Lower back pain is one of the most common medical complaints GP’s deal with. If not treated properly, it can result in chronic health issues with life-changing consequences. Every day Pro Health Care’s five clinics across Adelaide assess and treat back pain using the latest technologies and techniques. One of the therapies at Pro Health Care is dry needling. Physiotherapist Alex Townsley, of Pro Health Care’s Hope Valley clinic, explains. “Dry needling has emerged in recent years as a popular treatment option for a wide variety of conditions,” he says. “Whilst similar to acupuncture, dry needling is not based on Chinese medicine but rather is aimed at reducing any muscle over-activity that may be contributing to a patient’s pain. Often the chronic pain associated with back problems stems from muscles going into a protective spasm. They became “trigger points” or “knots” within a muscle or connective tissue that can cause pain to move over a large area. In layperson’s terms, dry needling “re-sets” these muscles. “Dry needling is a very safe and effective way to help relive pain and tightness and our experience at Pro Health Care is that if combined with a good exercise regime it can result in excellent long-term results,’ says Mr Townsley. Recently a patient presented to our clinic with low back pain experienced after he had moved house. Like many sufferers, he was worried that long-term damage had been caused to his spine. “We were able to support him to a full recovery with a combination of dry needling to his lower back and buttock muscles, followed by advice, hands-on therapy and exercises.” This is just one example of how Pro Health Care’s five multi-disciplinary clinics are able to combine expertise across several medical fields to give patients the best long-term outcome. Dry needling is offered at all Pro Health Care clinics and is included in the standard appointment fee with each of the available physiotherapists. Appointments are also bulk-billed with an eligible referral. Federal Government research has found that more than 70 per cent of Australians suffer lower back pain at some point in their lives. Of these 14 per cent will have chronic pain and 86 per cent pain for one day per week. Visit a Pro Health Care clinic at Kidman Park, Hope Valley, Mitcham, Norwood or Stirling to find out how you can manage lower back pain. www.prohealthcare.com.au has details on Pro Health Care’s complete range of services and a booking service.
