Recurring back pain is frustrating, especially when it seemingly happens without cause. By delving deeper and examining what happens when back pain occurs, it often becomes clear it is not as random as first appears.
Given time, most back injuries will heal and the pain will subside.
Pain is a great motivator and modifier of behaviour. When pain is gone, so is our motivation to keep up with the changes that have helped alleviate it. By reverting back to our old ways, we are returning to the conditions that caused or contributed to our back pain in the first place.
By understanding what is causing, contributing to or maintaining your back pain - then taking steps to eliminate or manage these factors it is possible to get rid of back pain permanently.
A patient I treated recently at Leyton Osteopaths had suffered a disc herniation and nerve impingement in his low back. Last year he had a surgery called a laminectomy where part of a vertebra is removed to create more space for the disc. Within days after surgery he felt fantastic - ‘It was like turning off the pain switch’ he said. Thrilled, he returned to playing tennis several times a week. He made no allowances for his injury and made no modifications to his game.
You can probably guess why he returned to Leyton Osteopaths seeking treatment.
I fully support and encourage getting active and returning to the sports you love after injury. But, if like my patient, you have experienced a disc injury, you need to consider the impact a sport like tennis can have.
The biggest mistake here was that he didn't stage his return - he want back to playing full throttle and as frequently as he had before. Giving his body time to adapt by gently stroking a few balls for short periods of time and incrementally increasing could have saved this gentleman a lot of pain.
If you have back pain, you probably have a set of exercises you do to relieve it (if you're a patient at Leyton Osteopaths you definitely have been given some). But when your back pain stops, I'd hazard a guess the exercises do too. This is understandable. It demonstrates the purpose and value of pain.
Change those exercises from something you do when you’re in pain, to something you do every day. Find a sport or type of exercise you enjoy and do it consistently. As you do, you'll start to form a habit. Good habits are key to musculoskeletal health.
The steps you need to take today are:
(1) Keep active,
(2) Examine the things you are doing that may be causing or contributing to your back pain
(3) Eliminate or manage the factors identified in number 2.
(4) CONSISTENTLY do exercise(s) to keep your back, and the rest of your body, active - don't wait for pain.