The keys to beating back pain and how to stop it
Lower back pain is very common but can be incredibly debilitating. Here, osteopath Oliver Eaton looks at the various causes and how they can be treated
Lower back pain costs the UK economy £3.5bn a year in lost productivity. In most cases the pain will improve within four to six weeks, but occasionally it can last much longer.
It’s important to start by looking at the causes of this pain so people can do everything possible to avoid the triggers. ligaments within the spine from injury.
If your core muscles are weak, it can lead to too much force going through your lower back, causing either a ligament sprain or a slipped disc.
Poor core strength can also lead to poor posture in routine activities such as sitting and standing.
They can be as a result of limping due to a previous injury, soft mattresses, repetitive movements, and pregnancy.
Misalignments of the spinal joints puts pressure on the lower back muscles during every movement you make.
Misalignments of the pelvis can often cause a difference in leg lengths.
This can cause your body weight to become unevenly distributed between both legs, causing pain on the side of the lower back that is bearing most of the weight. So, how can low back pain be treated? a more structured treatment approach needs to be adopted. Heat and ice can help both acute and chronic cases of low back pain.
Use a procedure called contrast bathing. Place ice or a cold compress over the low back for 10 minutes and then immediately place heat over the area for 10 minutes.
This can be repeated twice an hour if needed. Osteopathy is a system of alternative medicine that helps to both identify and address the root cause of an individual’s low back pain.
Several orthopaedics tests will be used to determine which structure within the low back is causing the pain and then a combination of massage, stretching and gentle manipulation is used to help the injury to repair. Several stretches will also be prescribed to help sustain the results and prevent the symptoms from returning.
Osteopathy, Acupuncture and Massage have all been approved by the NICE Guidelines (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence).
Both NHS and private doctors in the UK use these guidelines to inform them of appropriate treatments. Prolozone Therapy is an advanced form of prolotherapy which has both pain-relieving and regenerative properties for the structure in the low back, including muscles, ligaments and tendons.
It was pioneered by an American physician, Dr Frank Shallenberger, and involves the injection of medical ozone and nutrients to cause the proliferation, regeneration and repair of muscles, tendons and ligaments where they have suffered degeneration, injury or become painful and weak.
Oliver Eaton is a qualified and registered osteopath, medical acupuncturist and musculoskeletal injection therapist.
He specialises in the treatment of sciatica, arthritis and headaches/ migraines, with patients travelling from across the UK and Europe for treatment.
He is one of the leading practitioners in his field on Harley Street, having built his reputation on achieving results with patients who had previously had no success elsewhere.
For more information go to www.prohealthclinic.co.uk or www.facebook.com/ihealthinjury/