BACK PAIN ULTIMATE TOOLKIT
- Samuel Bombardieri
- Dec 11, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 15, 2022
Chronic Back Pain can put a pause on your life - but it doesn't have to. Use our 5 Back Pain Steps to get back to your life!
Chronic Back Pain
Chronic Back Pain can be extremely debilitating and cause a range of secondary issues if left untreated. Low Back Pain is the 5th most common cause for physician/GP visits - and is approximated to affect 60-80% of people at one point of another in their life. So, it's important have a few tricks up your sleeve to prevent or better manage Back Pain (M; C.V.E.S.G.D.A.M.V, 2022).
Listed below we have 5 Steps (or click here to view now) you can take TODAY to reduce your risk of developing back pain, and better manage it if you're already experiencing back pain.
First thing's first
If you have any of the below symptoms associated with your back pain - you need to book an appointment with your GP immediately:
Numbness or tingling around your buttocks, groin and genitals
Severe unrelenting pain at rest or at night (10/10 back pain that doesn't respond to relieving postures or medication at all - particularly alarming this occurs at night when you are at rest)
Personal history of cancer in the back, especially in the region of your pain
You've noticed that you can't move your toes, feet or legs the same as usual, this is particularly concerning if this is getting worse and worse
Bilateral (down both sides) sciatica travelling down both legs
Fever associated with back pain
Loss or gain of 2kg or more in 2 days with onset of back pain
Current or recent loss of bowl or bladder function (if current immediately present to the ER of your local Hospital)
It's important to go through this checklist, and rule them out before commencing conservative treatment (Physio or Exercise Physiology) - testing negative to the above checklist is a prerequisite to treatment as it rules out the presence of a "serious underlying pathology". This is fancy term to conditions needing medical review and consideration for surgery.
Approximately 95% of back pain cases require medical attention as such, but it is important to consider the above symptoms, to determine the best course of treatment.
Once you've completed this check list - let's talk about back pain
Back is multifactorial, and so finding only one cause can be challenging. Chronic Back Pain is now considered a symptom or consequence of a range of multifactorial lifestyle behaviours. The good news is we know what increases the risk of back pain, and we know how to manage it!
This educational tool is designed to provide with some easy tools to better manage your pain, so we won't delve into the complexities & causes of back pain - if you'd like some more information, we encourage you to get in touch with your relevant health professional or our team and we can provide you with some additional information.
5 Steps to Reduce Your Back Pain
Step 1. Reduce Sedentary Behaviours
The number one predictor of chronic low back pain is sedentary behaviours. Sedentary behaviours are a fancy way to describe extended periods of time we spend either seated, lying down or otherwise at rest.
Many of us work at a desk or computer, and with the international phenomena of Covid 19 shell shocking us into a "work from home lifestyle" in many occupations, it's very easy to rack up a lot of seated hours.
This doesn't mean you have to buy a standing desk and spend half your day on your feet - getting up and going for a 1 min walk every 30-60mins is sufficient.
Tip: If you work a sedentary job, use your phone to set a reminder to get up for a 30-60sec walk every 30-60mins - this is a great tool to use for any time you might be spending long periods of time seated. Along with increasing the risk of developing Back Pain, Sedentary Behaviours increases all-cause mortality & the Risk of developing Heart Disease, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Cancer, Stroke, Osteoporosis, Chronic Pain - more on this here: Movement is Medicine
Step 2. Trigger Point Work
If you've had Back Pain before, chances are you've tried trigger point tools - trigger point tools are a great method of Symptom management, but they don't treat the cause of back pain. That being said, they are very useful tools to allow you to return to normal function, or complete specific rehab exercises.
Using a trigger ball to massage or "trigger" muscles that are sore and achy can provide short term relief. Pick a muscle group that you feel you hold tension in or feel excessively tight, slowly massage with one of the below tools. Only put as much pressure on your body as you can tolerate. Too much can cause a flare up, not enough won't help. They key is to start low and slowly build up as you can comfortably tolerate.
