Is Seating The Worst Thing You Can Do When You Have Back Pain? Treating Your Back Pain & Sciatica Could Be As Easy As These Easy Movements. Sciatica serie, Part III

 A lot of patients I treat for lower back pain are often surprised by how quick they improve after their first  treatments...while at the same time thinking "if only I d had known what movement to do and which one to avoid..."

Let's talk about my patient Richard again. Before he made the decisions to look for additional help in treating his sciatica, he had been suffering for at least 4 weeks as he did not see much change in his symptoms when taking the pain killers he was prescribed by his doctor and he hated the side effect of drowsiness and constipation.
Richard also has a desk job. Sitting for long periods of time is notoriously not ideal when you suffer from acute back pain. 

Yes, posture can contributes to back pain, especially when acute  but what is more important is really how often do you move and change position. This is exactly what the most current research shows, more so than the long held belief that slouching is the root of all evil when it comes to back pain. 
Our backs are designed to handle repetitive stresses, are strong structures and the idea that people need to overprotect their spine by avoiding all bending activities is obsolete. 
This is were changing position often and making sure you take your joints through their entire range of motion several times a week becomes important in avoiding and treating low back pain. 
Let's face it... Like many other people, Richard was almost never stretching his spine throughout its full range, instead spending too many long hours sitting at work, watching TV, working on his car, or playing video games with his kids, while all along creating stiffness of the spine into extension( backward bending).

Richard admitted at the end of his first treatment he'd wish he had known how to do the simple movement he learned on his first treatment.
This is were the following videos become handy as it show two simple movements that can help maintaining the average mobility necessary for a healthy spine and for preventing chronic back pain..

Of course, these can only be generic and you might need assistance and be taught some variations of these movements in order to get full benefit, perform more easily or completely without pain... but they can be a good start in recovering from your back pain. 

Remember the human body was designed for movement and it therefore thrives on movement... even when acute pain is felt. So even a little movement will always be better than immobility and bed rest.
If you suffer from acute or chronic low back pain, start moving as early as you can, without jumping too fast in heavier workout and strengthening/exercises that will increase your pain and set you back. 

All this is of course much easier with a back specialist that will identify the root of your pain, will treat the pain with the appropriate techniques, hands on or not, and will educate you and teach you about your pain and what corrective exercises you can do.

So if you have been suffering from sciatica and/or back pain for longer than 10 days, Butheau Physiotherapy is ready to help you through this process in order to regain your level of activity and feeling better.

If you're not ready to commit, have further questions regarding therapy, even if you already received some treatments and felt it did not help, or don't think physical therapy can help you, consider a FREE 20 minutes phone consult with us(no further engagement required).

This consult might help you identify the root cause of your back pain and what your options are in order to get better.
Don't hesitate to call us at 4252814171  if you're ready to tackle your back pain and are looking for a proactive approach.

Pierre