Lower back pain is common and something we see a lot of here at the clinic. The good news is that there’s a lot you can do yourself to manage lower back pain and continue living an active, healthy and pain-free life.
Recent studies have shown that self management of the lower back is essential as well as having guidance from your clinician. Hands on treatment alone – you’ll be surprised to hear us say – is not the only and sole answer!
Keep Moving
A common misconception is that resting and sitting still will help to ease the pain. With lower back pain the opposite is in fact true – the most important thing you can do is to keep moving. It helps to reduce the risk of getting stiff and seizing up, yes!
HOWEVER there is much more at play here. When we continue to move our pain system (yes we have one) in a way learns to not over protect things. This is often called a ‘bottom-up strategy’. Showing the brain what we can tolerate – if you like.
Sitting still or dreaded bed rest can create a vicious cycle of pain that can slow recovery when other aspects aren’t addressed. It’s worth noting, sitting isn’t always the primary cause – it’s the lack of movement or inactivity. But if you feel like you want to sit, do! More on that later.
Flexibility and Strength are Key
The spine is designed to move regularly and doesn’t respond well to long bouts of inactivity. To stay healthy your spine needs flexibility and strength. More accurately it needs to be able to tolerate the loads that we demand from it.
Food for thought here – but isn’t it strange how most acute episodes of back pain occur when we do something simple like pick up the post – or sneeze. All things we have done before. So why now ? Well we could write a thesis on this – but an important consideration is external factors outside the body – tissues. That’s right it’s not just wear and tear.
Sounds straightforward enough, but in reality many of us sit at desks for a large part of the day for work. The increase in working from home, has been further exacerbated peoples’ inactivity because we’re no longer walking to the station or to work as part of our commute.
Give the dining room table a break! It’s not their fault 😂. It’s the change in ….. you guessed it….. load / habits etc.
So What’s the Answer?
It may help to think about how you can practically fit regular short bursts of movement or ideally some exercise into your schedule. Maybe you could walk and talk for a phone call or try to take regular movement breaks?
Overactivity is also considered to be a factor in back pain and risk of injury, for example in manual jobs where muscles are being overused. Laying bricks or digging a garden uses the same muscles over and over again and can result in those muscles getting tight and sore, but moreover fatigued!
It’s the opposite of moving too little and at the end of the day it comes down to the capacity your body has to deal with these repetitive tasks. You wouldn’t do bicep curls all day….. or would you 😉.
Just as athletes stretch before and after activity, the same is helpful with jobs where the same muscles are being used over and over again day in day out. Getting the body prepared for what it is about to carry out, has been shown to improve performance in the sports setting.
Lets apply the same logic to ourselves! They don’t have to be long or complicated – just replicate what you’re about to do at lighter loads.
Moving more has been shown to:
- Reduce pain
- Reduce Disease
- Promote Healing
- Improve Mood
- Strengthen Bones and soft tissue
- Help you live Longer!
Regular Exercise Can Help ….. (Moving more)
Regular exercise – daily if possible – will help to improve the strength and flexibility of your back. Ideally run through your exercises in the morning as this helps to get you moving after a long time being in bed. Prepare and show the brain what you want the body to start doing for the day.
But any time of day is better than not at all, so consider what you can realistically fit into your schedule as that way you’ll be far more likely to stick with it.
Some good general movements for the lower back include:
- Knee rolls – good for giving your spine rotation.
- Knee hugs – help to open up the lumbar spine.
- Hamstring stretch – good for stretching your legs
- Gluteal stretch – good for stretching tight bottom muscles.
- Cat curls – help you to find the natural curve of your spine.
- Child’s pose – helps to open up the vertebra in your back.
- Downward Dog – helps to stretch all parts of the back.
Don’t over-think Posture
Whhhaaaattttttt – I hear you cry?
Firstly, this is yes very controversial for an Osteopath to write. I can feel former tutors of mine burning holes in my hands as I write this. During my university days, we were led to understand that the different postures we treat carry about with them certain risks for certain structures.
Well science has clearly put this one to bed. Studies go into great details on this huge debate but to put it simply any posture can’t hurt, so conversely there is not one that will more than the other! How we function in our daily lives and what we have discussed prior to this point, is what will make the difference.
But wait, why does pilates help with my back pain? Well, it is probably because you are exercising and moving, strengthening and flexing which is helping more than the notion of pilates itself! Don’t get me wrong, I am huge fan of pilates as it can really help people. But it’s the misunderstood and supposed correlation of posture and pain that gets my back up … but not up now!
Aches and pains not getting better?
If your back pain isn’t getting any better, the chances are that you may need help on the balance of aspects of some of the above, to relieve your symptoms. We are here to help, please get in touch for advice or to arrange to see one of our experienced clinicians.
References
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