Low back pain is very common. So common, in fact, that
most (80%) Australian adults will experience at least one episode of low back
pain during their lifetime. Although often very painful, most low back pain is
not caused by a serious problem and will resolve with some simple care.
Physical activity is an important part of that care.
Exercise is great medicine for lower back pain. You can
choose from many options of exercise, with no specific type being the
best. Just stay as active as you can, allowing for the restrictions in movement
that may come with pain.
Staying active means different things to different people:
People with low back pain usually do not compete,
work for medals or train hard in these activities. They simply use these
leisure activities for therapy, and just to experience the joy
and pleasure of movement.
Occasionally, however, low back pain can be caused by serious disease or damage to the tissues of the back. In these cases, you should seek advice from a health care practitioner as soon as possible.
Seek help from a healthcare professional
Accredited
exercise physiologists can
help you plan a suitable graduated/strengthening training program in your
preferred form of exercise. Your spine and the surrounding muscles are
designed for movement. It is important you seek assistance with
planning exercise if you have had multiple episodes of low back pain,
because the back muscles can respond differently after repeated bouts of
back pain.
Chiropractors and
physiotherapists
can also help you to treat lower back pain.
Graduated training
To keep physically improving, your exercise program must
become increasingly more difficult; this is called graduated training. For
example if you stayed active by walking, to gain further health benefits
you now need to walk further or faster, walk up hills, or carry extra
weights.
Strengthening
Muscle strength, particularly in the small muscles that
stabilise the lower back, does not return automatically when low back pain
eases. To regain this strength, you may need to do some specific
strengthening exercises, with graduated difficulty to progressively
increase strength.
To read
the full article click
here.
If you
have further questions, we recommend speaking to a healthcare
professional.
Use Whitecoat.com.au to easily find an
appropriate healthcare provider near you.
Sourced from
Exercise Right
27 May 2016
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by Whitecoat