Lower Back Pain

How is lower back pain treated?

Most lower back pain improves within a few weeks, especially in people under 60, with simple, at-home care. While some cases take longer to resolve, staying active is key to recovery.

Movement matters:


Contrary to old advice, bed rest is not recommended. Gentle activity like walking helps maintain flexibility, reduce stiffness, and speed up healing. Avoid activities that clearly increase pain, but don’t stop moving out of fear. Sprin supports this recovery philosophy with rewards driven guided exercises and daily step tracking to help you stay engaged and on the move.

Physiotherapy for Back Pain

A physical therapist can guide you through exercises to improve:

• Core strength and spinal support

• Flexibility and range of motion

• Posture and ergonomic awareness

What to Expect in a Back Pain Treatment Plan?

A physiotherapist typically creates a personalized care plan tailored to your body, lifestyle, and specific pain triggers. This plan evolves over time and is designed to restore function while minimizing pain.

Your treatment plan may include:

• Comprehensive Assessment: A detailed evaluation of posture, spinal alignment, muscle imbalances, flexibility, and movement mechanics to identify the root causes of your discomfort.

• Individualized Exercise Prescription: Customized exercises that progressively build core and hip strength, enhance spinal support, and restore functional mobility, all matched to your current ability and recovery goals.

• Goal-Oriented Progression: Each session builds on the last, with measurable goals to guide progress and keep you motivated, such as improved walking tolerance or reduced stiffness after sitting.

• Pain Management Strategies: Education on safe movement, how to interpret pain signals, and techniques to manage flare-ups, such as pacing, heat therapy, or ergonomic adjustments.

• Lifestyle and Ergonomic Coaching: Advice on how to modify your work setup, improve sleep posture, and integrate back-friendly habits into your daily life.

• Return to Activity Guidance: For those recovering from an injury, your physiotherapist helps you gradually return to physical activities or hobbies while reducing the risk of reinjury.

Techniques Used by Physiotherapists

Physiotherapy for back pain includes a diverse toolkit of evidence-based methods designed to restore movement, reduce pain, and prevent recurrence. These may include:

• Therapeutic Exercise: Structured routines to build strength in the core, glutes, and spinal stabilizers, essential for reducing stress on the lower back and improving movement efficiency.

• Manual Therapy: Hands-on techniques like soft tissue mobilization, trigger point release, and joint manipulation to improve mobility, reduce muscle tension, and alleviate pain.

• Stretching & Mobility Drills: Targeted movements to relieve tightness in the hips, hamstrings, and spine, restoring natural motion and helping you move more freely.

• Postural Correction & Ergonomic Coaching: Teaching body awareness and practical adjustments to sitting, standing, and lifting habits that reduce strain on the back during daily activities.

• Neuromuscular Re-education: Techniques that retrain your brain-body connection to improve coordination, stability, and functional movement, especially after injury or long periods of inactivity.

• Education & Pain Science: Empowering you with the knowledge to understand your condition, manage flare-ups, and take an active role in your recovery and long-term spine health.

Benefits of Early Intervention

Addressing back pain early, before it becomes chronic, is one of the most important things you can do for your long-term musculoskeletal health. Gentle, guided movement introduced early in the recovery process offers powerful benefits:

• Prevent Stiffness and Deconditioning: Prolonged rest can weaken muscles and reduce joint mobility, making pain worse. Early movement maintains circulation, flexibility, and tissue resilience.

• Interrupt the Pain-Avoidance Cycle: Fear of pain often leads to inactivity, which can actually prolong discomfort. Moving early and safely helps retrain your body, and brain, to feel safe while being active.

• Restore Confidence in Movement: Early wins build psychological momentum. Small, successful steps, like walking or light stretching, can rebuild trust in your body and reduce fear of reinjury.

• Reduce the Need for Medication or Invasive Treatment: Staying active can reduce dependence on pain medications and delay or prevent the need for injections or surgery.

• Lower the Risk of Chronic Pain: The longer pain persists, the harder it is to reverse. Early intervention improves the odds of full recovery and helps keep symptoms from becoming long-term.

Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care focuses on spinal alignment and joint mobility, often using manual adjustments to relieve pain and improve function. Some people find short-term relief from back pain through chiropractic treatment, particularly for lower back discomfort. However, it's most effective when used alongside movement-based approaches like exercise therapy.

Medication Options (When Needed)

Depending on your symptoms and medical history, healthcare providers may recommend:

• Over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen (Aleve)

• Muscle relaxants, if pain persists beyond basic treatment

• Topical creams or patches that reduce pain at the source

• Prescription medications, including short-term opioids (with caution) or certain antidepressants like duloxetine, which can help with chronic pain

Always follow medical advice and dosage instructions. Sprin does not replace medications, Sprin can help you move safely alongside them.

Invasive Interventions (When Necessary)

If pain persists or worsens, your healthcare provider may recommend more specialized treatments:

• Cortisone injections to reduce inflammation near spinal nerves

• Radiofrequency ablation to disrupt pain signals

• Implanted nerve stimulators to manage chronic pain

• Surgical procedures in cases of nerve compression or structural spinal issues

These options are best considered with clinical guidance. Sprin focuses on movement-based recovery and prevention, helping you avoid invasive treatments whenever possible.

How Sprin Helps

Sprin supports you at the earliest signs of discomfort with AI guided exercise programs, daily walking goals, and easy-to-follow education modules – anywhere, anytime! Sprin’s built-in rewards system motivates you to stay active by turning movement into points you can redeem, helping build lasting habits and making recovery feel rewarding.