3 Ways To Resolve Your Back Pain
Why Does My Back Hurt?
Most of us will experience back pain at some point in our lives. To say it is common is an understatement but by no means is this normal or something to live with. There can be many reasons why someone would develop back pain but most of the time (when there is no known accident/injury) it is caused by simple factors that have a cumulative effect over time. Using the wrong muscles to lift your kids out of the bathtub, improper form at the gym, and performing manual labor tasks without ideal muscular support are all examples of ways back pain develops and can sneak up on us.
In our less-than-ideal medical model, we wait for pain to develop and are often immediately prescribed pain medication and sometimes sent for imaging like an Xray or MRI. The problem with pain medication as the sole treatment is that it masks the symptoms without getting to the underlying cause. Imaging is done but oftentimes reveals little to no answers. This is because X-Rays and MRIs give us a single snapshot of our bodies at rest. But most people with back pain will tell you that it often hurts to move! Additionally, if you took any random person off the street and put them through an MRI, it is almost guaranteed that the radiologist would find something there. Most of us walking around have some form of “wear and tear” or slight disc protrusion, or loss of joint space along our spine. But is this really the cause of your back pain? In some cases yes, but often this is not the culprit. It comes down to how we move and how we use our bodies in our day to day. This is why Physical Therapy can make such a drastic difference for back pain.
How Physical Therapy Can Help
Movement is like a giant balancing act. We need flexibility but we also need stability. Physical Therapists are the movement experts! This means we can look at how you move and determine what needs to be balanced out, to be sure you’re not overusing certain areas of your body and ignoring others. We come up with a treatment plan that is unique to your body’s needs and guide you through this plan with your ultimate goals in mind. It’s one thing to get rid of pain but it's another thing entirely to keep that pain away while someone achieves a functional goal such as getting on the floor to play with their kids, running a 5k, or being able to complete a full day of work without needing pain medication. While PT needs to be comprehensive and individualized, there are a few key things to consider, when it comes to resolving your back pain…
3 Tips For Resolving Back Pain
Finding your deep core muscles. The “core” is actually composed of many different muscles that all need to work together for stability and protecting your back. One important muscle is the deep Transverse Abdominis muscle. This is not the 6-pack muscle we see on models and this is not the muscle we strengthen with crunches and sit-ups. To find the Transverse Abdominis, imagine zippering up a tight pair of jeans. You’d probably start at the lower part of your abdomen and tense/draw those muscles toward your spine as you close up your pants. There are many ways to cheat here and it’s not always as easy as it sounds. One example of a cheat is seeing your ribcage lifting up and finding yourself “sucking in”. Over time, if you’re able to find this muscle and turn it on gently, you’ll be less likely to use your back.
Learn the hip hinge! Hinging with your hips while maintaining a straight or “neutral” back is an extremely important skill to master. Try sitting back into your hips without allowing your pelvic to spill forward. The hip hinge is necessary when bending over to pick something up from the ground and when squatting. A great way to practice this is by standing and holding onto your kitchen sink. Then, hinge back as if you’re going to sit in a chair. Be sure that your hips move before your knees bend and that your back doesn’t arch.
Walk, walk, walk. Walking is a great way to keep up the flexibility and endurance of your muscles. When back pain occurs, it often makes people pause and restrict movement. This, in turn, causes more stiffness and pain. The best thing to do is to keep moving, but modify how much you’re doing to a tolerable level. Gradually increase your activity tolerance as your pain improves. Those who sit at a desk all day are more prone to developing back pain and stiffness. We suggest taking a standing break at least every hour. Use that lunch break to take a short walk. This will give you a nice “reset” for the afternoon part of your day, increase energy levels, and even aid in digesting that healthy lunch you just consumed.
Sarah’s Story
Sarah is a 32 year old woman who came to our office with complaints of ongoing back pain for the last 5 years. Her back would hurt after a long day of taking care of her two children (ages 5 and 3). Sarah had pain bending over to put on her shoes, pain with walking her kids to school, and she was barely able to lift her younger daughter at this point. She came to us for an evaluation, during which we watched her move, assessed her back, neck, hips, etc., to rule out any tissue injury, and ultimately determined that her pain was caused by overusing some of the muscles in her back. Why was this happening?? Well, Sarah had some weakness in her hip muscles and also was very stiff in her hips, back, and ankles, which caused her to move in a less efficient way. Together, we worked on her posture, mobility, and helped her to be able to use and strengthen the correct muscles. In about 6 week’s time, she was not only able to carry out her daily tasks without pain, but we began working with Sarah to get her back into the gym - something she thought she’d never be able to do again. After 3 months, Sarah was seeing us on a monthly basis to “tweak” her gym routine and she was exercising independently 3 times a week which included lifting weights, taking walks with her kids, and attending Pilates classes.
