Category: Back Pain

Muscular weakness is the true cause of back pain.

Muscular weakness is the number one factor that is overlooked in the diagnosis of lasting back pain. Overuse for one with a strong back, may result in a short term spasm or pain, however after treatment or a few days rest, the back will settle and return to a pain free state.

For people with lasting, chronic back pain, regardless of whether they overuse or rest their back pain persists.

The common blame lies on the diagnosis of wear and tear to the spine, herniated disc/s, inflammation, however these are merely symptoms that were brought about due to a lack of support and postural symmetry.

The body is designed to move, and move in a functional manner. “Use it or lose it” is the best catch phrase to describe why people get muscular weaknesses that result in chronic back pain.  

Most of us live a very sedentary lifestyle due to technological advances designed to make our lives easier. Long days at work seated at a desk, only to retire to the couch of an evening to wind down in front of the television, is the surest and fastest way to weaken postural muscles integral to the support of your back.    

Both back pain and postural weakness does not just discriminate to office workers, with tens of thousands of tradespeople and manual handlers seeking treatment for their chronic back pain each week in Australia alone. The repetitive nature of most manual jobs, promotes over dominate muscles, which over time creates weakness to the postural muscles due to the over dominate muscles taking over their role/ function.  

Muscular weakness is not just the true cause of back pain, it is the reason why people get caught in a chronic back pain cycle for years, often decades. The unfortunate fact being that if these chronic back pain sufferers had addressed their muscular weaknesses soon after experiencing back pain, many years of pain and altered quality of life could have been avoided.

The problem with the standard approach to treating back pain, is that is the majority of techniques incorporated by practitioners only address tight muscles and joints, not the weak muscles. Of the modalities that do address muscular weakness, the exercises are far too passive for the chronic back pain sufferer to restore adequate postural strength. They only focus on ‘core muscles’ completely overlooking the largest muscle groups in the body; the glutes, hamstrings, and adductors that support correct postural symmetry.

In conclusion, no matter if you have suffered from chronic back pain for 2 months, 2 or 20 years if you address your muscular weaknesses you can rid yourself of back pain.

Why does my back keep getting inflamed?

Inflammation is a natural process of healing damaged tissues in the body. If your back is constantly getting inflamed, then there is an underlying factor at play that is causing continuous or repetitive damage to your lower back. This damage could be to the discs of the spine, the facet joints, or vertebral bodies themselves.  Most commonly however, this damage is to the intrinsic muscles of the spine, the broader muscles of the back and its connective tissue (fascia).

The most important factor to note, if your back is not supported, if your pelvis and lumbar spine are not in a neutral position due to poor postural strength and symmetry your back will be under constant load. Your back and its structures, even in a standing or sitting position will be ‘jammed’ due to the gap between the top of your hips and your 12th rib being dramatically reduced. This poor postural condition is commonly referred to as swayback, or an excessive lordotic curve.

Efforts to reduce or eliminate the inflammation, such as nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs, both oral and injected steroidal anti inflammatory drugs assist all in the short term. However the inflammation will once again return if the true underlying cause is not addressed. If the back is still in a jammed position, if the structures are still under too great a load to cope with, damage will occur and the inflammation process (the bodies natural healing response) will once again repeat itself.  

Treatment to the back, such as manipulation of the spine, joint mobilisation of the spine, massage to the soft tissue of the lower back and stretches all offer short term relief. These techniques address the tension in the back region, taking pressure off the muscles, joint and connective tissues resulting in reduced inflammation.

Similar to the concern with anti inflammatory medicine, for the vast majority of chronic back pain sufferers, treatment only offers a short term relief from their pain. The treatment still only focuses on the symptoms of back pain, the tight, painful muscles, joints and connective tissue of the back.  As stated above, if your back is not supported due to postural weaknesses, it will be only a matter of time after receiving quality treatment to free up the back, before once again the area becomes jammed and painful again.

In conclusion

• The inflammation is the body’s natural healing response
• It can be brought on from damage to the spine, discs, joints, muscles or connective tissues  
• In 97% of cases, damage is due to the back being placed in a compromised position due to weak postural muscles.  
• Anti inflammatory drugs and standard treatment focuses on the symptoms of back pain
• Most back pain sufferers become reliant on treatment and or drugs to manage their chronic pain.
• Addressing the underlying cause, the postural weaknesses and imbalance is the answer to fixing chronic back pain permanently.

