Request your free 15-minute consultation
You deserve clearer answers about your back and a practical path toward easier movement.
One-on-one with Dr. Emily Warren, DPT, Cert. MDT. McKenzie certified · No referral needed.
What helps lower-back arthritis? A plan can include manageable movement, progressive strength and a clearer understanding of what makes your back sensitive. Our back-pain care starts with what your symptoms are doing and what you want your life to look like again. Bring your scan, your worries about lifting and the exercises you have already tried. We’ll help you find a starting point you can build on.
What do the words on the report actually mean?
Lumbar means the lower back. These similar-sounding terms describe different findings:
- Spondylosis: degenerative changes involving spinal discs and joints. Degenerative disc disease describes changes in the discs.
- Facet arthropathy: changes in the small paired joints toward the back of the spine.
- Spinal stenosis: narrowing of spaces that contain nerves. It may occur alongside arthritis, but the words are not interchangeable.
- Spondylolisthesis: one vertebra has slipped relative to the one below it. That is different from spondylosis.
These findings can overlap. We connect the report with your symptoms, strength and movement rather than choosing treatment from the diagnosis name alone.
Research has found degenerative changes in many people without back pain, with findings becoming more common with age. That does not mean your pain is imaginary or your scan is irrelevant. It means we interpret the report alongside your symptoms and examination. A report alone cannot show which finding is responsible for your pain.
Research on scan findings in people without pain · Facet-joint assessment and treatment guidance.
Dr. Emily explains why your scan is one part of the story
Dr. Emily uses an overflowing-cup analogy to explain how several factors can contribute to pain. Imaging findings, activity, sleep, stress and sensitivity can all be part of the picture. You may have options for improving pain and activity without having to change every scan finding.
Can we help when the arthritis itself is still there?
We can work on the things that make daily life difficult: standing to cook, getting out of a chair, sleeping comfortably or walking far enough to enjoy an outing. Those are meaningful outcomes even if a future scan still uses the same words.
A large review of chronic nonspecific back pain research found that exercise can improve pain compared with no treatment or usual care. This is broader back-pain evidence, not a success rate for everyone with arthritis. We use an active plan to work toward the things you want back, then check whether the improvement carries into your day.
Exercise research for chronic nonspecific back pain.
How we choose your starting movements
Dr. Emily Warren, DPT, Cert. MDT, listens to your history, examines movement and checks relevant nerve symptoms. With McKenzie assessment, we can test whether selected positions or repeated movements produce a useful change. An arthritis label does not automatically prescribe back bends, forward bends or one exercise for everyone.
We also look at strength, activity tolerance and the demands of your day. Pain education helps make sense of a sensitive back and the worry that every uncomfortable movement means more damage. If a movement is not helping, we adjust the direction, amount or approach rather than asking you to repeat the same routine harder.
Where hands-on care and dry needling fit
If pain or muscle tenderness is making movement difficult, we may discuss hands-on treatment or dry needling alongside your exercise plan. These approaches can offer short-term symptom relief; they do not remove arthritis. We want any relief to help you practice, move and build confidence between visits. We will explain why we suggest a treatment and check whether it is helping with the activity you care about. Physical therapy guidance for low-back pain supports considering these approaches as part of care.
What you take home from your first visit
Your first PT appointment is 60 minutes, one-on-one with Dr. Emily. We want you to leave with:
- An explanation you understand: how your symptoms and examination fit with the report.
- A starting plan practiced together: which movements or strength exercises to try, the starting amount and when to stop or adjust.
- A useful way to judge progress: a task such as a chair rise, cooking or walking that we can compare over time.
What can help a stiff morning or an uncomfortable day?
You do not need a perfect routine before you begin. These are practical ways to make an activity more manageable while we find the plan that fits you:
- Ease into the morning. Try a brief, comfortable walk around the room or gentle movement in a range that feels manageable before a demanding chore. Notice whether the next task feels easier. A deeper stretch is not automatically more useful. Our morning back-pain guide offers a simple way to track the first movements of your day.
- Break up a long standing task. For meal preparation, alternate a short spell at the counter with sitting for a task or taking a comfortable movement break. Start with an amount you can manage and gradually build toward preparing the meal with fewer interruptions.
