Why do I have back pain and what can I do about it?
Did you know that 60-80% of the general population will suffer back pain at some time in their lives? The incidence is highest in the 45-54 years old age group.
Would you like to know more about the lifestyle causes of back pain?
Things that contribute to the likelihood of back pain are:
Poor health and nutrition
Increasing Age
Marked scoliosis
Reduced fitness
Loss of hamstring flexibility
Smoking
Psychological problems including Tension, Stress, Anxiety, Fear, Resentment and Depression
Drug abuse
Headaches
Neck pain
Leg discomfort
Stomach pains
Obesity
Poor quality of sleep
Excessive sitting
Pregnancy and caring for small children
Contributing factors for low back pain in children (incidence 20-50%)
Too much TV
Competitive sports
Loss of hamstring flexibility
Birth strains and congenital anomalies are problems a baby may be born with
Failure to receive appropriate treatment in growing years.
There are often many causes for the pain in your back.
Osteopaths are very well trained and experienced to figure out what has gone wrong with your back, give you the up to date advice, and provide specific hands on treatment. Then most of the time your pain goes away quickly and you can avoid long term back pain, medication, injections or surgery.
Osteopaths study for five years full-time at university to become a doctor of the musculoskeletal system. Studying anatomy in great detail, along with physiology and pathology which is about how the body functions in health and disease.
Osteopaths are trained to take a medical history, perform physical and osteopathic examinations, appropriate orthopedic and neurological tests, and refer for x-rays to help us come up with a list of possible causes for your problem. It's always preferable when the cause of your pain is something we can treat and that is the case most of the time. When the cause could be something else, we refer appropriately.
At City Osteopaths healthcare, all our practitioners are trained to look for the CAUSE of the problem and fix that rather than recommend long-term use of painkillers or antinflammatories to mask the pain which left untreated, tends to get worse.
Why is it called Osteopathy? Well Dr AT Still who discovered osteopathy in the late 1800s in America said "You start with the bones". But it's only a start and osteopaths look not only at your bones but muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia, nerves, arteries, lymphatics, and viscera. We look at your posture, your body type, and your illness and accident history. We check you out from top to toe!
How do Osteopaths fix things? Well, osteopaths have a wide range of technique approaches from the very gentle such as cranial which can be used on a newborn baby, through functional, fascial, balanced ligamentous tension, muscle energy technique, GOT, and short lever manipulation. Osteopaths are known for their gentle approach, using only as much force as necessary to achieve a result.
In a hip, knee, or foot problem, the cause may be coming from the muscles, ligaments, bones, or discs of the back and once the nerve and blood supply is improved, the hip, knee, or foot are healthy and pain-free again. So often we hear "Oh it's just me getting old" (they are 45!) our treatment works wonders by getting the body functioning as it's designed to.
Cranial osteopathy is very useful in trauma, for example where a fall has sprained the ligaments of the back and normal movement and exercise have been limited for many years due to pain, a skilled osteopath can gently remove the strain and help improve tissue quality, blood supply, drainage and in this way restore normal function. It's not uncommon to treat an injury that has been there for many years and back and hip discomfort quickly ease away.
If you have had an accident within the last year, there is no need to see your doctor, our Reg. Osteopaths can put you on ACC to cover osteopathy treatment and also for acupuncture. ACC data from 2001-2017 covering around half a million claims, shows that Osteopathy gets people better in half the number of treatments compared to Physiotherapists or Chiropractors. The average number of treatments required is 3 for Osteopaths vs 5-6 for Physios and Chiropractors.
Everyone's back problem is unique and will require a unique solution. That is why we have many skilled practitioners, with over 100 years of combined clinical experience, all working together at City Osteopaths. We work with you to educate you about the CAUSE of your back pain, what we can do to help and what you can do to help get yourself pain-free and stay that way. We want to help you quickly get back to health so you can get back to enjoying life, with long-lasting results.
To find out more about the author Dr Melanie Young, Click here
