Lower Back Pain Specialist
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Berkower Pain & Spine Rehabilitation
David Berkower, DO
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation & Pain Management located in Pembroke Pines, FL
Typically, less than 5% of people with lower back and neck pain need surgery to correct the problem. At Berkower Pain and Spine Rehabilitation, Dr. David Berkower helps you resolve your lower back pain with rehabilitative methods that are non-surgical. The practice aims to help patients from Pembroke Pines, Florida resolve low back pain and return to optimal function. Call the office to make an appointment or use the online booking agent.
Lower Back Pain Q & A
What causes lower back pain?
Lower back pain arises for a number of reasons, including:
- Injury or overuse
- Arthritis
- Disc issues
Dr. Berkower takes time to listen to your symptoms, do imaging scans, and perform a physical exam to accurately diagnosis the reason for your pain. Imaging includes X-rays, MRIs, and EMG, or electromyography, to examine the physiology of the nerves in your back. He also uses lumbar discography to test whether lumbar discs are the source of your pain. With an accurate diagnosis you can get effective resolution and pain management.
What types of lower back pain warrants a doctor’s intervention?
Sometimes back pain lasts for just a few days or weeks and resolves on its own. This is a normal inflammatory response to a minor injury. Lower back pain can also be subacute, lasting for more than six weeks, or chronic, lasting for more than three months.
If you have long-lasting low back pain, or low back pain with specific symptoms you should make an appointment with your doctor. These symptoms include:
- Stinging or burning pain that radiates to the back of the legs and buttocks
- Muscle spasms, stiffness, and tightness
- Dull, achy pain that persists for several days
- Pain that becomes worse after long periods of sitting or standing
- Pain that makes it difficult for you to move from seated to standing, standing to seated, or to walk
How is lower back pain treated?
Dr. Berkower is a rehabilitation physician, and, therefore treats you as a whole person, not just your symptoms of lower back pain. He offers immediate pain relief through injections and medications. For example, you may benefit from a lumbar sympathetic block which can treat complex regional pain syndrome.
He also prescribes specific physical therapy exercises and lifestyle modifications to retrain movement patterns and prevent pain from becoming chronic, if possible. Dr. Berkower emphasizes non-surgical solutions to back pain.
How important is exercise in preventing low back injury?
Physical conditioning is key in preventing lower back injury and pain. Aerobic exercise, such as walking is important, and so are exercises that strengthen the muscles in your spine and abdomen (also know as “the core”) that stabilize your spine. Both types of exercises are critical for developing healthy and pain-free backs.
Specific exercises that help develop a strong core resistant to lower back injury are:
- Planks, side planks, and planks with leg lifts
- Supine bridging
- Prone cobras
