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Low
Back Pain
Low back pain can be
a very painful and distressing condition that will
affect most people at some point in their lives. It
is most prevalent between the ages of 35 and 55 with
the incidence decreasing after that.. The
important thing to remember is that the vast
majority of low back pain is benign, should not last
very long and will get
better. Expert advice and guidance can help reduce
recurrence and duration.
Osteopaths are
experts in the field of back pain and contribute to
the development of most of the current guidelines on
the management of low back pain at Welsh, UK and
European levels, all of which advocate the use of
manipulation. However this is not the only technique
that osteopaths may use, mobilisation soft tissue
articulation exercise and good management advice are
all key in helping back pain sufferers get back to
normal as quickly as possible and help reduce future
occurrence.
There can be many
reasons for the onset of back pain, the three most
common of these are disc problems, facet joint
problems and sacro-iliac joint problems..
Disc problems occur
throughout your life coming and going about every
four year. They generally last weeks to months
depending on the level of damage and management of
the condition. There is normally a genetic component
to this type of back pain so one or both of your
parents may be a back pain sufferer. A very small
percentage of people with disc problems may go on to prolapse the disc which can cause it to impinge on a
nerve and cause excruciating leg pain. The back pain
can often go and you may be left with just the leg
pain, this can take a six weeks or more to abate but
full recovery is usual. However a very small
percentage may need to be referred for surgery.
Facet joint and sacro-iliac
joint problems can be just as painful and
debilitating as disc problems. However they usually
don't last a long and don't normally have the same
complications such as nerve impingement they usually
occur less often and are normally better within six
weeks.
Occasionally
back pain can become chronic. This does make it
harder to treat but in most cases we can restore
more normal function and make life more bearable for
the chronic low back pain sufferer.
In either case fast
access to a health professional who can give well
informed advice, guidance, a diagnosis based on your
symptoms, a full physical examination and expert treatment
can be essential to speedy
recovery. We can see most people within a day or two
and are always available on the phone should you
need to speak to one of our osteopaths.
There can be many
other causes for low back pain such as muscle
sprains and ligament strains, to name but a few. However,
these are quite rare and your osteopath will
endeavour to find the cause of your pain and either
treat or refer for imaging such as X ray or MRI
scans or to the most appropriate health
professional, although this is not normally
necessary.
General advice is to
remain active and in work. However this is not
always possible and your osteopath may need to
provide you with an off work certificate or provide
advice for modified work and life activities. We
will generally advise people to do little and often
moving around more often will stop your back from
seizing up and help the blood flow through the area,
this will normally reduce your healing time. If
you cannot move about or go to work then a couple of
days rest is really the most you should take and you
should always get the opinion of an appropriately
trained health professional.
Obviously it is very
difficult to be specific so if you
have any questions or queries please call the clinic
on Cardiff 029 2019004 |
