Back Pain. What can you do about it?

Back pain affects over 80% of the population

We all know someone with back pain. You may even have it as you’re reading this blog post. Statistics show that it can affect up to 80% of the population in their lifetimes. Whether it’s down to sedentary lifestyle, a past injury, illness or the nature of the work you do, there’s no doubt that it’s one of the biggest causes of pain and suffering and a huge cost to our lifestyles, workplaces, and economy in the UK today.

The statistics on back pain speak for themselves

Back pain tends to be one of the few conditions that many of us try to live with rather than doing something about – we put it down to a sign of our advancing years or the something that ‘goes with the job’. The truth is that you can do something about it and the sooner you start, the better.

According to NHS England and The National Back Pain Pathway, lower back pain accounts for some 11% of disability in the UK population. In addition, the number of people being referred for surgical procedures seems to be on the increase year on year.

Men and women are equally affected by back pain, though there appears to be slightly more research to suggest men are more likely to suffer from it. According to the British Chiropractic Association, four out of five men have experienced or are living with some type of back pain and the prevalence seems to get worse after the age of 37.

The Association found in recent research that 40% of us do little despite suffering from aches and pains at work and that 41% of us have been prevented from undertaking exercise because of back or associated neck pain.

Back Pain at Work

A labour force survey in 2014 found that, while the most common cause of sickness and absence in the workplace was minor illness such as colds and flu, the most number of days (30.6 million) lost were because of musculoskeletal problems, including back pain.

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According to research gathered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), back disorders affected 660 per 100,000 people in the UK in 2015/2016 and accounted for over 3,400,000 lost working hours at an average of 15.9 days per person. Just think of the cost to a business, employer or indeed output for your business or the economy, despite a lot of back pain being avoidable.

As you might expect, the HSE also found that the industries where employees are most at risk included construction, transport and storage as well as human health and social work activities. They looked at the factors which caused back injuries in employees and noted that much back pain was because of

1) moving, handling, lifting and carrying practices (53%)
2) office postures such as being in a tiring or awkward position (25%)
3) workplace accidents (7%)
4) keyboard use or repetitive movements (5%)

Types of Back Pain: A wide range

Back pain can range in location and intensity and can be caused by a variety of factors. We find that common terms to describe back pain range from “a dull, constant ache” to “sudden” or “sharp sensation.” Some may receive more localised pain whereas others may also receive radiations into the arms or legs. It can also sometimes leave the person unable to move or function as well as they would like.

Pain doesn’t have to start immediately, though undoubtedly back pain can be caused as a result of trauma (such as lifting something heavy or through an accident). Indeed, it can develop over time due to subtle changes in the body due to our body balance (biomechanics). It can also develop from how we move or live our lives as well as changes in the structure of our body due to the effects of age or use. Sedentary lifestyles can also be a cause for back pain and we note a vast increase of patients coming into our clinic for pain related to imbalances of postures.

Whilst you might think that being active can be a good thing, overdoing it or stressing your body through it isn’t. Some people get back pain from living a sedentary lifestyle in the week and then doing strenuous workouts in their spare time, for example. The reality, however, is that lots of back pain is created by structural imbalance. Finding a way to keep moving, feeling better and staying better throughout the whole week is often is a good way to prevent it or keep it in check. This is where our consultations, treatments, and assessments step in.

How serious is your back pain?

In general, back pain can be classified into two types; acute and chronic back pain. Generally speaking, we consider acute back pain to last for anything up to 4 months from the date it started and chronic back pain lasts for longer. More chronic forms are more challenging to treat by their nature and may come back after treatment. Acute back pain can sometimes turn into more chronic back pain but is quite often more related to biomechanical disruption rather than more serious pathologies. Chiropractic care with Connective Chiropractic might be effective if you have back pain. Click here to find out more or to find out whether it may be able to help you.

Reasons for Back Pain

There can be many reasons why you may have aches and pains and will undoubtedly be the content of future blog posts. However, in general, a large proportion of aches and pains that we see are due to posture or a change in the biomechanical structure of the body, some form of trauma or injury or an inability to adapt to lifestyle stresses and strains.

Common causes of your back pain include;
Age,
Fitness level,
Occupation or Occupational health,
Hobbies or sports,
Speedy weight gain or loss,
Genetics,
Mental health,
Repetitive actions or movements,
Carrying heavy bags or objects.

Back pain can be sometimes a result of more complex medical, systemic, neurological or pathological reasons. Your chiropractor at Connective Chiropractic will screen you for these as part of your initial consultation assessments.

Award winning Chiropractor, James Harrison (above), picking up New Business of the Year Award at Inspire Business Awards 2017

When you need knowledgeable help to you, James is the person you should see. Not only highly qualified but experienced and gifted. Totally professional and a lovely person. Be confident this is the person who will help you.

Amanda W

How Connective Chiropractic can help

In a study by Bronfort et al, Chiropractic has been considered effective for certain types of back pain. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) also suggest that Chiropractic care is an appropriate consideration as part of dealing with the healthcare of those with musculoskeletal issues such as back pain.

At Connective Chiropractic in Basingstoke, we realise just how integrated pains in your back could be related to your general health or wellbeing. As a result, we take the time to work out how we can best serve you in our initial consultation. Here, we will not only ask you about what is going on, but we will also do a series of tests to gain further information about it. We will consider the best available evidence, our expertise, the information we get from assessing your body and also what you realistically hope to achieve with your care. After doing this, we will be able to better understand whether Chiropractic care is appropriate for you and how we can best help.

To find out if Connective Chiropractic might be able to help you, book in for an initial consultation today using our online booking platform.

Click here to book an Initial Consultation

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