Overcoming Lower Back Pain

Did you know? Approximately 80% of individuals will experience lower back pain within their life. Maybe you have experienced lower back pain in the way of a niggle, soreness, generalised or specific lower back pain following prolonged sitting or standing, playing sport, moving furniture or gardening to name a few.

If this sounds all too familiar, we can help you to make a change today!

Keep Hydrated and Keep Moving

The importance of staying hydrated is well known, however, did you know that every bodily process, structure, and organ within our body functions best when in an optimal state of hydration. The spine consists of 24 vertebrae. An intervertebral disc sits between each vertebrae, which absorbs shock by distributing and dissipating the load which occurs in day-to-day tasks. The lumbar spine is prone to loss of intervertebral disc height due to the demands of supporting and stabilising the upper body.

To optimise the health of the lumbar spine and to reduce the loss of disc height, which can lead to lower back pain, it is important to keep hydrated as this allows for osmosis to occur. Osmosis enables water to cross the semi-permeable membrane and into the Annular Fibrosis of the discs. This process is facilitated by movement, which means, movement is required to increase the uptake of water to where it is needed. It is important to reduce the time spent sedentary and move gently and frequently within pain-free parameters.

Avoiding the Mechanism of Pain

Although this may be obvious, it is important to avoid movements which cause pain as this is your body’s way of telling you it’s not comfortable in the movement. Depending on the cause or trigger of your lower back pain, which may be recognisable, for example when lifting a heavy object and feeling a sharp or stabbing pain or non-specific lower back pain, such as, discomfort throughout the entire lower back without a specific mechanism of injury. To reduce unnecessary pressure on your spine it is important to ensure you have the correct ergonomic set up in your working space and your home environment.

See an Exercise Physiologist

As Exercise Physiologists we can help by:

Conducting a comprehensive injury history assessment

Considering your current pain management strategies, including what’s worked and what hasn’t worked

Assessing you for any movement red flags

Assessing your joint mobility such as ankles, hips and thoracic spine

Identifying your muscle activation patterns, importantly the glutes, core and hip flexors

Assessing your stability and control when completing every day movement patterns such as a squat and lifting

Prescribing individualised exercise programs to assist you to return to your normal daily activities without pain

#Exerciseismedicine