Abstract
Objectives: To study and record the efficacy of neuromuscular therapy (NMT)
in treatment of chronic back pain in a super heavyweight Olympic weightlifter.
Methods: A 37 year old IT Engineer and national level Olympic weightlifter in the heavyweight masters division presents with persistent chronic back pain that limits his capacity to train effectively. Treatment intervention consisted of 2 sessions weekly over a 5-week period by a student massage therapist. Each session was approximately 5 minutes of interview, 15 minutes of postural assessment, and 40 minutes of manual therapy in the form of neuromuscular therapy.
Results: Pain was reduced from 6 to 3 after the first session and then went down to and remained at a 1 out of 10 on the VAS Pain scale after the fourth session. The initial back pain was completely resolved allowing him to return to training at full capacity about midway through the study.
Conclusions: Neuromuscular Therapy with special attention to postural correction seems to be effective in the treatment of chronic back pain in an overweight person with a desk job who participates in regular Olympic weightlifting.
Keywords:
Massage therapy, neuromuscular therapy, Olympic weightlifting, Desk Job, Chronic Back pain, postural balance, Leg length Inequality, Hemi-pelvis inequality,