The Back

Low back pain is one of the most common and debilitating musculoskeletal conditions. Roughly 8/10 people will experience back pain at some point in their life. And yet, as the chart here shows, most MRI scans will not show a specific diagnosis for presenting low back complaints.

So what does this mean?

It means that the majority of people suffering with low back pain will not have a serious condition. This does not mean that their pain isn’t real, it just means it isn’t always serious. In the same way that not all knee pain is serious. Or not all shoulder pain is serious. And yet, low back pain can stop us in our tracks worse than knee and shoulder pain. We worry about it more.

Our spine is central to how we move. It houses our spinal cord. And if we know nothing else, we know that that’s important. And we hear so much about bulges and discs and nerves and sciatica and lumbar and glutes and compression and degenerative that they’re bound to make us worry. We don’t hear much about muscles though. And the back is full of them. So just like any other muscle, we can strain our back. If we sit for too long or lift something in a funny way or overstretch a bit.

Furthermore, MRI scans on healthy, pain-free individuals showed:

• Disc degeneration in 37% of those aged 20-30
• Disc degeneration in >80%  of those aged 50 and over
• Disc bulge in 30% of patients aged 20-30
• Disc bulge in >60% of those aged 50 and over

And yet all these patients were pain free.

Lastly, it has been shown that MRI scans for low back pain can actually result in:

• Poorer health outcomes
• Poor perceived prognosis
• Increased likelihood of surgery

So what should I do?

Move. Little and often. Start off slow and just do what you can. This might mean light stretches on the bed or a few easy twists or turns but movement is the key to getting better. As stated above, most cases of low back pain aren’t serious. So don’t be afraid to move.  Our backs are strong – we just don’t always look after them as well as we should.

Consult your Chartered Physiotherapist

Back pain is our bread and butter. We see more back patients than anything else. We can help by:

• Calming any fear or concerns about your pain
• Advising on best management
• Providing treatment in clinic to reduce your symptoms
• Prescribing exercises to relieve your pain at home
• Getting you back moving better than ever