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How do stress and lifestyle influence lower back pain?

Our previous back pain physiotherapy posts have covered preventing and treating lower back pain and safe lifting techniques. Leah mentions how stress and lifestyle factors may influence the severity of pain or the level of disability associated with a low back injury, yet as a general population the influence that stress may have is largely underplayed.

If we accept that stress and lifestyle factors influence heart disease as a fact, why do we dismiss their influence in lower back pain? Instead physiotherapy practitioners are seeing an increase in the demand for ‘quick fixes’ which can lead to unnecessary treatments and interventions. I am proposing that we change how we look at lower back pain; instead of it being an injury in isolation we look at how it may be affecting your ecosystem (i.e. you as a whole being) or how your ecosystem is affecting the lower back pain.

How does back pain benefit from physiotherapy and exercise?

As far as back pain goes we physiotherapists have the skills and knowledge to devise strategies that can aid in reducing your pain, not only with our hands-on intervention but with appropriately prescribed exercise programs that are designed to get you back to participating in the activities that you most enjoy. Exercise was mentioned in an earlier back pain physiotherapy post and I cannot stress to you how influential a factor low to moderate impact exercise is in a fast recovery after injury.

Studies have shown that exercising for 20 minutes can have a 12 hour boost in mood. If you are suffering from back pain then a 20 to 30 minute walk or similar light exercise will not solve or ‘cure’ your pain but it will go a long way in reducing the burden.

Talk to one of our physiotherapist as lower back pain is our bread and butter; it is something that we see most days of the week and we have the skills and knowledge to apply the latest evidence based practice to help you in your recovery.