Back Pain: The Chain of Command

Your spine is essentially the chain that forms the ‘backbone’ of your entire body. Without it you would be a blob of muscles, organs and soft tissue piled on the floor.

Your spine commands respect because it is the pillar that supports your body, allows you to walk, stand and sit, as well as touch and feel; because it forms the canal connecting the nerves from your body and limbs, to your brain. While your heart may be the vital organ that keeps you alive, without your spine you wouldn’t be able to move. 

There are three natural curves in your spine that give it an "S" shape when viewed from the side. These curves help the spine withstand great amounts of stress by distributing your body weight. Between the bony vertebra are spongy discs that act as shock absorbers. The lumbar spine (or lower back) connects the thoracic spine to the pelvis, and bears the bulk of your body's weight.

Your spine is not rigid though. It allows movement through the intervertebral joints connecting the bony vertebra. These joints allow you to twist, to bend forward and backward, and from side to side. Large groups of muscles surrounding the spine, pelvis, hips and upper body all interact to allow for movements like walking, running, jumping, and swimming.

However, there are also muscles deep in your body that work constantly just to maintain your posture when you’re sitting and standing. It is essential that all elements of the spinal ‘chain’ work harmoniously together to ensure fluid movement without overloading structures resulting in injury and pain.

Any link in the chain that becomes ‘stuck’ will not only affect that spinal level but also the movement and strength of the chain above and below it. If the muscles around the spine are uneven in strength and length (flexibility) this too can affect the ‘chain’, altering the alignment and motion of the links.

Taking care of your spine now will help you lower the chances of experiencing back pain later. Many of the steps you can take to improve the overall health of your spine involve nothing more than practicing better body mechanics, or how you move and hold yourself, when you do daily tasks and activities.

Taking Care of Your Spine

Pay attention to early warning signs or pain. Although back pain is very common and nearly every person will experience at least one episode of back pain in a lifetime, it is essential to address any symptoms promptly.

It has also been shown in studies that early treatment and rehabilitation can prevent recurrent bouts of back pain and prevent the development of chronic lower back pain which can be very debilitating, stressful and depressing. It can affect your ability to work, play sport, socialise and sleep, all of which can further compound your pain cycle. 

Your back pain could be due to inflamed ligaments, damaged intervertebral discs, nerve irritation, bony formations on the spine, muscle imbalances such as weakness or a lack of flexibility, leg length differences, or muscle strains, to name just a few. Even the way we move (or don’t move) at work, school or sport can all be an underlying cause to the current pain.

How Osteopathy Can Help with Back Pain

Your Osteopath can treat the pain or stiffness experienced from back pain using massage, soft tissue mobilisation, spinal manipulation, heat, acupuncture and other devices.

It is important that you, together with your Osteopath work through a rehabilitation programme (specific exercises and stretches) to correct underlying muscle weaknesses, flexibility issues, and the  sequence in which the muscles around your spine work to provide stability.  A Osteopath can also give you advice on correcting posture / technique for work and sport.

Should you need referral to another professional your Osteopath can also help with this, for example, a dietician to counsel on a meal plan to achieve a healthy body weight. Being active can also help prevent as well as cure back pain.

Chat to us today about what we can do to help, email info@chartclinic.co.uk

 or call 01737 248 023.

Back Pain and Sleep Issues

One of the most common issues back pain sufferers experience is sleep disruption so we have put together an interactive Back Pain and Sleep Guide to help you banish those sleepless nights and wake up feeling refreshed.

The guide includes:

·         6 Strategies for Improving Your Sleep

·         8 bedtime stretches to relieve back pain (with video links)

·         Sleeping positions that will help relieve pain (with links to videos)

·         7 Yoga Poses that will help cure most back pain issues

·         A morning stretch routine that will help ease pain from a restless night (with videos)

 CLICK THIS LINK TO FIND OUT MORE AND DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE

HERE

Disclaimer: This information is intended as general guidance and information only and should not be relied upon as a basis for planning individual medical care or as a substitute for specialist medical advice in each individual case. 