What Is Your Back Muscle Spasm Telling You?

A muscle spasm is an overriding protection mechanism that typically occurs when a muscle or muscle groups are overused, tired and fatigued.

A muscle spasm is an overriding protection mechanism that typically occurs when a muscle or muscle groups are overused, tired and fatigued. More relevant to athletes than back sufferers, when a muscle such as the hamstring becomes over stretched, a strong contraction (spasm) occurs to prevent tearing of muscle fibres.

In the case of a back muscle spasm, the clear message is that the muscles of the back are tired and fatigued. Typically a back spasm will take 1-3 days to settle (usually the amount of time required for the muscles to rest and recover).

It is imperative that we break this article into two different important categories;

• one off back muscles spasms after a significant activity or exercise
• chronic repetitive back spasms, often times brought on after an innocuous event

Both have clearly significant messages with differing action required.  

If you have carried out a specific activity for the first time in a while such as a full day working in the garden at the start of spring, then due to the lack of conditioning your back muscles can over fatigue leaving you with a painful spasm for a few days.

Similar with exercise, if you are getting back into a running or gym routine, it is not uncommon to over do it early on resulting in paying the price with a few days lay off until your back settles.

Regardless of the activity if your body is not conditioned and you end up with a back spasm, regardless of how painful it is, do not fear the worst. Don’t try and fight the spasm, give yourself the ample rest that your body requires, apply heat to ease the discomfort and seek some massage therapy or physio as the pain starts to ease.   

Any muscle spasm can be extremely painful, however especially back muscle spasms. The muscles of the back are extremely broad meaning that pain will spread across most of your back and even into your hips. Almost all human movement requires the use of your back muscles which adds to both the discomfort and frustration whilst suffering from a back spasm.

If however you have experienced a severe back spasm for the first time after an innocuous event, an activity or movement that you have done countless time before without any concern the message here is very different. For many back pain sufferers, after experiencing an initial back spasm, they find themselves experiencing them over and over again.

The important message that your body is trying to tell you is that your back is lacking support. Too great a load is being placed on your back due to the muscles integral to supporting your back being weak and non functional.

For many back pain sufferers their back spasms become more and more frequent due to the fact that after their initial painful spasms, they protect their back in a way that further weakens the muscles integral to its support. The pattern continues for years on end:

• -Back goes into spasm
• -Pain medication to try and ease the pain
• -1-3 days out of action
• -Massage or physio to ease the residual pain

It is important to note that if you are suffering from regular ongoing back muscles you need to address the root underlying cause of why your back went into spasm in the first place. The muscles are getting over tired and fatigued as a result of carrying too great a load due to weakened postural muscles.

Seek a competent professional who can assess your postural symmetry. Identify the areas that require strengthening, and can put an effective rehabilitation plan in place to end your ongoing and chronic back spasm cycle.

How do the quadratus lumborum (Q.L) muscles play a role in back pain?

The Q.L muscles (quadratus lumborum) are the most common cause or culprit of acute lower back pain.

The Q.L’s attach to the top of the posterior pelvis (iliac crest) at the bottom of the lower back, branch out onto the transverse processes of the lumbar spine and insert onto the 12th rib.

The Q.L primary action (movement that the muscles assists with) is lateral rotation of the lumbar spine when acting unilaterally.

The areas where people get pain with a tight or restricted Q.L muscle:

• Pain right beneath the 12th rib at the Q.L insertion
• Pain right above the iliac crest at the base of the lower back
• Pain just lateral of the spine, where the Q.L originate from the L1-L4 transverse processes of the spine
• Pain in the mid belly of the Q.L, typically half way between the 12th rib and top of the iliac crest, and further lateral of the spine.

The movements where people get pain with a tight or restricted Q.L muscle:

• Arching the back, causes pain due to shortened of the already tight and flared up Q.L muscle/s.
• Lateral rotation of the spine, causes pain due to the pressure placed on the flared up Q.L muscle/s.
• Standing or sitting

What causes the pain:

• Active trigger points in the muscle mid belly
• Solidified connective tissue at the origin and or insertion of the Q.L muscle.
• Restricted lumbar spinal segments

What causes the Q.L muscles to get tight and restricted in the first place

• Most commonly overuse and fatigue
• An excessive lordotic curve
• Weakened gluteal muscles place excess load on the Q.L muscles
• Weakened postural muscles, affect functional pelvic movement which overloads the Q.L muscles.