- Scale one demand at a time. For groceries or household lifting, a lighter load or shorter carry can be a starting point. Keep the object close and use a controlled pace. Increase one part of the task, then notice how you feel later that day and the next morning. If reaching down is the sticking point, see our guide to back pain when bending over.
The goal is to build capacity for your life. We may combine a helpful movement with strength work and walking or another activity you enjoy. If an exercise repeatedly leaves you worse or sends symptoms farther down the leg, stop that exercise and ask us to review it. New weakness needs prompt medical assessment.
Progress might mean an easier first walk of the day, finishing dinner preparation or feeling comfortable carrying groceries. Tell us when relief does not last beyond a visit so we can adjust your practice and daily activity together.
What if I am considering an injection or surgery?
We can help you organize that decision around symptoms, function, previous treatment and your goals. A painful arching movement or an arthritic-looking scan does not, on its own, confirm a facet joint as the pain source. When a facet procedure is being considered, the medical evaluation may include a diagnostic block.
Before a facet injection or radiofrequency ablation, ask: How was the likely pain source assessed? Which benefit will we measure—pain, walking, sleep or another activity—and over what period? How does active rehabilitation fit before or after the procedure? The answers can help you judge whether the proposed step fits your goals.
New or progressive weakness needs prompt medical assessment. New difficulty emptying the bladder, loss of bowel or bladder control, or numbness around the groin needs emergency assessment. Tell us about worsening pain, leg symptoms or balance changes so we can help you choose the appropriate next step.
Facet-joint assessment and treatment guidance · Research on urgent neurological warning signs.
Questions you may still have
Can physical therapy reverse arthritis in my lower back?
We do not promise to reverse structural arthritis. We work on pain, movement, strength and confidence so your back supports more of the life you want. A useful result can be standing, walking or lifting more comfortably while the scan description remains unchanged.
Why do my legs ache when I stand or walk?
Arthritic changes can occur alongside narrowing around the nerves. With lumbar spinal stenosis, standing or walking may bring on leg pain, tingling or heaviness that eases with sitting. That pattern deserves assessment rather than assuming it is simply stiffness or pushing through a longer walk. Tell us where symptoms travel, when they begin and what helps them settle. We can use that information to guide the examination and a manageable activity plan. Our standing and walking guide helps you record the distance or time before symptoms start and what makes them settle.
Should I stop bending or lifting because of facet arthropathy?
The scan label alone cannot determine what to avoid. We assess the movements and amounts that currently bother you, then work toward an appropriate progression. There may be reasons to modify a task for now; that is different from deciding your back can never do it again.
Does lumbar spondylosis mean I will eventually need surgery?
Spondylosis on a report does not automatically create a surgical indication. The decision depends on the whole clinical picture, including any nerve compression, neurological changes, function and response to care. We can help you understand where an active treatment plan fits and when another medical opinion is useful.
What if physical therapy did not help before?
Bring the exercises you were given and tell us what happened during and afterward. We will look at whether the starting point, amount and progression fit your response and whether the plan addressed your actual goals. You should understand what we propose changing and how we will judge whether it helps.
Is a flare-up a sign that I have damaged my back again?
A flare-up alone does not tell us that new structural damage has occurred. Look at what changed: a longer workday, a heavier load, poorer sleep or a different exercise. Temporarily reduce the activity that is aggravating symptoms and use a manageable version while we review the pattern. New weakness, numbness or the urgent symptoms described above need assessment rather than simply treating them as another flare-up.
Can I work with Dr. Emily if I am not nearby?
Yes. Virtual coaching from anywhere includes direct video calls with a PT, an exercise program with video demonstrations and messaging between visits. We can discuss whether this support fits your goals. If you need clinical PT assessment or treatment, we confirm availability for your location separately.
Let’s make your next step clearer
You do not have to figure out the next exercise or treatment on your own. In a free 15-minute consultation, we’ll listen to what you want back, answer questions about working with Dr. Emily and help you decide whether our care feels right.
Request your free 15-minute consultation
Send a request and we’ll reply by phone or text to arrange a time. This conversation is separate from your first 60-minute PT assessment.
In-person care at our Holladay clinic, serving Greater Salt Lake City. Prefer to talk directly? Call (385) 332-4939 or text us.