Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain is the most frequent condition I treat in the clinic, unsurprisingly with most of us experiencing it at some point in our lives. There are many causes of lower back pain including disc, ligament, muscles, nerve and joint disruption. It is important to differentiate what is causing your back pain to establish the treatment appropriate for you. Your therapist will consider all of these by asking appropriate questions and doing relevant tests.

I have always known massage was effective in reducing lower back pain based on client responses from my treatments, but now this is strongly supported through research. Massage, specifically trigger point therapy, has been shown to be “superior for pain and function on both short and long-term follow-ups” when compared to physical therapy, acupuncture, joint mobilization and self-care education. So you can rest easy knowing you are doing one of the best things for your back when you book in for a treatment with us! 
 
Reference:
Furlan, A. D., Imamura, M., Dryden, T., & Irvin, E. (2008). Massage for low-back pain.Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 4(4).

​Caring for lower back pain

Even though you may not feel like it, one of the best things you can do for your back pain is to keep moving and stretching. Following is a couple of tips I have found to be particularly effective.

Gluteal Stretch - shown above
Sitting upright, engage your core and tilt forward using just your pelvis. There should be no movement in your lower back. If you are doing this correctly, you won’t need to tilt far before you really feel the stretch. Aim to hold each stretch for a least one minute, repeating three times on each side as you can throughout the day. There are adaptions to this stretch for those with compromised knees and hips.

Cat Stretch
This stretch helps increase flexibility through the lower back joints, reduce muscle spasm and ease pain.