Lower back pain holding you back? Here are my top tips!
Lower back pain is both debilitating and frustrating. From keeping you awake at night, to stopping you from doing every day activities, lower back pain is not something you want holding you back. Here are my top tips to get you through:
Get it seen to
Always seek medical advice when suffering from pain. It could be something simple like a muscle spasm or it could be something requiring further medical attention. Osteopaths work with you to identify the cause of your pain, rather than just treating the symptoms. Whilst your lower back may be in acute pain, if your neck + shoulders + upper back are tight and not functioning optimally, they could be a large part of why the lower back pain started. There are many local tissues that cause pain too, eg; muscles, disc, ligaments, joints and so on.
Spiky ball
Although these are small torture devices, they are extremely helpful in self massaging tight muscles, relieving pain. Spiky balls help improve local blood flow, drain inflammation, reduce pain, lengthen muscles and increase circulation.
Heat
Heat in general is good for muscles and increasing local blood flow. Sometimes heat can make the pain worse and ice is better for the injury. Ask your health professional which is more appropriate for your injury.
Pillows
When sleeping at night, I recommend sleeping with a pillow between your knee's to reduce the strain on your back. Generally a small-medium sized pillow is perfect. During the day if at work or sitting on the couch, driving etc place a pillow behind your lower back to support it.
Try lying on your back, loosely hugging your knee's into your chest. Then draw circles with your knee's or gently rock side to side. This should be a slow, controlled movement, which is not causing pain. If it does then stop the movement.
*Always consult your health professional for tailored exercises*
How can an Osteopath help?
Osteopaths use hands-on techniques to help relieve those aches + pains and find the underlying cause of your pain. Treatment therefore is not just addressing the symptoms but treating the patient as 'a whole', aiming to identify the reason your pain started and ways to modify your lifestyle etc to avoid the pain coming back. Where appropriate your osteopath can refer you for imaging (X-ray or ultrasound) and to a specialist if required. Techniques used in treatment include; joint articulation (moving a joint around), muscle stretching + massage, joint manipulation (clicking) and so on. Treatment is tailored to the individual per appointment, making it very specialised to their needs.
Sarah is a north shore osteopath, based in Milford. To book an appointment use our online booking system or send Sarah an email!