Lower back problems are one of, if not the most frustrating injuries or problems to have (see our ‘what can cause back pain’ blog here). Back pain very often seems to follow this cycle of being painful and then calming down after a couple of days. A month or two later it comes back with a vengeance this time maybe lasting a week instead of a couple of days. Again it calms down and you wait to see if it comes back. This time you might make it to 6 months before it comes back, but you know it’ll be back one day and worse than ever. You didn’t do anything aside from rest the first two times, so logic would dictate it’s going to come back again…
So the question we get is “Why does it not go away and why does this pattern persist for so long??”
The simple answer is, because there is usually very little proactive action taken to fix the problem and you are stuck in a cycle of pain. There will be a reason your back is hurting. Pain is a warning system (as we discussed in our blog HERE) so if you’re not taking action when it is there, you can almost guarantee that alarm will go off again. You need to learn how to break the cycle (that’s where we come in). Before we give away all our secrets, we want to explain how and why this cycle spirals out of control to the point you may feel powerless and just accept this is your future now.
Most people will have tried something to help their back. Whether it is painkillers, stretches, visiting the doctor, ignoring it or lying in bed for days on end, the options are endless. However these things may only provide you short term relief or don’t work when you get the pain again a few months later. If you’re one of the lucky ones, maybe this works a couple of times, but unfortunately you may still be vulnerable for a ‘relapse’. Part of the reason we feel people feel like the pain isn’t going away is a lack of knowledge on back pain and what you should be doing to fix it. Unfortunately it is not a one size fits all programme nor is it a short term thing. It requires consistent monitoring and tweaking of exercises that keep you strong, healthy and stable in the right areas.
You see if you visualise your body as a scale, when you add weight to one side of the scale, you have to balance it out otherwise the scale will tip in one direction. Which when you are baking a cake, you might want this but when we are talking about the body we want harmony on both sides. When you add strain or strength (weight) to one side you have to try an even it out on the opposite side. You see muscles work in pairs, you can’t just focus on one of the pair without effecting the other. This is especially true in the back. The amount of strain and stress we put through the back means it has to become resilient and strong to support this. It is very rarely ‘weak’ the weakness in fact may come from the core and hips, especially the hamstrings. These 2 groups of muscles are the ones who become underworked and the back suffers as a consequence. When you tip the scale towards the back, you have to be able to equal it out from the core and hamstrings.
Once you have this lack of harmony within the body this is why you may start the cycle of back. If you are not doing anything to offset this imbalance, the pain might start to become a cycle.
As the pain eases off from the first time (due to a potential imbalance) you might have just rested or maybe done some stretches which might make you feel okay, but won’t be able to solve the problem. This leaves the body still stuck in this imbalance. You’re constantly poking the bear and playing a waiting game for it to return. As we spoke about in our pain blog (here) your brain detects threats in the body and responds by sending out pain signals to stop doing whatever you doing. IF this is an imbalance the brain will sense this and send the pain signals. IF it is a bulging disc again your brain will detect this and send the pain signals. Whatever it is that the brain isn’t happy with, it will send the pain signals. Pain isn’t always something to fear, it is actually a sign you need to take action and restore the balance your body and brain are crying out for.
Remember, the reason you are stuck in this cycle is because of something you are not doing, not always what you are doing (read our why me blog for more information on this concept). You need to find the threat and remove it. This what keeps you stuck in a cycle of pain.
Until next time.
Oliver Attoe
Sports Therapist
Tier 1 Training and Rehabilitation Systems 