No BS! Lower back treatment by Melbourne city cbd osteopath
Author: Heath Williams, osteopath, strength and conditioning coach
Your Melbourne city cbd osteopath
“Lower back pain is the number one cause of problems for our clients at Principle Four Osteopathy. We have years of clinical experience as well as having completed 100s of hours of post graduate courses to ensure we provide each of our clients with the best care possible and to deliver a customised program to assist our clients in getting out of pain and getting back to undertaking the things that they love to do”
Tried other treatments that didn’t work? Lower back pain is a common condition that is complex in nature so requires a thorough assessment to identify the primary cause and contributing factors causing your pain, plus a highly personalised treatment plan to get the results you want.
The incidence and impact of lower back pain
80% of the population will experience lower back pain at some point in their life and most of these episodes will resolve naturally within the first 6 weeks. Unfortunately for some individuals, lower back pain episodes continue to recur and in some cases progress to become chronic. Chronic lower back pain is no where near as prevalent as those individuals who have acute back pain episodes that resolve, however the cost on society and the wellbeing costs for the individual who experiences chronic lower back pain is high.
How one manages their lower back complaint in the acute stage is important so to limit its effect on ones wellbeing, but also reduce the likelihood of it developing into something more chronic. The aim of this article is to highlight what an individual can do to better manage their back pain episode.
Why do people suffer from lower back pain? What your Melbourne city cbd osteopath says
There are many potential causes for lower back pain and it is often difficult to pinpoint one specific event or mechanism. The vast majority of lower back pain presentations are mechanical in nature and involve a range of musculoskeletal tissues i.e. muscles, joints, ligaments etc. It is rare for lower back pain to be caused by anything more sinister and most back pain episodes will usually settle within weeks or 1-2 months. When an individual hurts their back, the body naturally reacts and the response to this is often nociceptive pain. The individual will likely feel pain and also tend to want to try and protect themselves and therefore avoid movements, activities or postures that aggravate their back pain.
What do the NICE guidelines for non-invasive methods of managing low back pain say?
In years gone by there was a large focus on having individuals with back pain stop, rest and avoid all activities. In some situations individuals were advised 2 weeks bed rest and perhaps prescribed a variety of pain medications.
Current non invasive management advice for lower back pain suggest the following:
Self management strategies
- Provide people with advice and information that educates them on the nature of low back pain.
- Encourage them to continue with normal activities
Exercise
- Encourage people to keep moving and continue with activities and exercise that suits their preference and capabilities
Manual therapy
- Consider manual therapy for managing low back pain in conjunction with exercise
Return to work programmes
- Promote and facilitate return to work or normal activities of daily living
Medication
- Consider oral NSAIDS for managing low back pain, but being mindful of side effects. Ensure individuals seek out specific guidance from their General practitioner regarding medication use.
Reference: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng59
What happens when your Melbourne city cbd osteopath with acute lower back pain?
Your Melbourne city cbd osteopath wants to know about your story
When you book into see one of our osteopaths at Principle Four Osteopathy we will spend the first 15-20 minutes talking to you about your complaint. We will ask questions to find out where you are feeling your pain and what and when it troubles you. We will also ask a variety of general medical health related questions so to assist us in determining if it is musculoskeletal in origin. As I said earlier, the vast majority of lower back pain episodes are usually musculoskeletal in nature. We will also want to find out what your goals are. For the acute back pain patient, this usually means feeling less pain and getting back to the things that you love to do.
Your osteopath will assess your movement and function
Following the case history we will get you to go through a variety of movements and have you demonstrate to us the activities, postures or tasks that aggravate your back. This will help us in forming an understanding of what is going on so that we can provide you with an appropriate treatment and management plan.
Your Melbourne CBD osteopath will provide you with treatment and management strategies
Our treatment and management strategies for your lower back pain complaint will involve a combination of education, manual therapy, active management strategies as well as modifications to assist you in managing your pain, getting you moving better and back to work or performing ADLs without pain.
Treatment and management is tailored specifically to your needs and every treatment approach will differ according to the person in front of us. For some individuals this may mean manual therapy is used predominantly in the acute phase, whereas others we will focus more on active interventions.
What will your Melbourne City Osteopath do next?
As your back continues to improve we can assist you with further active management strategies that may involve looking to improve your general strength and conditioning to improve your capacity to perform ADLs, work tasks or just get you back to doing the things you love. This may involve a range of movement strategies.
If we feel that there may be specific ergonomic factors involved with the aggravation or maintenance of your complaint, be it an office environment, vehicle or manual job, we can also perform task specific assessments to identify if there are options to improve this for you.
Are our Melbourne city cbd osteopaths the right fit for you?
If you have any questions about your back complaint and whether we can assist, we encourage you to give us a call 03 9662 2147 or email us at info@principle4.com about any questions that you might have. One of our practitioners will give you a call to discuss your specific questions and how we can assist.
Melbourne CBD Osteopathy Clinic Location
Our osteopathic clinic is conveniently located in the heart of the Melbourne City CBD at 178 Collins st. We are easily accessible for all in the CBD via tram, training, walking or driving.
For those coming from nearby inner Melbourne suburbs, we are a short walk from the train at Flinders St and the nearby intersections of Collins and Swanston and Collins and Russell st.
Find out more about our great range of health services delivered by your Melbourne city cbd osteopath below:
Ergonomic workstation assessments
Book your osteopathy appointment today by calling 03 9662 2147 or book online here.