So what is the latest research showing us?
Lower back pain impacts 4 million Australians today. It can scale from being mild and tolerable all the way to severe, debilitating requiring surgical intervention. It can be due to an injury or it can be a slow gradual build up.
We pretty much see low back pain in the clinic at every point on this scale.
People that have had it for years and people that are freaking out because they've never had back pain before and they fear that they're about to be paralyzed (I’m not exaggerating here either - it can be frightening)
Here’s my key takeaways of a few things you need to know:
Your pain levels have NOTHING to do with the severity of injury. They are separate. You could have a very minor injury and it can be painful as all hell! Your experience and your feelings are important both to us and the management.
Movement!!! Things often hurt because they're not moving properly. And when things don't move properly, it's often perceived by our brains as potentially harmful = "pain". We need to help you restore your movement as quickly and as early as we can.
Gone are the days of "being out of whack". It would be reassuring to know that discs don't "slip".. and bones aren't "out of place". These are descriptions of what it might feel like, but rest assured that this is NOT what is happening. You are simply perceiving a difference between how it feels now versus how it normally feels… it's reasonable to perceive that something isn't working right.
We need to help you, help yourself. Empowering you to be able to self-aid your pain. This comes from: knowing what is wrong; and knowing what movement is going to help you; and knowing when it's time to reach out and contact your practitioner for further advice or to bring forward your session.
Gone are the days of
long sessions lying face down the whole time (although sometimes that can help)
"realigning" things
It's now about understanding your problem, getting you moving and knowing how you can help yourself.