Most of us will experience lower back pain at least once in our lifetime. There are many reasons why lower back pain occurs, so let’s take a look at some possibilities.

Postural/ Structural issues

The most common reason for lower back pain would be postural/ structural issues. For example, an alignment issue at the hip will change the alignment of the lower back and thus can be the root cause of what is driving the pain. Similarly, structural issues above the lower back area, like the ribcage, shoulder girdle will have a ripple effect into the lower back area and can once again be the underlining cause of the pain. So, looking solely at the area of pain is one of the reasons why conventional physiotherapy often doesn’t achieve a long-lasting result for people.

On the other hand, even if the alignment gets manipulated by an osteopath or a chiropractor, but the weak muscles, the muscles that are ‘shut down’ aren’t addressed, the problem will again persist. This leads into the next common reason for lower back pain – muscle imbalances.

Muscle Imbalances

Certain muscles are often stronger than others and certain muscles are often less active (due to injuries for example). Both are great contributors to back pain and can go hand in hand with the structural/postural problems I mentioned above.

Can you see how only treating the issue from one angle can challenge your chances of sorting out the problem for good?

Other Factors Contributing to Back Pain

In some cases, there are other factors that are also feeding into the back pain. For example, gut inflammation will distend the core muscles leaving the lower back area vulnerable. In this instance one can be performing the best core exercises but if the brain is unable to engage the muscles, little to no improvement will be made on the core until the inflammation is resolved and the core muscles are ‘reconnected’ to the brain. Nutrition would now be a factor here.  

Not eating the right food will also cause issues with tissue regeneration and inflammation, not to mention that it will affect our stress levels. How? An unbalanced blood sugar level causes a stress reaction in the body. If you do that every day you are creating constant nutritional stress. Under constant stress the body will not be able to regenerate the tissues and in fact, it will be more likely to destroy muscle fibers, which will make you ever weaker. 

Lack of sleep also feeds into back problems on the basis that the body is unable to repair on a cellular level overnight. If that happens regularly it will contribute to your lower back pain as much as anything else. Imagine that someone found the structural problem, gave you the right exercises to strengthen the weak muscles and release the tight ones, but you are unable to recuperate due to insufficient rest. Do you think you’ll make a long-lasting result? Finding the cause of your sleep issues are key here.

What about how we are experiencing pain in our mind? Can your mind make the back pain even worse? You bet! In fact, our experience with chronic pain cases the mindset is almost always unconsciously contributing to the problem and has to be addressed if we were to achieve a long-lasting result. 

As you can see treating lower back pain needs a holistic approach. One that looks at the body as a whole system, not just where it hurts. Your best life in and out, is most likely to happen with an integrated approach that takes all factors from physical to non- physical into account. 

Our mission is to empower as many people as possible with the right knowledge to help themselves with their lower back pain. We are launching an online pilot course: Get Back to Health Blueprint on September 7, 2021, for six weeks. It is designed to teach you everything I’ve covered above, so you can be confident in your ability to help yourself. 

For more information on the course and how to apply, please click below!

Please be advised that spaces are limited to 10 people. The deadline to apply is August 31 2021.

Are you ready to make the changes? You should be by now!