Lower Back Pain

What is lower back pain?

Stop. Life. I want to get off.
Sometimes lower back pain can be bad enough and consistent enough to make life properly miserable. It can be just a grumble if you sit too long or a twinge putting underpants on in the morning or it can be full blown can’t-get-off-the-couch spasm. Either way – miserable. And to make things worse, its tricky to accurately diagnose. Could be muscle, joint, disc, nerve or any combination of the above. A good physio will help you understand what might have happened to cause your back feeling like its about to take out life insurance.

What causes lower back pain?

It can feel random, but isn’t. It could be an overloading issue – too much too soon with too little prep. Or it could be acute – lifted a wheelbarrow of gold bullion. It’s important to investigate the areas above and below the lower back, so check out your hip movement, hamstrings, upper back and strength around your abs and gluteals. And as always, do a self-check on your diet, mental health and sleep to see if theres extra special sauce happening to contribute to lower back pain. Honestly, it’s pretty common to see stress as a contributor to the delightful cocktail that makes backs dodgy.

What can you do about lower back pain? Back Pain Physiotherapy in Newcastle.

1. Move. Within pain. Don’t stay in bed too long.
2. Find comfortable positions when its seriously grouchy eg: on your back with your legs supported on a coffee table.
3. Take pain killers after you’ve chatted to your GP/physio.
4. Use heat if it helps.
5. Don’t panic, most lower back pain reduces within a few wks. See a good physio to help with pain and give you some structure for how to get better.

How long will lower back pain take?

If you’ve got an acute flare up it will mostly start feeling better within 4-5 days. But it might be longer to really see some good progress. Allow 6 wks for anything that is super sore or has happened before. Then allow a bit longer (3-6 months) to work on some of those root cause issues – they can need a wide-screen view from you and your physio.