Do you have an aching back? Has the shoveling taken its toll on your lower back?

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common problems seen by a Physical Therapist.  Statistics say that over 80% of the population will have low back pain at sometime in their life.

LBP is generally from the cumulative stress to the back from daily activities like work, lifting, cleaning, sports, and more.  

The two most common issues we see with LBP are tight hip flexors (front of the hip) and weak gluts (butt muscles).  When the gluts are weak the body will tend to overuse the small muscles in the low back which contributes to LBP and disc disease.  Weak gluts go hand in hand with weak abdominals (stomach muscles).  The abdominals help support the back by compressing the abdominal cavity and unweighting the spine.  

Tight hip flexors will change in how you walk and will generally increase the rotation at the lumbar spine. The lumbar spine hates rotation, but we need the rotation to absorb the shock of walking, jumping, running, basically doing everything.  This rotation needs to come from the hips and rib cage to take the stress off the low back.

This is just a little part of the complexity that is LBP.  At Innovative Physical Therapy, we will look at you from top to bottom to address all the issues in your body that are causing your pain. *I generally say it is like peeling an onion”.  You peel off the first layer and see what is underneath.  You have to keep peeling until you find the root cause of the pain.  

Give us a call or book a complimentary consult at this link. https://sites.webpt.com/24984/request-an-appointment