At what point and why you should seek help for your lower back pain?
Nearly 80% of us will suffer from lower back pain at some point and whilst for many of us the problem will resolve itself in a matter of weeks, for others the pain can be ongoing and extremely debilitating. In medical terms we refer to the difference as acute and chronic back pain but at what point should you seek some sort of help and why?
Are you suffering from acute lower back pain?
Acute low back pain is usually the result of a recent awkward movement or lifting something too heavy and the resulting pain can be due to damage to the ligaments, muscles, discs or other joints. Painful as it is (and you may even experience symptoms such as pain or pins and needles elsewhere), the chances are, with a little care and help from us, you’ll be better within 8 weeks or so. And if that’s you, then look out for next month’s blog when I’ll be writing about things you can do to help speed up your recovery or ease the pain.
So what if you’re suffering from chronic back pain?
If you’ve been suffering with lower back pain for more than 12 weeks, then it’s time to get help because things have moved on from whatever caused the initial injury and you’re now suffering from chronic back pain. It’s really important at this stage to find out why the injury hasn’t resolved itself and there could be many reasons, such as lack of mobility in other parts of the body or postural issues that instead of helping you to heal, are perpetuating the initial injury. There may even be non-physical issues such as a fear of re-injury or confusion about what is causing this ongoing pain.
You need an informed treatment plan.
But until you know why you haven’t recovered, the bottom line is, you’re going to continue to struggle with pain and any other symptoms you may have, and this is where seeing an osteopath can really make a difference. Any good osteopath will take time to establish both what the initial cause was and what factors have effected your recovery since. It’s this information along with the hands on treatment from an osteopath which enables you to get better and will help your osteopath put together a treatment plan which includes information and advice about things you can do to speed things up.
If you’re struggling with lower back pain and you’re not sure what to do or whether you should seek help, why not call Mid Sussex Osteopaths today on 01444 360359 and let’s help get you back on track.
