Is back pain an absolute nuisance stopping you from doing the things you love? Does it greet you when you first wake, be there when you stop or when you do the simplest of movements? Has it just been unrelenting for what seems like years and years?
“Approximately thirty-four percent of people who experience acute low back pain (LBP) will have recurrent episodes”1
Have you had low back for years? You may have injured it doing something a little reckless or something as simple as doing up a shoelace. The pain you get can arise from the intervertebral discs, bones, ligaments or muscles of the spine or any combination.
The causative mechanisms and pain sources can be so variable and yet they can all result in chronic back pain.
Regularly people look to their parents. They see that one or both have chronic low back pain, and accept that because their parents have chronic back pain then they’ll be the same. They may look to manage the pain but ultimately admit that it’s always going to be there. It doesn’t need to be the case.
Patients with chronic back pain often see a lot of therapists in their search for a solution. They either end up in regular care weekly or fortnightly to keep everything in place or they get stuck with an extensive list of boring exercises. Sometimes they get both!
Don’t give up hope! Restoration of function is the key.
The first thing to consider in restoring function is the ligaments. Ligaments are your static stabilisers and there are plenty of ligaments around joints in the low back and pelvis. If ligaments are dysfunctional the joints they are stabilising are dysfunctional and dysfunction creates pain.
Muscles function is the next critical area that needs to be restored. Muscles are the only means we have to move our bones and they act as your dynamic stabilisers. If muscle function is not there or is not balanced then the movement is dysfunctional and dysfunction creates pain.
When you restore muscle function it needs to include at least both the anterior and posterior of the low back region, as well as pelvic muscles and muscles of respiration – they all need to be functioning properly working
A critical thing to re-iterate is that it is not strength, but function that we see is the key to resolving chronic low back pain. Restore the function and strength will come.
There’s plenty of tricks I’ve used to help people get out of this rut I’ll give you my top self help tricks below.
Here’s my top 5 tips for things you can do to help reduce your back pain:
- Stop any exercises that put your low back into extension (arched back position) as this most commonly results in dysfunction of ligaments which leads to dysfunctional joints and muscles
- Look to your posture every day in every way. Maintain balanced equal weight at all times, be that on your sit bones when sitting or your feet when standing.
- If something is heavy or bulky get help. If in doubt definitely take the safe option and get help
- Plan any lifts and awkward activities. How are you getting access and how are you getting out?
- Look to the little things in your daily routine. How do you get in and out of your car? How do you load and unload your washing machine, dish washer, etc. Be smarter with everyday tasks.
If you need help breaking the rut and getting life back on track, give me a call on 9318 7758 or push the chat button and let’s have a chat and see how we might be able to use some of our tricks to get you living your life to the fullest again.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304395908007215
