Top Tips to Reduce Lower Back Pain

What causes lower back pain?

The lower back comprises the lumbar spine, providing our bodies with support, strength, and flexibility. The spine connects bones, joints, nerves, ligaments, and muscles that all work together, which unfortunately make it susceptible to injury.  The lower back supports the spinal column and the weight of the upper body. It provides mobility for bending and twisting, flexing and rotating the hips while walking and running, and powers the muscles in the pelvis, legs, and feet. 

As you can see, it is incredibly important in supporting everyday functions, so when we experience lower back pain, it can become very debilitating, whether the pain is short term or long term.  

Lower back pain is complicated, and can be a result of many conditions or issues. One of the most common causes of back pain is a muscle or ligament strain. They can occur suddenly, from sudden awkward movement, or can occur over a long period of time. Common causes of strains to the lower back include:

• Lifting heavy objects
• Sudden movements, such as a fall
• Poor posture
• Sports injuries

Lower back pain is also extremely common from overworking your back muscles. The pain is from your muscles in your lower back being switched on most of the time. Your back muscles are working every time you are doing physical activity such as standing, moving, lifting, exercising, walking, or running. 

If you are feeling pain in your lower back after exercise, it is possibly from your back muscles overworking and your other muscles underworking. This can be as a result of a number of factors, for example:

• Lack of flexibility of the spine or muscles 
• Anatomical shape of your spine, hips, shoulders, and pelvis
• Prolonged sitting 
• Lack of general fitness 

Other common causes of lower back pain include:

• Lumbar discs
• Arthritis 
• Joint dysfunction 
• Trauma such as a car accident 

Treatment and prevention of lower back pain 

Fortunately, there are measures you can take for prevention or pain relief if you are experiencing any of these pain symptoms. The best way to prevent and relieve the pain is by seeing a physio, and City Physiotherapy are here to help you. We are trained in assessing and diagnosing you to determine the cause of your lower back pain. From there, we decide which pain treatments are best suited to your issues. 

Some examples of treatments include:

• Stretching 
• Exercises and muscle strengthening 
• Releasing soft tissue 
• Pilates 
• Remedial massages
• Dry Needling

Here at City Physiotherapy, we are here to help you every step of the way and guide you through your recovery. If experiencing chronic low back pain, your physiotherapist may refer you for appointments for x-ray, CT scans or MRI to assist in diagnosing your condition if required. We can liaise directly with the radiologist for scans and or steroid injections. 

Contact us today to enquire about an appointment. Call 8212 4886 or book online for an assessment from one of our qualified and highly experienced physiotherapists to start your journey to wellness. 

BACK TO BLOG