Back Pain

Regardless of age or gender, 80% of the population will experience back pain. Although some people are more at risk due to predisposing condition or occupation, back pain can be experienced by anyone. It is the most common cause of absenteeism in the workplace.

There are three categories of back pain our Osteopaths have success treating:

Acute (of recent onset with or without associated symptoms including leg pain)
Acute on a chronic (current episode of pain that you have experienced in the past)
Chronic (pain that is more or less constant but may vary in intensity for a number of months or years)

There are many different reasons for back pain. Often people experience back pain as the immediate result of an obvious injury. In other cases, back pain can seem to occur for no reason or as the result of a minor strain. However, in general back pain can often be traced to an accident or trauma, even one that occurred many years previously. This is because the body is very good at adapting to injuries when they occur & accommodating strains & stresses. However, the disruption to spinal mechanics brought about by injury can cause strain to build up over a period of time and symptoms begin, often progressing steadily.

During an osteopathic examination it is common for an osteopath to find several different and seemingly unrelated areas of strain or tension in the body. On their own, each of these may be tolerable and the patient may not be aware of any problem. But the combined effect of having to accommodate all of these may reduce the body’s ability to tolerate additional stains. For example, poor posture, falling, emotional stress or even bending to lift something up.

As part of osteopathic treatment it is often necessary to release retained stresses from past injuries and trauma in order to relieve the current back pain, and reduce the chances of it recurring.

Stresses within the body often cause problems in other areas as well as the back. Common associated symptoms are undue fatigue, mood swings, disturbed sleep, headaches, period problems, digestive problems, and vulnerability to infections due to a depleted immune system. Many of these problems will improve during a course of osteopathic treatment.