve compression, further intervention may be needed.
Intervention may be minimally invasive in less severe cases, such as mild disc protrusion and facet joint syndrome. Common procedures include nucleoplasty and radio-frequency ablation of facet joint nerves - techniques to reduce disc pressure and to block nerves causing pain and may give relief.
Cheah Ui-Hoon
