Almost everyone has experienced low back pain in their lifetime. 84% of adults actually. It’s the number one cause of disability and probably the one you hear yourself or someone you know complains about. So what should we do about it? It’s easy to jump into solutions before we figure out the problem first, so as with all things, let’s ask what contributes to low back pain.
Cue a cheesy but useful infographic:
I’m a big believer in holistic care, but the word holistic often gets conflated with some fluffy idea of being well-balanced or that you’re doing everything all at once. Really, what you should be looking at is what specific things are contributing to pain. Input = output, right?
If we are to look at the big picture, typically, the easiest thing to nail down are these three categories: structural stress (from bad mechanics, posture, movement strain), inflammatory conditions (nutrition and metabolic health), and emotional stress (which can amplify pain signals in the brain pathway)
So how do you fix it? Many of my patients have heard me preach for the umpteenth time: we loosen what’s tight and strengthen what’s weak. We find out what’s “in your cup,” as shown above, and start addressing them. Maybe it’s the way you’re lifting your kid, maybe you need to avoid that painful position in the gym for now (not forever), or maybe you’ve got the dreaded diagnosis of osteoarthritis (which benefits a ton from therapy and exercise). And when you get a little stronger, it’s time to build up and gradually expose yourself to those positions systematically, so we reduce those flare-ups, but you’ve got to live your life again eventually.