What should you do if you have back pain generated from Q.L tension/ restriction:

If it is your first time experiencing pain, it’s important to note that you most likely have over fatigued your Q.L muscle. Pain generally subsides as the muscles recover over a 1-3 day period. If you find relief from heat packs, continue applying, along with hot baths and shower to encourage blood flow and movement to the muscles of the lower back. Heat rubs can also be of assistance if you need to continue with physical activity for work or sport, however most ideally rest until the muscles recovers would be most preferable.

If you are experiencing ongoing constant or repetitive Q.L pain then it is imperative that you seek a healthcare professional who will address the cause of your Q.L pain.

A quality practitioner will:

• Assess to see if you have an excessive lordotic curve that needs to be addressed.
• Establish whether you have weakened glutes that need to be functionally strengthened

Assess and correct your postural symmetry to ensure you are moving in a way that is not overloading your Q.L muscles, causing painful restriction.

Should I avoid doing back strengthening exercises if I get back pain?

 We when it comes to back strengthening exercises we like to keep to a very simple rule:

If it hurts during the exercise, or you pull up worse afterwards then it’s best to avoid that exercise.  If you feel better for doing the exercise, great, stick at it.

Not all back pain is created equal, some people respond to well to certain exercises, whilst others get immediate pain during or after carrying out quality back exercises. For this reason, we disagree with the notion that certain exercises are good or bad if you have back pain – the ultimate test must be how you, the individual respond to them.

The most common cause of persistent, chronic back pain is a weakened posture. Sure the lower back muscles become weak, however so do many other major muscles groups integral to supporting the lower back and its structures, especially when standing and moving in an upright position.

The problem with the generalised understanding of how to rectify back pain through a strength program is that focus is either:

• Targeted purely on the back, neglecting the major postural muscles
• Purely on the core, neglecting the back and postural muscles
• Too passive, not attaining adequate stimulus to promote neuromuscular hypertrophy (growth/ gains)
• Not functional, movements that isolate muscles, as opposed to getting muscles to work together in an everyday functional manner.  

The best exercises are functional compound movements that ensure that the weakened muscles assist in the resisted movement.  Even if these movement patterns are carried out just with your own body weight until you build the required strength to balance and push or lift resistance with perfect form.

From experience, the majority of back pain sufferers either go too aggressive or too gently with their back exercises. There is the one group that go too heavy with poor form and pull up badly resulting in them quitting the back strengthening program. The other group stay at a gentle pace failing to add resistance that will provide them with the necessary gains to strengthen their body.

TIPS for success

1. If the exercise hurts, try to back of the resistance. If it still hurts avoid the exercise altogether.
2. Stick to compound exercises that target all the muscles groups that support the back.
3. Stick to functional exercises that have all the muscle groups working together in a synergistic way (just as they do in everyday movements)   
4. Start with just your own body weight, improve balance so you can carry out the exercises perfectly with weighted resistance.
5. Progressively add resistance at the rate you feel comfortable.
6. General rule of thumb, if you can pick up and squat down with a weight equal to your own body weight, then providing you maintain good form, your ability to get through everyday activities without back pain will be greatly enhanced.

Failed Back Surgery – what are my options now?

Up to 40% of back surgeries fail. It is so common that the medical industry has created a label for back sufferers who fall into this category – Failed back surgery syndrome.

Almost all back surgery is avoidable providing the underlying cause, not the symptoms of back pain is addressed. Unfortunately, the vast majority of practitioners and modalities do not address the underlying cause leaving the back sufferer with no known solution other than surgery.

Some people respond well to back surgery, their symptoms are addressed, which eliminates their pain allowing them a fresh start to commence being more active and the ability to strengthen their body.

However, for a larger percentage (almost half) recover from surgery feeling no better in fact often worse than pre-back surgery.

Back surgery does not always address the underlying cause of back pain – only the symptoms.

No different to the conservative treatment received pre surgery that failed to provide a lasting solution to the chronic back pain sufferer.