Spinal Health – The 5 pillars of a happy, healthy back

Article by Chris Lawlor, Chart Clinic Osteopath

In the UK alone up to 2.5 million people experience back pain every day of the year, here at the Chart Clinic we want to give you some tips to overcome your pain or to keep it at bay if you’re not to suffering.

1)    Maintain good muscular tone and strength

Lower back and core muscles are vital players when it comes to lower back pain, it’s important to keep these muscles in shape in order to provide stability and protect your lower back and pelvic region.

Personalised treatment sessions with an Osteopath can massively help; we are specifically trained to spot imbalances or weaknesses in people’s bodies and have a wide array of treatment techniques to help counteract these issues.

Your Osteopath will also give you tailored exercise/strengthening routines in order to maintain strong muscular health.

2)    Maintain Flexibility

Getting the right combination of flexibility and strength is key; too much of one and not enough of the other doesn’t tend to do the body much good. Some light daily stretching exercises should be done regardless of pain in order to keep your body mobile and supple. Again your Osteopath will design the most effective rehab/stretching programme that suits your specific needs and will be checking up on you to make you’re keeping up with your ‘homework’!

3)    Get Enough Sleep

We’d all love an extra hour or two in bed, but evidence does actually show sleeping for slightly longer each night can improve the health of your back, especially with disc related injuries. This is because when lying down your spine is free from vertical compression (which builds up throughout the day, sitting/standing/exercising etc) so at night the discs in your spine have more time to replenish and can then perform their function of shock absorption and nerve protection.

4)    Stay Hydrated

Continuing with the health of your discs, these structures need plenty of water to perform optimally and so it is important to keep hydrated throughout the day. The recommended daily intake of water is 2 litres, so always try and have a bottle or glass on the go and remember if you’re actually thirsty it usually means you are already slightly dehydrated!

5)    Prevention is Better than Cure

As with most things in life, being proactive is better than being reactive, and the same is true with your spine! Generally looking after yourself and following some of the steps above is a sure fire way to keep problems at bay.

But if things do build up make sure you come and see an Osteopath before the problems get too severe.

As a rule of thumb the longer problems are left untreated, generally the more difficult they are to get back to 100%, so book an appointment as soon its starting to bother you and get on top of the problem to nip it in the bud!

To book an appointment with Osteopath Chris Lawlor call 01737 248 023

Sciatica - A common problem seen by Osteopaths

By Colette Goveia – Chart Clinic Osteopath
 

What is Sciatica? In simple terms this is pain travelling down the leg from the lower back. Sciatica is a word used to describe symptoms caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve. These symptoms may include pain, tingling, numbness and/or weakness in the leg. You may also experience low back pain along with these leg symptoms.

 A herniated disc within the lumbar spine can cause irritation of the sciatic nerve. Piriformis syndrome (tightening/spasm of one of the buttock muscles which then irritates the nerve) or age-related joint changes can also be a causing factor of sciatic pain.

It is important to know the cause of your sciatic pain so it can be treated and managed in the correct way.

An osteopath will be able to tell you whether your pain is sciatica and will try to identify the cause of the nerve irritation through history-taking and examination.

Once the cause is determined, a treatment and management plan can be put in place to help reduce your symptoms.

Treatment typically involves use of soft-tissue massage to release tension around the area, stretches and articulation techniques to improve the range of movement within your lower back. Osteopaths will treat the related joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons to help reduce irritation of the sciatic nerve.

Osteopaths will also offer exercise and postural advice for you to take home for self-management.

As osteopaths we not only aim to reduce your symptoms and help you manage them correctly, but we also provide treatment and advice for long term maintenance to prevent reoccurrence.  

I have seen a large number of patients in clinic with sciatic pain, and osteopathic treatment is often very effective in easing these symptoms.

How long will it take to get better? This really depends on the cause as well as you as an individual, e.g. your general health, lifestyle, work and how these things may be contributing factors. Once you have been examined it easier to give you an idea of recovery time.

I tailor treatments and exercise programmes to each individual to try and minimise disruption to their normal daily life where possible.

Call 01737 248 023 to book an appointment with Osteopath  Colette