Have you cured chronic lower back pain??

[Monket]

Struggling with constant back pain, which started when I returned to office work ie a sedentary role a year after assisted instrumental delivery of my second child. So tired of it, struggle to believe that exercise will help sufficiently… can anyone inspire me with a success story please? Feeling very low that this will be the rest of my life. I’m in constant pain, and I’m only 36…

Will Harlow on youtube has some good exercises for back issues.

High impact exercise like running isn't good for everyone with chronic back pain, though. That's why walking and exercise that targets strength and flexibility is recommended. Physio is primarily about doing that targeted exercise so "running to physio" is a sensible choice.

Often back pain will prevent you from running (or exercising) properly, which is why physio in conjunction with exercise is so important.

Chiropracty is absolute quackery. I went to see one once (hadn't researched it fully, had thought it was legit) and just boggled at his endless pseudoscientific bullshit about alignments etc. Then he told me to cut down on caffeine (for lower back pain!!!) and told me about the very expensive, very long course of treatments that would be necessary.

Walked out, booked a sports physio the same day.

Check it is musculo-skeletal and not anything more sinister.

Then Pilates, at least weekly, for the rest of your life.

the one I saw also gave me dangerous advice about hypothyroidism; apparently if I ditched the thyroxine and cut out gluten my thyroid would recover.

Mine hasn’t worked for 30 years. If I did that I’d go into a myxadema coma in a few weeks.

Obviously not a good chiropractor. They aren’t all like that.

Fitness and exercise is the only thing that helped me. Walking everyday and not spending hours sat down without getting up regularly to stretch and move about.

Yes I have. I went to an osteopath for 9 months. I had a misaligned pelvis which is what she worked on. NHS physio was useless, they didn't even touch me. I've been pain free for a year now after 4 years of horrendous pain.

I was very fit when my back pain started- regular gym, pilates, swimming. Getting fit won't necessarily help if there is an underlying issue.

Another vote for swimming!

I’m pretty sure my lower back pain is caused by anterior pelvic tilt. Knowing why you have back pain will be important in fixing it.

I spent quite a lot of money at the physio and sports therapist and things improved a little bit but short term and had to keep spending to get relief.

Then had an asthma & allergy flare up so switched to swimming instead of running and my back feels great! Swimming is now a 3x week activity and I’m feeling so much better over all!

This is my problem too. I joined a gym and after one session my back went completely. Took months to get back to normal. Swimming also triggers it.

Doing heavy weights cured mine

I would

1. Lose weight if appropriate. Using an anti-inflammatory diet (whatever that is for you. For me it was meat heavy keto). If you have a lot of abdominal fat, your lumbar spine is already going to be struggling. We are designed to hold all our belly contents within our pelvis.

2. Get a diagnosis from someone you actually trust (It took me 8 clinicians to find one that was prepared to tell me the truth AND offer me surgery and put me right).

3. Get excellent core muscle tone but concentrate on your glutes. Weak glutes are responsible for a lot of lower back pain.

4. Look to your feet and biomechanics. See a professional if needed. I worked out that I have a short left leg and by simply putting foot shaped bits of cardboard in my L shoe, I was able to reduce the pain down by 80%.

Thank you all!

I don’t need to lose weight but it won’t hurt - I’m 63kg on a 5’4” frame, so pretty average size 10. Wobbly though…

For those advocating walking - how far do you go every day?

Biomechanics is interesting- who did you see for that @ShizeItsWeegie?

I’ve had a scan and it doesn’t appear to be anything sinister. Just muscular. But it’s definitely too much and I need to fix it.

My lower back issues is actually a sacroiliac joint issue. I have had several surgeries. I worked out the short leg thing for myself and the relief at just putting a couple of pieces of shreddies packet in my shoe!!

Check simple things like that first is my advice.

A lot of consultants have a very fatalistic attitude to back pain so if you don't hear what you want to hear. Keep seeing other people.

Most days I walk a 4 mile loop. Other days I do 8-10 mile walks. Furthest I've done in a day is 23. When I'm away somewhere the walking will probably be reduced. Start small and comfortable and build it up. It will also depend on how much time you have, I'm retired.

Why are you skeptical about exercise?

Movement is the best thing you can do for your back, as you've discovered after going bacl to a sedemtary job. Any movement really. What keeps my back comfortable is pilates, walking and gardening. My osteopath said that contary to what you might think, all the bending involved in gardening is really good for your back.

I do believe exercise will help. It just feels like a mountain to climb, as it were, to be consistent and do enough to help myself properly. Young dc, working ft, business on the side - it all feels a bit insurmountable, so I was seeking some inspiration.

https://www.yogaforbacks.co.uk/

Worked for me. Started the course using a walking stick, now I'm happy doing long mountain hikes, weightlifting and other activities.

It is consistency. I'm every morning and evening with resistance bands. It's working. I've gone from two crutches to two sticks, one stick and finally stickless some of the time.

My (private) physio advised me to start Pilates with an experienced instructor and to let them know I’m hyperflexible. In addition to walking that has pretty much fixed it.

I could feel the difference in my core almost immediately and became aware that my long stride had been flapping my pelvis around and I assume that had something to do with it. Now I walk differently and my torso feels like a tree trunk in comparison to how mushy I used to be.

Every time I do yoga I hurt myself, I assume because I’m already bendy and the twisting doesn’t help, horses for courses etc.

Hope you sort it out, it’s so miserable.

yes it really depends on the yoga in my experience. Forest yoga is quite cultish but the founder merged yoga with physio stuff so it’s actually mostly really good for backs (I think she broke her back which is how she got into yoga)

When I branched out and did other yogas I realised it really wasn’t good for me.

The good news is that the kilted yoga bloke in Scotland does a version of forest yoga 😁

Private physio if you can afford it. I only needed one session. Though I hurt a lot after! But ten years on and I don’t get pain now.

start with targeted physio. When the right exercises for that are under your belt you can move on. Prioritise just what ever they tell you to do first

in the US it’s all through insurance and a physio refuses to see you again if you’re not doing the exercises religiously. I do now think many in the U.K. think it’s a quick fix via a gp when the reality is that backs are badly designed, go wonky and need a lot of physical work to get them back on track!

Regular exercise is the way. Leg presses, calf raises in the gym. Pilates, yoga etc. Sitting all day over a desk then going home and sitting again means your core muscles are just not getting used and joints become immobile. A standing desk at work will probably help. You can do lots of exercise at home eg squats, push ups, having a kettlebell