3 reasons why your low back continues to hurt
Your low back (or Lumbar spine), is a stable area of the the spine in contrast to what lies beneath it (the ball and socket hip joint), and what lies above it (the made to rotate Thoracic or mid spine). These two areas are made for a large increase in range of movement.
Unless you have direct trauma to your low back, there are only a couple of reasons why your pain may persist:
- Your low back loses stability due to working harder;
- If the mobile joints above and below the low back (hips and mid back) become stiff and have less range of movement, which very often happens when sitting for long periods of time over many weeks/months/years, our low back is required to move more to take up the shortfall. This can load up the low back joints/ligaments/discs to a point that PAIN is the result.
- The low back muscles do not work optimally:
- This can happen due to being inactive, injury, or prolonged pain. If these muscles don’t work together, then we do not have the stability required for certain activities, and pain can persist.
- Pain and movement avoidance due to fear of further injury or poor pain education:
- Often, we think we will aggravate our injury and thus cause more pain if we exercise or move in a certain way. In conjunction, being told that our “back is out” or we have a “slipped disc”, can further contribute to our fear avoidance of certain activities (these sayings, whilst well meaning, are incorrect).
Low back pain is ridiculously common, however a clear understanding of why it can occur and how it can persist will help when the next episode strikes.
