Selected physiotherapeutic techniques and immune response in low back pain

Abstract

Physiotherapy, as an element of medical rehabilitation, comprises such methods of function improvement as: massage, kinesiotherapy, physical therapy or manual therapy. In this area, medicine offers a wide range of treatment methods, practically at every stage of a patient’s recovery. Physiotherapy is used to enhance quality of life of people with disabilities, chronic diseases or after injuries, but also as a form of prevention of dysfunctions. The aim of the study is to present the influence of physiotherapy of low back pain on factors of immune response based on literature review. Effectiveness of a given treatment is most easily noticeable in clinical practice. It is usually the patient who evaluates the efficiency of treatment, through experiencing less pain, easier performance of certain actions or overall better functioning in everyday life. Apart from registering the subjective experience of patients, the focus is on finding objective methods of evaluating effectiveness of physiotherapy and on attempts at scientific explanation of noticeable and perceptible influence of rehabilitation treatment. This also applies to the treatment of lumbar-sacral pain. The involvement of many inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide, interleukins, matrix metalloproteinases, prostaglandin , tumor necrosis factor alpha and a group of cytokines. and a variety of cytokines have already been identified in the dysfunction of this region.

Keywords

• physiotherapy, pain, immunology