Osteopathy is more than just treating the back pain

There is a very good chance that, at some point in your life, you have experienced back pain. It is the biggest cause of disability in the UK, with low back pain, in particular, making up 11% of UK disabilities. It's also a big reason behind work absenteeism, with 5.6 million workdays lost each year due to back pain. 

So why is back pain such an issue?

There are a few reasons, some more obvious than others. A sedentary lifestyle is often seen as one of the main culprits. With a large percentage of jobs involving sitting behind a desk, it automatically means that a large chunk of our daily routines means being inactive. With the rise of people spending their time relaxation time by staying at home watching Netflix, it's easy to spend a large part of your life, not moving. 

One potential cause is fear avoidance and our understanding of back pain. A study into back pain beliefs showed that participants had negative opinions on a range of issues, such as whether or not they should keep moving when they have a back injury. They also fear that after an injury, they would then permanently have a weak back to their relationships with their healthcare practitioners.

Another issue is how we currently deal with back pain in the UK. A review into our current service within the NHS for back pain showed that there is no structure to how we deal with back complaints. With little evidence to the evidence base and patients have to deal with constant delays at every step. Patients also tend to receive very poor rehabilitation issues. 

What can you do about it?

While there are no full-proof methods for preventing back pain, there are plenty of things you can do to limit the chances of you developing it and to deal with it when it does arise.

Keep moving

Try your best to create good habits around movement by making sure you keep yourself moving throughout the day. It would be best if you were aiming to move as often as possible. I recommend that patients should be getting up and moving at least every hour when they are not in pain, and a minimum of every 30 minutes when they are. We want to promote blood flow to the area, and movement is one of the best ways to do this. 

You should also try and do plenty of exercises every week. Swimming is a fantastic all-body exercise, and it keeps the pressure off our backs as we are buoyant in the water, with the backstroke being the best. To keep yourself nice and mobile, you can also try yoga. This is another excellent exercise because it helps not only with flexibility, but you will also learn some fantastic breathing techniques which will help activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which can reduce pain levels. 

Sleeping

Back pain can be awful when it comes to sleeping. It can be hard to get to sleep, and even when we do, it can get disturbed as we move throughout the night. In general, I suggest to patients that they should sleep on their backs. This, however, can cause discomfort and so pillow underneath the legs help his take some of the stress off the lower back. Sleeping on your front is one the most damaging for our backs, but it can also be hard to break habits, so a pillow underneath your stomach while you sleep may help. For other information on sleeping and pillow positions, check out my blog on an osteopath Marylebone approach to sleeping. 

Good ergonomic practice

With work taking up such a large part of our days, making sure we have a good desk setup essential. Making sure you have your chair at the right hight, for example, can take a huge strain off your lower back. 

How can Osteopath with health help?

One of the advantages of going to see a mobile Osteopath for your back pain and why we will then offer you treatment using a variety of techniques that may include osteopath Marylebone, medical acupuncture, and massage to give you more mobility and reduce pain levels. 

To which Medical Home Visit excels, though, is our rehabilitation program. Treatments with us don't just stop on the treatment tables as you will be given a wide range of advice and exercises at the end of your session so that not only do you go away pain-free. But you also have a greater understanding of what is going on so you can deal with your complaint and make sure it doesn't come back in the future.