Most have experienced it. If you fall in the minority, consider yourself lucky! It’s one of the most common diagnosis we treat in our clinic and one of the most mis-managed diagnosis in the medical community (in my opinion). So what is one to do? Where should you start when you experience an episode of acute low back pain? How about those who are experiencing chronic low back pain?
Most low back pain (acute and chronic) is mechanical in nature. So what’s that mean? It means that most low back pain occurs when there is abnormal stress or force occurring in the tissue. Generally, there are movements or positions that make the pain worse, and thankfully, there tend to be movements or positions that cause relief of the pain and restoration of movement.
Have you ever had a sliding drawer in your house get slightly off its track? Although you are still able to open and close the drawer, there is obstruction and resistance as you try to slide it back and forth. While most will try moving the drawer in a certain direction to eliminate the obstruction, others (with a few choice words) may try slamming it forcefully to eliminate the obstruction until it is gliding smoothly on its track again. Either way, moving the drawer in one direction will generally restore the mechanics, and moving the drawer in the opposite direction will generally cause further obstruction.
Mechanical low back pain is similar. Generally, movements in one direction tend to cause the pain and obstruction to worsen, where movements in the opposite direction may eliminate the pain and restore normal movement in the spine. So where should you start?
Your first phone call should be to one of our physical therapists at BeWell Physical Therapy! We will start by taking a history to figure out what symptoms you are having and how your symptoms behave. After a thorough history, we will perform a mechanical assessment of your spine by having you move your spine through a series of repeated movements and/or sustained positions to determine if there is a direction of movement that causes a positive change in your symptoms and/or movement of your spine. Using the information gathered from the mechanical assessment, we will determine the proper treatment and exercise dosage for you.
Stay tuned for one of our upcoming blogs about how I’ve navigated my way through mechanical low back pain episodes over the years!
