Weekly musings, 8/20/17- On low back pain

Did you know:

• 80 percent of individuals will struggle with low back pain at some point in their lives
• Most clears up on its own within 6-12 weeks, regardless of what you do (chiropractic, acupuncture, exercise, massage…)
• In 10-20% of cases, the low back pain becomes chronic
• Most of those chronic cases don’t have a structural cause
• Research suggests the most effective exercise intervention for chronic low back pain is one that increases proprioception and flexibility in the spine
• Proprioception means sensing where your body is in space
• Flexibility in the spine allows you to perform tasks in a variety of ways; research suggests individuals with healthy spines don’t just use one strategy to pick things up. There are small variations in the way they lift
• Chronic low back pain is multi-faceted, meaning it’s affected by more than just the muscles being tight. Chronic stress can make it worse
• Cardiovascular activity seems to help with low back pain; so does getting stronger and gaining confidence in your physical capabilities

*For those of you that like to read research, check out this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4934575/ and this abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24502841