Low back pain

Symptom

Acute immobilising lower back pain

Common Causes

* Can be set-off by almost any bending movement such as picking up a dropped pen, turning to reach something, or the jolt from missing a step
* The root cause is typically an underlying disc instability which is inadvertently triggered by an unexpected event
* Pain and lack of mobility is caused by muscle spasm which are part of your body’s defence mechanism

Treatments

* An ice-pack may help at the acute stage
* Anti-inflammatory drugs and pain-killers will probably be prescribed by your GP.
* Once the spasm begins to ease, osteopathic massage and manipulation will typically be very helpful in restoring mobility and reducing pain more quickly than the bed-rest often recommended by GPs
* The exercise programmes your Osteopath recommends are important to ensuring that the underlying instability which caused the problem is addressed and the injury does not recur