It’s SPRING!!! Time to end our winter hibernation and get back out and enjoy the beautiful weather. With the increase in activity level, it is not uncommon to “feel” the increase in activity. Aching backs, knees and hips are common. Often, with a little time, these minor aches subside and are only remembered the following spring. But some aches do not go away and limit our ability to enjoy the weather and do the things we want to do. What are these aches and how can we get rid of them?

With the snow melted, it is often time to get back out and increase our walking. This increase in activity may result in low back muscle strain and sprain. Often described as a dull ache in the lower back, it usually increases in intensity with activity and subsides with rest. The cause of the pain can be disuse atrophy (a medical term for “you did not use it all winter long so now you’ve lost the strength needed” to walk / participate in your activities of choice), poor footwear support placing stresses and strains on back muscles for support, lack of muscle flexibility, or something more disease-oriented like progressive osteoarthritis, inflammatory conditions or osteoporosis.

Back pain can also be “referred” from a hip injury.  Arthritis in the hip can slowly change the way we walk, causing us to stand unequally and overuse back muscles. Bursitis in the hip can cause distinct hip pain and proceed to be an underlying cause of back pain.

Knee pain is often first felt after an afternoon kneeling in the garden. The pressure of the body’s weight on the knee cap can cause inflammation. If the pain does not subside when standing, other concerns arise, including patellar tendonitis, bursitis and osteoarthritis.

When we hurt, we want it to stop NOW. Often we try home remedies, and some are more effective than others. Using cold therapy – whether it is ice packs or rubbing an ice cube over a point-specific painful area for five minutes – is a better choice than using moist heat when the pain begins. Gentle stretching exercises before and after walking and gardening may also help in alleviating symptoms. It is not uncommon after a winter of sitting that our hamstrings and heel cords are tight and impact how we can move.  But what can be done if these simple “fixes” do not work?

To determine your specific pain source a comprehensive physical therapy evaluation is in order, including the therapist taking your medical history and pain history, which helps structure the therapist’s hand on the evaluation. The therapist will then evaluate everything from joint integrity and range of motion to muscle lengths to static and dynamic muscle strengths to how these contribute to your ability to walk and move.

Once the specific pain-causing foundations are identified, the therapist can develop a treatment plan, which may include using modalities to lessen the inflammation, exercises to lengthen and strengthen structures and changes to how you move with the use of orthotics, braces and education. You and your professional therapist will work together to regain your health. This partnership will allow you to regain your quality of life