Do all old people have back pain? Are all young people free of back pain?
Quite straight forward answers spring to mind when posing these questions.
So why are most older people who present with chronic back pain that won’t go away told by their GP and or health care practitioner that it is just wear and tear from old age and they will have to just live with it?
Up to 70% of older people have lumbar disc degeneration however the vast majority do not suffer from any back pain.
Muscles and fascia cause back pain and they are almost always overlooked in diagnosis, scans and treatment. Regardless of your age, your muscles and fascia can change and you can change them to fix your back pain, no matter how many months, years or decades you have been suffering.
One thing that does make us more predisposed to back pain as we age is that we do not tend to move as often or dynamically as we once did. We retire from jobs, the kids or more accurately for most the grandkids grow up meaning the repetitious movements carried out on a daily basis are no longer a part of the daily routine.
If you don’t use it, you lose it is the best catchphrase, but more accurately when you do lose it (muscle mass) you stiffened up.
In the absence of adequate muscular conditioning in the muscles integral to supporting and stabilising the weight of your own body, fascia or better known as connective tissue solidifies to make the body more rigid. The presence of solidified connective tissue in the lower back and hips of older people who have greatly reduced their daily activity is the most common source of their lower back pain.
We need to get you moving!
Despite the countless treatments, massage and drugs you have been prescribed over the years it all comes back to basics:
- Eradicate the solidified connective tissue
- Restore functional movement that will overcome the very imbalances that caused the muscular weakness and in turn the solidified connective tissue.
- Continue to carry out full compound functional exercises with resistance to ensure your posture remains sound, your muscles strong and symmetrical and your back free of pain.
