Back Pain

Back pain, Lumbago, Sciatica, Sciatic Pain, Sacro-Iliac Pain – They are all names given for slightly different kinds of pain felt in the area of the lower back, sometimes (but not always) travelling down the back of the leg. They can be due to the same cause or a variety of different structures in the back causing the pain.

Back pain is responsible for more days off work than the flu! And therefore some G.P.s will only prescribe painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs to treat it. Most of the time this works, but if the back pain persists, then an alternative form of treatment will be required (you don't want to a dependance on drugs all your life!)

There are many different treatments out there that supposedly will help your back pain, but most of them will just hide the pain or temporarily reduce it so that you can manage to get about. But they don't get to the root of the problem and fix it! There is often a mechanical cause of your back pain and unless that mechanical cause is corrected, it will continue to give you problems for the rest of your life. Here is a short video about “Low Back Pain”

As an osteopath, it is up to me to diagnose the cause of your pain and devise a treatment plan to help you get back to optimum back health. This will often involve some movement of the back joints (known as manipulation) some stretching of the surrounding muscles and occasionally some electrotherapy (mild electric current) applied to the area via some sticky pads (like a TENS machine, only more versatile) to make the muscles relax and allow your back to move more freely. I also advise you on which exercises will help to keep you back working properly and what activities you should avoid to prevent this from happening again.

Usually this will involve a course of treatments to get you back to optimum health (you can't build Rome in a day) and the problem will then require no further treatment. Usually 4-6 treatments will do the job, but it is dependant upon the severity of the back pain, and the underlying condition that is causing your pain.

If you're a little older you may require some regular maintenance treatment to keep your back healthy, again we have a maintenance treatment package that will manage this for you. Once a month is advised, but this can vary from once a month to once every three months, any less than this and the treatment becomes ineffective, and you are likely to have recurring episodes of worsening back pain throughout your life. A maintenance plan is your way of looking after your back, the way it has looked after you, up until now.

I'm often asked “why does my back need regular treatment?” and I reply “Consider yourself as a Classic Car. As you get a little older, you need to be driven a little more carefully. You'll need constant attention to keep everything running smoothly and in tune, and if you do this you can expect to keep everything running smoothly for many years to come.” Please note, I see many people that spend more time on their cars than they do looking after their own back health, and that's why they end up seeing me.

Looking after your back this way is the same as looking after yourself in other ways. Some people exercise regularly, others watch what they eat, some do both, but usually all of this is in moderation. This means that they can have lazy days when they do nothing or very little, and have days when pizza, chocolate and ice-cream are all on the menu. But generally this means that they can enjoy good health without being a slave to punishing exercises or never eating the foods that they love.

Mr Gareth Holden, Exhall, Coventry. Garage Owner.