Treatment plan for a slipped discThe treatment plan consists of passive therapeutic techniques and an active exercise program. From the beginning, the patient should observe certain rules of conduct and several times a day at home, the learned exercises in alternation with relief phases.
Therapeutic options and self-help for acute herniated discs in the lumbar spine:
The following self exercises are learned with the help of the therapist and can then be continued at home. This topic could also be of interest to you: Sport after and with a slipped disc
Perception exercises for at home
Objective: Since the patients’ perception of their bodies is disturbed by the pain, special emphasis should be placed on teaching exercises to train perception at the beginning of physiotherapeutic treatment. With simple tension exercises for the deep stabilizing holding muscles in the pain-free area, patients learn to feel their muscles and spine again with the help of the therapist and without fear of experiencing muscle tension and spinal movement as something positive again. The exercises listed in the topic Physiotherapeutic treatment of spinal instability are particularly suitable for this.
and exercises after a slipped disc in the lumbar spine
- Body awareness training
- Pain relief
- Improving stability as a long-term goal
Objective: Starting position: The patient is placed in a symmetrical supine position with the legs in an upright position. Therapeutic technique: The physiotherapist applies a careful longitudinal pull on the spine via a specific belt fixation. – Pain relief
Starting position: symmetrical supine position with the legs in an inclined position, with as few symptoms as possible Exercise: The patient pulls his lumbar spine slightly apart by pushing his arms against the thighs, which are positioned as close as possible to the groin.
During this exercise, a slight feeling of stretching should be felt in the lumbar spine. By pulling on the spine, the “space creation” between the vertebral bodies relieves the intervertebral disc and the exiting nerve. The gentle posture of the patient is reduced.
Traction in the sling table should only be performed after careful trial treatment and in intermittent form. Cave = Caution: the pain symptoms known to the patient must not be caused when the traction is performed. There should be a feeling of relaxation and pain relief.
Nerve Mobilization
Aims and effect: Initial position: the patient lies in a supine position with the legs stretched out as far as possible without symptoms, the hip joint is turned outwards. Therapeutic technique: The physiotherapist brings the leg of the approx. 20-30 times into the inner rotation position of the hip joint and brings it back to the starting position.
Patients This technique can only be performed if the patient can lie in this position for a while. – Raising the pain threshold
- Reduction of muscle tension and relieving posture
- Improvement of the metabolism
Starting position: as in the therapeutic technique Exercise execution: The patient independently performs the inner rotation of the leg and the return to the outer rotation about 20 times every hour. Caution: the pain symptoms known to the patient must not be caused during the execution of the nerve mobilisation. There should be a feeling of relaxation and pain relief.
