This is a question posed by one of our patients in the clinic who experiences periodic Back Pain. Let’s try to answer his question.
A Typical Back Pain Patient Looking For A Cure
- He is 43 years old
- Relatively fit
- Goes to the gym 3 days a week
- Lifts weights and does spin and other cardio classes
- He has a very busy job but can be sedentary at times
- He has a good diet and is not overweight
Some people do all the right things in my life but suffer with horrible bouts of low Back Pain. People have spent small fortunes on Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Physical Therapy, Neuromuscular Therapy and Pilates. He has had an MRI, CT scan and X-Ray. All results came back normal with a little wear and tear (osteoarthritis).
Searching For A Back Pain Fix
You name it, he has done it! All with short term results. Quick fixes but no long term results. So after many years of researching low back pain he finally found the general consensus that self help/care such as exercises and walking are the way forward for long term relief.
Sticking to a care plan along with occasional visits to the chiropractor and physio has kept him right. Following an exercise plan of mainly walking regularly, mobility exercises, stretches and strengthening workouts. The exercise ball and foam roller are a huge help before exercising.
Using Massage balls for massage affects muscles and connective tissue, by increasing blood flow, decreasing tension and restoring muscle. Above all, this helped his gluteal muscles and low back muscles to help workout the knots and trigger points before I started stretching.
Resistance bands help perform the stretches, and the strength exercises required to help make sure the injury doesn’t come back!
Massage Therapy To Manage Pain:
- Put the ball under your sensitive area while lying on the floor
- Gently move around on top of the ball to find soreness
- Once you find a sore spot, focus at that point
- Push down to exert more pressure onto the ball
My Pain Kit – Methodology
This is all part of our methodology centred around:
- Bracing / Support
- Heat
- Massage
- Move
- Stretch
- Strengthen
- Cool
This is all explained in much more detail in our Back Pain Kit…
Frequently Asked Questions:
A lot of back pain is caused by an injury or strain – for example, if you pick up something heavy and pull a muscle. Other back pain is caused by problems with your discs – where the cartilage has shrunk due to lack of blood flow and then slips out – called a “slipped disc”. Another form of more chronic and long-term back-pain is osteoarthritis, which needs to be looked at by a specialist.
Not necessarily, but we have seen that more women will present with bad posture, and so this might be an underlying cause. Fixing posture is easy, but it’s better to combine it with a full program to get the best result, including:
- Upper / Lower Back Brace (Posture Brace)
- Heat Therapy
- Massage
- Movement Exercises
- Stretches
- Strength Exercises
- Cold Therapy
Yes, but you will need to have visited a Chiropractor for a proper diagnosis at some stage. After that you can follow their rehab instructions at home, or better still get a program that includes the required massage, movement, stretch and strength exercises for you to self-manage your issue.