Are you reading this because you have back pain? Or know someone with back pain, or even be worried about getting back pain? Maybe you can’t lift your kids up or swim at the beach or even do a basic gym routine because of back pain. Here’s some quick Brightside tips to help:

1. Don’t panic

Back pain is often seen as an incurable lifelong affliction. It doesn’t need to be. Most back pain resolves within 6-8 weeks and most back pain is not related to ‘damage’. It’s more of a warning system telling you it’s feeling overloaded. If you can get some quick and effective strategies from a good physio – there is no reason why you can’t return to your normal family life.

2. Move! (If you can)

Old school advice tended to say ‘bed rest is best’ as treatment for back pain. This is flat out wrong. We know that rest will weaken muscles and stiffen joints and this can make things worse, not better. So move!- change position, go for a walk, do some gentle swimming or Yoga. One caveat – if you’re in the middle of an acute episode (where any movement feels like spasm and horrible pain) you might need 3-5 days of taking it easy. Don’t force movement if its clear your body is saying ‘NO’.

3. Strength > Stretch

Stretching is helpful and can make your back feel better but it may not produce long term benefit. You need your scaffolding muscles – bum, tum and back muscles to give you structural support.

A good physio will be able to coach you to get these muscles stronger to give you longer term relief. You need strength to lift kids, walk the dog or do a decent work out.

To start your journey to a pain-free back – book a consultation today.