The true cause of back pain is the postural weaknesses and imbalances that build up over a period of time. The structures of the back are compromised due to the constant lack of support and excessive load placed upon them. For the vast majority of back sufferers, it is an innocuous event or activity, one the person had down countless times prior that causes their back to go into a painful spasm. This event marks the commencement of a chronic pain cycle with the sufferer attempting all kinds of therapies that all address the symptoms (the damaged structures of the back) however never the underlying cause (the postural weaknesses and imbalances). The final resort is back surgery, which once again focuses on the damaged back structures, which does nothing for the weak muscles dedicated to supporting the back.

For the chronic back sufferer who has tried all modalities, now even back surgery without any lasting relief from their back pain – there is hope.

There are a group of practitioners who purely specialise in chronic longstanding back pain. They have successfully treated hundreds of back sufferers who were on long waiting lists for back surgery. More importantly they have successfully treated many people who have undergone surgery with no improvement.

Incorporating a highly unique set of techniques that are patented to their clinic only. With over 15 years of specialising in chronic back pain, they have refined the techniques and exercises they prescribe to the point where they generate a very predictable result.

The techniques and exercises target the underlying cause of back pain and restore postural balance and symmetry. The patient’s functional range of movement improves, pain levels rapidly reduce with the patient feeling stronger and straighter with every session.

The vast majority of their patients have tried many different treatment options for their chronic back pain without success. The best thing about this clinic is the fact that they see chronic back pain patients all day everyday, meaning that no matter how bad your back is, they will understand why you have your pain, why it has not been responding to treatment and most importantly what needs to be done to provide you with lasting relief.

For more information on this clinic go to backsolutions.com.au

Chiropractor VS Back Pain Solutions Clinic

Melbourne Chiropractor VS Back Pain Solutions Richmond.

With so many different therapies and treatments available in Melbourne and more specifically Richmond, it is so hard to know what’s the correct Lower Back Pain solution for you. Melbourne offers literally hundreds of Chiropractic and other treatment options for Lower Back Pain.  Many have already tried Chiropractors in Melbourne unsuccessfully. As a result, even with the help of a qualified Melbourne chiropractor, for many people their lower back pain becomes part of their life. We have seen patients come from all over the world to our Melbourne Back Pain clinics to cure their body of Lower Back Pain so they can be vibrant and pain free again. In the the vast majority of cases, we have succeeded.

Chances are you have heard of the common therapies such as Physiotherapy, Osteopathy, Massage and also Chiropractic which you may have sought after for your Lower Back or Sciatica Pain.

Chiropractic has always been an interesting topic of conversations around the health industry – some people claiming it dangerous, others reporting injuries and people often ask us ‘if they cracked my back, wouldn’t I be paralysed?’ So what are they really doing?

First off, we are not anti-Chiropractic. And we are not by any means suggesting that there is anything wrong with Chiropractic methods. We’ve heard numerous amazing stories of people being healed and cured of their pain through Chiropractic treatment as well as horrible stories, one thing I will say is like every modality has there are some advantages and some disadvantages, hence why we opened Back Pain Solutions Melbourne to have a multi –disciplinary approach to chronic pain that targets everything from the nervous system, muscular system, skeletal system, strength and conditioning so there is no missing piece in rehabilitating your pain.

Chiropractic methods treat neuromuscular disorder/and or conditions via manipulation of the spine. This is all good and well but what caused the spine to be out in the first place? In our professional opinion if the spine is out, chances are you will have muscular imbalances causing the spine to be out also, which is something that unfortunately most Chiropractors do not treat. At Back Pain Solutions Melbourne this is exactly what we specialise in restoring.

Here at Back Pain Solutions Melbourne, unlike chiropractors, we focus on all elements of injury and disorders by focusing on the spine, nervous system, and, muscular system so that it’s a flawless system to prevent you from having lower back pain and injuries again.

We incorporate the following:

1. SOLIDIFIED MYONEURAL MANIPULATION – Is a process where we identify the Musculoskeletal Biomechanical Imbalances that are causing your pain via a hands on approach working with the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) and the Central Nervous System (CNS) by breaking down tissues and fascia causing chronic Lower Back and Sciatic pain.

2. NEUROMUSCULAR POWER TRAINING – This secondary program we conduct at Back Solutions restores the muscular and biomechanical imbalances by strengthening the weaker parts in your body so the pain never returns. This is a system designed for long term results not short term where you continually need to come back for appointments by changing the neuroplasticity (permanent change). 

