Almost a third of people with back pain experience sciatica, which can resolve on its own before too long. But not always. That’s where a trip to the doctor typically comes in, with discussions of relief options that, in severe cases, can even involve surgery.
Julie Fritz, a physical therapist and researcher, set out to discover whether doctors’ typical advice for people with back pain — to remain active and give their symptoms time to subside before considering treatment like physical therapy — was needlessly prolonging their pain. To find out, she and her research colleagues studied whether a group of people with sciatica who received four weeks of physical therapy early on would experience less pain and disability than those who followed the usual wait-and-see approach.
The results were significant — demonstrating that physical therapy can and should be offered to patients with sciatica to help them regain their activity and recover more quickly. The findings recently were spotlighted in the prestigious journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
In this episode of Move Forward Radio, Julie joins us to share the study’s details, discuss its implications, and to emphasize the importance of people with sciatica being strong advocates for themselves until these findings gradually make their way into standard patient care.
Here’s our conversation with Julie. (Click on this link and scroll down)
https://www.choosept.com/radio/detail/benefits-of-early-physical-therapy-treatment-sciat
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