Back Pain, Back Pain Sydney, Sciatic Back Pain

There is a mountain of information about back pain available online, and, whilst much of it is very informative and persuasive, it can ultimately serve to cause more confusion and frustration for people who are feeling vulnerable, incapacitated and debilitated with back pain.

A few years ago, The National Health Priority Area (NHPA) initiative (established by the Australian Government in 1996) investigated the burden of all diseases inAustralia, and found Back Pain to be amongst the top 20 burden-imposing diseases.                                                                                

The National Survey identified Back pain as causing, by far, the most significant work-related problems resulting in significant workforce absenteeism and ‘presenteeism’ (being at work, but unproductive). The survey found that whilst back pain imposed the greatest burden during middle-age, it was not trivial in youth or old age either.  Back pain in younger children was considerably low (1%–6%) but rose sharply during adolescence (18%–50%).

The greatest concern with this is that adolescents with back pain will continue with this burden into adulthood. At the other end of the age spectrum, it was reported that whilst the prevalence of benign back pain decreases around the middle of the sixth decade, severe back pain increases into old age. 

It is an established fact that up to 80 percent of all adults will experience some form of back pain at one or more times in their lives. So it is staggering that, with the impact this has on productivity, sick leave, and psychological distress, at least 50 percent of sufferers will never find out the cause of their pain! 

This is undoubtedly because a very high proportion of back pain is in fact, attributable to underlying muscular imbalances. Unfortunately medical specialists rely on x-rays and ultrasound testing which, whilst they can pick up muscle tears, abnormalities and soft tissue masses, cannot detect the underlying muscle imbalances that are contributing to the sufferer’s pain. 

The result of this is that they end up just as much in the dark as the sufferer, unable to find a cause and provide a confident and accurate diagnosis or prognosis.  While Back Pain is strictly not an illness, it is a result of physical, emotional and/or chemical imbalances in the body that have manifested themselves as stress. There are usually only one or two main groups of muscles that bear the brunt of stress, and which ultimately set up muscle imbalances. When back problems develop, it is usually from a buildup of these imbalances over time.

Back pain is experienced along a broad spectrum – from that which is dull and mild, that which comes and goes, to that which is experienced as a sudden, sharp onset of acute pain which can last from a few days, to a few weeks. Chronic pain is considered to be pain that persists, either continually or on and off, for 6 months or more.

Finding a solution to back pain can be a real dilemma for many sufferers.  Often conventional treatments don’t provide the relief they need and what starts out as a simple case of ‘typical’ back pain escalates and becomes a vicious cycle in search of some relief, any relief, from the pain. Some sufferers are told to stretch and exercise, but this often worsens the pain, causing irritation, and ends up making them feel much worse.  While taking time out to rest is the first thing a sufferer should do, this is often just not possible because in today’s fast paced world, people invariably cannot take time off. However, without sufficient rest, the pain persists and often only gets worse.

If left untreated the body starts to compensate and this leads to wear and tear of the joints, the vertebrae, discs, muscles, nerves and or ligaments. Chronic back pain is a symptom of a bigger underlying problem. 

One of the main reasons back pain does not clear up quickly with conventional treatments is because these treatments do not deal with the real and underlying cause of the problem – muscular imbalances. These treatments are mostly symptom based and often fail to take into account the critical role that the spine and the mechanics of the body play in setting up the problem in the first place.

Even Wikipedia concedes that ‘there are several potential sources and causes of back pain’ and that ‘potential causes of pain include muscle strains (Pulled muscles), muscle spasm and muscle imbalances‘. The only successful way to address muscle imbalances is with a hands on, full body approach.  A SLM trained therapist can be very successful at finding and restoring function to imbalanced muscles that are the leading culprits in disc bulges, disc herniation, disc prolapses and sciatica. Although SLM therapists can be hard to find a full list of available ones can be found here.

A more detailed explanation of muscle imbalances and how they impact the body to cause back pain can be found here.