Lower Back Pain

The majority of Lower Back Pain is of Mechanical Origin. When the vertebral joints, ligaments and muscles get in an overloaded state, and they just can't do their job correctly.

60% of the population will suffer from a sore back at some stage in their lives. It is a serious problem, and 350 million working days are lost every year in the UK because of back pain.

What's the answer to a sore back?

There is no single cause of Lower Back Pain. It may have started after an injury, or it may have started gradually, often being related to poor posture and a bad workstation arrangement.

In 75% cases of Low Back Pain, medical investigation shows no underlying cause of the sore back.

An Osteopath will usually find numerous painful muscles and stiff facet joints, which normally respond favourably to osteopathic treatment.

An Osteopath can usually help with the immediate debility of low back pain, and can give plenty of advice on exercise, diet, seating, beds, ergonomics and lifting.

In the long term, I encourage people to understand their lower back pain - which chairs, beds and exercises help, and become aware of which activities lead to back pain.

Exercise that involves movement combined with strengthening and stretching, such as Resistance/Weight Training, Pilates, Tai Chi & Yoga can be very beneficial for back pain.

When you are stressed it's not unusual to develop low back pain. Learning to relax lowers stress levels, although it can be difficult to learn to relax, the health benefits of relaxation are vast.

Mindfulness and Trauma Release Exercises are great tools that have been proven to work for relaxation.