Step 3. Stretching Techniques for Back Pain
Stretching is also another useful tool to incorporate to better manage your pain. Stretching is also a symptoms management, tool, that is won't fix your pain, but can certainly assist you throughout the day and to get back into a higher level of function to properly complete rehab exercises.
Tip: Along with the timer to stimulate you to break up seated hours - we recommend combining the 1min walk with some easy to complete stretches. Combining these 2 tricks will improve your symptoms!
Here's 3 Stretching Options to help for Back Pain:
Child's Pose: Seated Figure 4 Hip Stretch:
Low Back Prone Knee Rock Stretch:
Step 4. Specific Exercises to Strengthen your Back
Strengthening exercise is perhaps the greatest weapon to tackle back pain in the long term. Along with reducing sedentary time, strengthening exercises allows you to increase the functionality and robustness of your movement system. To put simply, if your back is stronger, it will be able to tolerate more external loads, and thus be more difficult to overload and subsequently cause injury or pain.
Muscle Groups to Target for Back Pain Management:
Back Extensor Muscles (Such as the Erector Spinae muscle group)
Additional Trunk Muscles (There
Gluteal Muscles
Hip Abductor & Adductor Muscles
Quadriceps
Hamstrings
This can include Exercises Such as:
Sit to Stand/Squat
Hip Hinge (Bending Forward maintain straight legs)
Standing Toe Touch or Reach
Side Bend (Trunk Lateral Flexion)
All these exercises can be performed with or without weights. We recommend beginning without any weight, particularly if you're in a moderate to high level of discomfort, after completing each through you can begin incrementally adding weight as tolerated by your pain. They are all multi-joint exercises which is optimal for improving function and preventing/reducing pain.
Only complete each exercise within tolerable ranges of motion, for example if the Squat movement is causing some unpleasant pain, first try reducing the weight, if not using a weight try completing a half squat.
Step 5. Stress Management
High levels of distress have been strongly associated with higher levels of pain, particularly back pain. Based on this strong correlation, we invite you to take a breath and reflect on your current levels of stress. This one won't be applicable to everyone, although this reflection can not only be identifying anxiety/excessive stress, it can also allow you to become more mindful of your thoughts and feeling and help you to improve your mood.
Mindful Anxiety/Stress Tools:
- Box Breathing (Rhythmic breathing, inhale, hold, exhale, hold for 3-5 sec and repeat)
- Apps on your phone to guide your through mindful breathing/meditation
- Practice Yoga/Tai Chi (If tolerated by your pain)
- Try Mindful walking
Please only perform each of the above movements within tolerable ranges of motion, chronic back pain requires a graded approach, this means to increase the intensity, load, or range of motion incrementally and as tolerated without large & unexpected jumps. Get your toes wet before diving in the deep end!
Research has shown that combining the above 5 Steps is an effective way to manage back pain, and we hope this article has been helpful to you!
However, back pain can present with a wide range of clinical characteristics with every person having a different lifestyle and body, it's unrealistic to provide specified treatment for each individual without performing an assessment.
For this reason, if your back pain is causing symptoms of depression, anxiety or is stopping you from compete day to day tasks, we recommend you book an appointment with your relevant pain professional for optimal rehab and pain management (Accredited Exercise Physiologist or Physiotherapist).
***Please note: The above educational content is designed for general use and is not intended as specific clinical recommendation and should not be used as a substitute for treatment. Treatment and/or any form of intervention relies on specific clinical assessment by relevant experts. If you are your seeking specific advice for your condition, we recommend booking an appointment with the appropriate healthcare professional (Accredited Exercise Physiologist or Physiotherapist). If you have any of the symptoms measured above in the red flag section please consult your General Practitioner***
Sources
M;, C.V.E.S.G.D.A.M.V. (2022) Back pain, National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30844200/ (Accessed: December 10, 2022).
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