It turns out that people have strong opinions about the association between weather and their back pain. 

As far as we can tell this ‘belief’ has never before been rigorously and scientifically evaluated so I was interested to read about an attempt to do so.

An article published by Chris Maher, a Professor of Physiotherapy in Sydney Medical School, describes how they used data from a different study to see if any correlations existed with historical weather conditions. This investigatory study was originally asking if the weather was more likely to distract you or make you feel fatigued during activity and if this had an affect of recurring back pain in 1000 primary-care patients over a 14 month period.

Since the original study had nothing to do with weather data there was no risk for any bias influence when the case-crossover analysis took place. Since the original study took place over 14 months there was historical weather data for all 4 seasons in the year.

The idea that the common back pain, specifically lower back pain, can be a result of our modern lifestyles does make some sense. In general people are sitting more for extended periods of time which contributes to lower activity levels. These factors alone can negatively affect posture which often lead to problems in the synovial joints of the spine, nerves and surrounding muscles which all play their role in causing back pain.

The medical history of any back pain sufferer is an important consideration for the Physiotherapist when understanding how best to help relieve the symptoms. There is not a single most effective approach for all conditions of back pain and in fact sometimes the seemingly sensible treatment only makes the symptoms worse. We wrote about such back pain confusion in a previous article.

Over-reacting to back pain can cause both patient and Physiotherapist to take unnecessary measures and potentially over-treat the condition. The most important factor is intervening early before the pain progresses to a more chronic state. An experienced musculoskeletal Chartered Physiotherapist will be able to suitably educate you on your type of pain, potential causes and other important considerations such as the risks of fear-avoidance behaviour.

Do you suffer from frequent episodes of Low Back Pain?

We offer a 1-hour physiotherapy 'Low Back Pain Maintenance' treatment session specifically designed to help reduce the frequency and severity of your painful episodes.

Who may benefit?

Frequent episodes of low back pain has many causes. These may include generally poor conditioning of the spine, muscle stiffness with ‘trigger points’, low levels of activity, stress and other lifestyle factors. Your low back pain may also be due to a degree of 'wear and tear' of the spine, what is medically referred to as spondylosis or osteoarthrosis of the spine.

Recurrent episodic mechanical low back pain can be well managed with intermittent 'maintenance' physiotherapy sessions.

Our team of Chartered Physiotherapists have designed this 1-hour treatment session to assist you in the management of this type of low back pain with the intention of reducing how often and how severely the episodes occur.

Low back pain continues to be a topical issue within society and one which all of us can relate to. Undoubtedly each of us have either suffered with low back pain ourselves or know someone who does.

While for some it can be an acute episode that resolves over a short period of time for others it becomes an ongoing issue that may develop into a much greater problem, that of chronic low back pain.

We recently listened to a very interesting podcast by Dr. Kieran O’Sullivan, from the University of Limerick, on chronic low back pain. He discusses how we as Chartered Physiotherapists can improve our approach in the care of these patients suffering low back pain.

Some highlights from the podcast include:

By the time someone with chronic (around 3 months or more) low back pain attends the physiotherapist he or she may already have been in contact with several healthcare practitioners and undergone extensive diagnostic testing. Each of these practitioners may have had a slightly different explanation as to the cause of this person’s pain.

Are you suffering an episode of acute lower back pain? I encourage you to stay calm and don't panic. Lower back pain is common and it does heal, most of the time full activity is restored over a number of weeks.

There is a worrying trend to over-treat back pain with unnecessary and aggressive techniques while all that may be needed is rest and gentle manual therapy. An interesting article related to this issue is available on the Harvard Health blog and I encourage anyone who has had or is currently suffering from lower back pain to read.

Harvard Health blog excerpt:

Most routine back pain will improve on its own with conservative therapy in three months, often shorter than that,” says Dr. Bruce E. Landon, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. “Even more importantly, when we do more aggressive things - such as injections, imaging, and surgery - the long-term outcomes don’t change at all. These things have very little impact on what is going on, and they have the potential to make things worse.

A few weeks ago Simon wrote a very informative Golf related article called - Golf Flexibility, The Golf Swing & Common Injuries

If you are a golfer and haven't read this article I recommend you do, it attracted good interest and praise over on our Twitter profile @mmphysiotherapy . On the back of this article I've put together some top tips for helping you avoid those niggly golfing injuries. 

Here we go...

Striking a tiny ball with a small club face at the end of a long shaft is the respectable skill of the golf swing. Making that tiny ball travel the distance and direction intended requires great skill as well as good body position technique with sufficient specific golf flexibility throughout the full range of motion.

This post is an excerpt from a more extensive article I wrote recently called - Golf Flexibility, The Golf Swing & Common Injuries

Let’s get into the golf swing of things; the arms move through a large range of motion while linking the golf club and the power-generating torso of the golfer. The golf swing involves 5 phases: the backswing, the downswing, acceleration, early follow-through and late follow-through. With each phase requiring an evolving recruitment of muscle activity and fluid technique there is risk of soft tissue damage throughout the full swing movement.

The original golf swing is said to have evolved in Scotland some hundred years ago. Modern equipment and material as well as advancement in performance technique has led to the 'modern golf wing' changing the dynamics of required golf flexibility.

The best sleep position may be slightly different for each person but to avoid back and neck pain there are simple sleeping position techniques that are common for most. We spend about a third of our day sleeping in a mostly still position. This extended period of motionless can leave us feeling stiff the next morning and potentially cause or aggravate back or neck pain. Fortunately it is not difficult to achieve an aligned, pain free sleeping position with the help of some simple techniques and an extra pillow or two.

In my clinic I get asked regularly about what are the best sleeping positions and in fact it was just the other day a client queried specifically about neck pain and sleep positions which inspired me to write this post.

My first answer is usually to suggest finding a position which is most comfortable. From years of clinical experience and understanding sleep related pain issues I am usually able to offer some suggestions as to how best to achieve better sleeping positions for pain relief.

Okay I get it… currently it's non stop news about the risks of inactivity and why and how we should be moving more for optimal health.

I love a catchy infographic although this one is a topic that bugs me at the moment - sitting. Why it bugs me - well I, like a great many people, do most of my work at a desk and sitting down. It's not the kind of work I can simply adapt to standing or doing while on the trot! Of course I buy into the risks of inactivity and I commit to an exercise activity at least twice a day - but even that is not good enough according to some 'authorities'.

If you are like me and sit most of the day - break it up with regular stand up stretches and find a reasonable excuse to move about more often.

Back Pain - Are You One Of The 33%?

Many of our clients arrive at the clinic struggling with some form of back pain. Some come to us after trying various treatments with little relief.

Here I'd like share some more recent advances in the knowledge about the assessment and treatment of persistent low back pain.