SUMMER BACK PAIN

Back pain can affect all age groups and is the most common complaint seen here at physio2go. At this time of year many people are out in the garden undertaking fairly strenuous tasks, such as digging, weeding and mowing, which leaves them especially at risk of developing back pain, sometimes with associated buttock and leg pain. There are of course different types of back pain, some caused by sustained positions. Such as sitting at the PC or weeding the garden. Pain can also be the result of awkward lifting and bending, for example digging. Here are some simple steps you can take to help avoid the onset of back pain and help to keep your lower back strong and flexible.

Summer Back Pain

CASE STUDY

Recently a 45 year old lady presented complaining of back pain, which she described as a dull ache in her lower back. This occurred after spending time planting in her garden. She reported that she had been planting for about 2 hours which involved lifting bags of compost, a watering can and being in a stooped position for an hour or so. Following the gardening her back had been a "bit stiff " but the next morning she had difficulty getting out of bed. Once she was up and about the back was a little easier though she still felt very stiff with slight pain in the right buttock. She was used to similar episodes occurring over the past 10 years but when this episode showed no sign of improvement after 3 days, even though she had been dosing herself up with Paracetamol she made an appointment and was seen later that day.

On examination of her back there was stiffness and pain throughout her range of movement with difficulty mainly bending forward due to pain in the back and the right buttock. The muscles of the lower back had gone into spasm and were painful to touch. It was noted that there was a weakness in the core stability muscles of the lower back.

This lady was given a course of four sessions of physiotherapy which involved manual (hands-on) therapy, stretching and a small home exercise programme. After 3 weeks this lady was pain free with full movement restored in her lower back. Due to the history of low back pain and her poor core stability she was advised to strengthen her muscles and increase her flexibility by undertaking Pilates.
She had initial one to one tuition with our in-house pilates instructor, Julienne Arden-Rose, and now regularly attends group pilates classes which she finds have given her much more confidence regarding her back when she is gardening.

 

Posted 29th July 2011

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