Case Study: builder back pain
How we fixed a builder’s 7-year back pain
A builder working on a construction site at Heathrow Airport booked a consultation to discuss the lower back pain they had been suffering with for 7 years!
Background
A condition like this is incredibly common, especially in the construction sector. It has many hidden consequences if left untreated or treated incorrectly. At this point, the patient's lower back pain was impacting him professionally, financially & personally. That’s why he sought out Sky Therapy.
Professionally, the back pain was stopping him from carrying out his job efficiently.
This was stressful for him as a self-employed contractor.
Being unable to work meant he wasn’t getting paid for any time he needed off as a result of the back injury.
Financially, this wasn’t good. No work meant no money, which led to him struggling to pay the bills.
Personally, the back pain was taking away his family time. In particular, stopping him from playing football with his 7 year old son.
Initial Consultation
At first, the patient was sceptical of more physiotherapy.
He had seen multiple physios in the past and their methods made no difference.
At Sky Therapy, we specialise in succeeding where other physio’s have failed — challenge accepted.
First, we carried out a physical examination to assess his lower back and how the injury was affecting his mobility.
The diagnosis…a herniated disc at the L5/S1 region.
He was adamant on surgery as nothing else had worked in the past. We advised him before going down the surgical route, to try out a course of physiotherapy.
The difference? This time, he’d be working with the experts at Sky Therapy in our fully equipped injury clinic.
After the assessment, we put together a 12-week treatment plan. The aim was to reduce pain, restore mobility and improve work performance, so he could go back to work without the fear of losing money to this injury any longer.
Treatment
At first, we started with manual treatment to help reduce the patients pain and create the ‘window of opportunity’ for functional exercise rehabilitation.
Manual treatment carried out included a tailored combination of:
sports massage
acupuncture
cupping
spinal manipulation
The result…immediate pain relief.
Injury rehabilitation Program
After a few sessions of manual therapy, we put him through a supervised injury rehabilitation program.
This program was custom.
Specifically tailored to treat his herniated disc injury with a holistic approach.
Not a copy & paste for generic injuries.
Not one we’ve pulled from a ‘go to’ handbook.
Actually custom.
We took into account his injury, his progress, his future work requirements and even his family life goals. That’s what makes the difference. We don’t just treat the injury in front of us, we look at the bigger picture to see what a true recovery means to our clients.
We can then build a level of resilience in your body to return to your lifestyle, stronger than ever.
For our builder this included:
building strength in the lower back
appropriate exercises to allow the lower back disc to heal
safe techniques when lifting and bending
how to protect the lower back from re-injuring when he is at work.
The result?
By the time we had completed the program, the patient's lower back pain had completely gone.
Countless physiotherapists, Doctors, even driven to the brink of major spinal surgery. 7 years of excruciating lower back pain, financial issues and mental drain — gone!
Results like this are exactly why we do, what we do.
The builder is now back to full time work and playing football with his kids. A priceless outcome & one that we are very proud to be part of.
Now?
Sky Therapy isn’t a “quick fix & done” sort of team.
We take a thorough approach when it comes to your recovery. This helps prevent future injury and gives you the confidence to get back to what you love doing, without that fear hanging over you.
So, to stop his back from re-injuring, our builder client comes in for regular maintenance sessions.
This is crucial as we’re able to take his recovery to the next level. Building huge amounts of resilience in his physical health & strength in his lower back. The progress we make gives him the peace of mind to carry on with his life with confidence — and the regular check-ins means he can keep everything running smoothly!
He’s also super happy he didn’t get the surgery!
sound familiar?
If you’re suffering with back pain & it’s affecting your work, life or general happiness, take advantage of our free consultation. You can speak to one of our expert physical therapy team with no obligation whatsoever!
Book your consultation call
We specialise in helping athletes and active people of all ages reach their peak performance in their sport or activity — whilst helping them to stay injury free in the process.