Lower back pain

Tips from future physio Tessa Martin.

There is good and bad news when it comes to low back pain. The bad? Approximately 10% of the population are affected, with more disability than other conditions. The good? It has a highly favourable prognosis, with pain and stiffness likely to decrease significantly within the first few days, and even more so within the first month!

With back pain being so common, it is likely you have heard some unhelpful beliefs about its management. One myth we want to debunk is that you should stop being active and just rest when you get this low back pain. Studies have shown that those with low back pain who remain active experience lower pain than their counterparts. Staying active with low back pain has also been proven to allow people to complete more of their day-to-day activities, whilst also leading to significantly fewer sick days needed from work. So, the bottom line? Stay active if you want less pain and to be able to maximise your activities!

References:

Dahm, K. T., Brurberg, K. G., Jamtvedt, G., & Hagen, K. B. (2010). Advice to rest in bed versus advice to stay active for acute low‐back pain and sciatica. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (6).

Olaya-Contreras, P., Styf, J., Arvidsson, D., Frennered, K., & Hansson, T. (2015). The effect of the stay active advice on physical activity and on the course of acute severe low back pain. BMC sports science, medicine and rehabilitation, 7(1), 19.

Qaseem, A., Wilt, T. J., McLean, R. M., & Forciea, M. A. (2017). Noninvasive treatments for acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Annals of internal medicine, 166(7), 514-530.