If you are suffering with Lower Back pain and Sciatic pain, and your Chiropractor or Health care professional is not delivering the results you need, and want to get a permanent solution contact Our Melbourne Back Solutions Clinic on 03 9909 9905

I Have Been Told I Have Arthritis In The Back, Is There Anything I Can Do?

I Have Been Told I Have Arthritis In The Back, Is There Anything I Can Do?

Myth:

I have been told by my doctor that I have arthritis in my back and that I will just have to live with the pain!

Truth:

Arthritis is just medical jargon for joint pain due to inflammation. As with any inflammatory joint pain, if effectively treated, it can be permanently rectified.  

Arthro = joint

Itis = inflammation

If in the event you do have ‘arthritis’ of your lower back, which is just a medical term (jargon) for explaining why you have pain, why we can’t do anything about it, and why you will most likely have to take prescription medication to manage it there are most definitely options for you. In this articles we will cover the causes for your lower back pain joint inflammation and options to alleviate the symptoms and methods to permanently rectify the cause.

For the purpose of this article it is important to distinguish the difference between Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis:

• Osteoarthritis is a localised inflammatory joint condition considered to be caused through wear and tear.
• Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition that can affect all the joints of the body.

In this article we are focusing on the diagnosis of osteoarthritis in the back.

Back pain: Symptoms vs Cause

Back pain treatment focuses on the symptoms rarely the underlying cause. Symptoms of back pain often include joint inflammation and muscular tension. These are symptoms of the lower back being placed in a compromised position due the the true underlying cause – poor postural strength and symmetry.

If only the symptoms are ever addressed and never the cause then Yes – chronic inflammation or arthritis in the back will be something you will have to live with and manage for the rest of your life. However if focus on the true underlying cause of back pain and restore balance and symmetry to the entire body, then you can permanently keep your back pain symptoms away.

That is the key – take away the reason for the joints of the lumbar spine to be chronically inflamed. This is how to eradicate arthritis in the back and ensure it never returns.  

But what about the wear and tear to my spine?

Endless back pain research has been carried on cadavers. People of all ages, size and sex were autopsied to establish how much pathology or damage was present in the lumbar spine. Countless people were found to have completely worn discs, bone on bone, chronic wearing of the spine and facet joints who never ever complained of having back pain.  

If the back is strong, if the muscles that support the structures of the lumbar spine are strong and carrying out their correct function you will not have back pain, you will not have arthritis in your back.  

Wear and tear of the spine or arthritis are not the true cause of chronic lower back pain, it is postural weakness and imbalance. Restore symmetry, restore balance and you will find a permanent solution to your chronic back pain, regardless of what any doctor or back specialist has told you.

Bad Back Pain

Back Pain is one of the worlds leading disabilities. Back Pain is so bad it has reached an epidemic in the western world being responsible for the following statistics.

• -Back Pain is the 5^th most frequent causes of Hospitalisation.
• -Back pain is the 3^rd most common cause of surgery.
• -Back pain is the most common cause of disability in people under 45 years old.
• -80% of Australians will experience bad/severe back pain in their life.

With bad back pain it becomes a burden on your every day life, not just physically but mentally, emotionally, socially and financially. As well as often being misdiagnosed what your initial pain started as an acute injury (3 months or less) can lead into a chronic pain (3 months or more) purely through a misdiagnosis.

Back Pain is linked to a range of conditions such as:

-Disc bulge
-Degenerative disc
-SIJ dysfunction
-Poor Core Stability
-Muscular Weaknesses
-Anterior Pelvic Tilt (leaning forward to walk)
-Trauma (Sporting accident or Car accident) 

Without proper strength and conditioning you are much more susceptible to experiencing one of these conditions as the body has to work overtime to stabilize your body – in essence one side is going to be lengthening the other shortened which causes imbalances which leads from bad to severe back pain. Some people however are extremely ‘fit and strong’ yet still feel pain? Commonly people avoid certain exercises and muscles atrophy which can cause bad back pain. This can also be contributed to desk workers that are constantly leaning forward shortening and weakening certain muscles.

By identifying what is causing and contributed to your back pain in a large percentage of patients pain can be completely pain free in a short period of time. However, it is essential you discuss this with your health care professional to determine the severity, symptoms, testing and scans.