What is spondylolisthesis and how can Physiotherapy help?

Spondylolisthesis is a spinal condition that affects the lower vertebrae (spinal bones).
This disease causes one of the lower vertebrae to slip forward onto the bone directly
beneath it. It’s a painful condition but treatable in most cases. Both therapeutic and
surgical methods may be used. Proper exercise techniques can help you avoid this
condition.

Symptoms of Spondylolisthesis

The symptoms of spondylolisthesis vary. People with mild cases may not have any
symptoms. However, those with severe cases may be unable to perform daily activities.
Some of the most common symptoms are:
-persistent lower back pain
-stiffness in your back and legs
-lower back tenderness
-thigh pain
-tight hamstring and buttock muscles

What causes Spondylolisthesis

Spondylolysis is often a precursor to spondylolisthesis. Spondylolysis occurs when
there is a fracture in a vertebra, but it hasn’t yet fallen onto a lower bone in your spine.

Physio approach to Spondylolisthesis

After a thorough evaluation, your physiotherapist will be able to provide you with a
personalized home exercise program to help decrease pain due to spondylolisthesis.
This program often includes lumbar flexion exercises, core stabilization exercises, and
exercises or stretches for the muscles of the back, hamstrings, and hips. Low-impact
exercise such as cycling or swimming is also recommended to promote healing and
decrease pain.
Conservative treatments of spondylolisthesis, like pain medication and exercise, are
preferred over surgery. Reviews identified multiple studies that found exercise to be
beneficial to people with spondylolisthesis and resulted in improvements in pain and
function with mild to moderate conditions.

Treatment of Spondylolisthesis

Treatment depends on the severity of symptoms, age, and overall health. Your doctor
may discuss both surgical and nonsurgical treatment options with you and may refer
you to physical therapy. 
Always consult a medical expert before starting a new exercise program. Never perform
exercises to the point of pain. If exercise causes an increase in pain, stop immediately
and seek assistance.
Symptoms such as tingling or numbness, shooting pain in legs and feet, or muscle
weakness all require medical attention, and may warrant a more thorough evaluation.
Spondylolisthesis should be treated first with conservative therapy, which includes
physical therapy, rest, medication and braces.
The Rehabilitation exercise program should be designed to improve muscle balance
rather than muscle strength alone.

Exercises for Spondylolisthesis

Good exercise choices include:

– Isometric and isotonic exercises are beneficial for strengthening of the main
muscles of the trunk, which stabilize the spine. These techniques may also play a
role in pain reduction.
– Core stability exercises, useful in reducing pain and disability in chronic low back
pain in patient with spondylolisthesis.
– Movements in closed-chain-kinetics, anti-lordotic movement patterns of the
spine, elastic band exercises in the lying position
– Gait training
– Stretching and strengthening exercises, objective of stretching and strengthening
is to decrease the extension forces on the lumbar spine, due to agonist muscle
tightness, antagonist weakness, or both, which may result in decreased lumbar
lordosis. In order to improve the patient’s mobility stretching exercises of the
hamstrings, hip flexors and lumbar paraspinal muscles are important.
– Balance training including – Sensomotoric training on unstable devices, walking
in all variations, coordinative skills

Additional exercises

– Endurance training of muscles, effective for chronic low back pain.
– Cardiovascular exercise – Athletes with spondylolysis and first-degree
spondylolisthesis can take part in all sports activities. However, attention should
be given to those kinds of sport where recurring trauma resulting from repeated
flexion, hyperextension and twisting is usually undertaken (e.g. gymnastics,
aerobics, swimming in the dolphin technique). Low-aerobic impact sports are

highly recommended. Sports that certainly can be practiced are walking,
swimming and cross-training. Although these activities will not improve the shift,
these sports are a good alternative for cardiovascular exercises. Impact sports
like running should not be done to avoid wear. The adolescent athlete or manual
laborer should avoid hyperextension and/or contact sports.
– Williams flexion exercises are a set of exercises that decrease lumbar extension
and focuses on lumbar flexion. These include Pelvic Tilts, Partial sit-ups, Knee-
to-chest, Hamstring stretch, Standing lunges, Seated trunk flexion & Full squat

Keeping a maintained range of motion and exercise will be the most beneficial to relieve
yourself from spondylolisthesis. You can also incorporate cold and hot packs. Have cold
packs for relief of excessive soreness: you’ll need to lay down while placing a cold/ice
pack on the lower part of your back. Use a hot pack only when the area is not flared
up.  Your back and its scar tissue are very vulnerable when suffering with
spondylolisthesis. It is best advised to speak with a physiotherapist to know which
exercises and tips may cause further harm and pain.

Immediate Help through Physiotherapy for Spondylolisthesis:

Are you in persistent lower back pain? Is there stiffness in your back? Have you been having chronic leg pain or sciatica? Or are you having muscle tightness or weakness in the leg? Are you having difficulty walking or standing? Is there a curvature in your spine? It could be Spondylolisthesis.

At Curezone Physiotherapy, our expert therapists aim to relieve you of Spondylolisthesis conditions through targeted stretches and exercises. If you are looking for the Spondylolisthesis clinic Mississauga or Oakville or the best physiotherapist NEAR ME to learn the exercises to eliminate pain, look no further! We aim to be YOUR best physiotherapy to get you full recovery.

We welcome you to call us or click below to book an appointment with one of our expert physiotherapists to let us immediately start assisting you in your road to recovery.

Mississauga Spondylolisthesis Clinic:

Physiotherapy Clinic Mississauga – Curezone Physiotherapy, Heartland Mississauga.

Physiotherapy Clinic Erin Mills – Curezone Physiotherapy, Erin Mills Mississauga.

Oakville Spondylolisthesis Clinic:

Physiotherapy Clinic Oakville – Curezone Physiotherapy, Burloak Oakville.