Effective Physical Therapy Treatment of Post-Cesarean Section Low Back Pain – Case Report
Timothy Hui *
DPT DC Orthology, 2175 K St. NW Suite C-120 Washington, DC, 20037, USA
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: Treatment of low back pain after cesarean section has been studied with exercise programs, but there has been little with a full physical therapy treatment plan involving manual therapy and therapeutic exercise.
Case: 38 year old female 2.5 years after cesarean section. Presenting with a previous history of low back pain treated by laminectomy. Patient reported marked difficulty lifting her child due to low back pain.
Interventions: Manual therapy was performed, involving soft tissue manipulation, to abdominal muscles, gluteal muscles, and SI joints. Therapeutic exercise involved strengthening the abdominals and gluteus medius muscles. Patient was treated 7 times over 5 weeks.
Outcomes: Pain on Verbal Numeric rating scale (VNRS) decreased from 6-7/10 to 0/10. Objective measure by Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes (FOTO) lumbar scale showed improvement from 59 to 82, with an increase of 8 points being a clinically significant improvement. Patient was able to lift her child pain-free.
Conclusions: A physical therapy treatment plan combining manual therapy and therapeutic exercise was very effective in treating a patient with low back pain after a cesarean section.
Keywords: Soft tissue injuries, orthopedic rehabilitation, physical therapy