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You've been smashing out deadlifts at the gym. Or maybe you just pulled a huge weekend of yard work. Or packed an entire house up for the removalists. Now, any one of these activities could leave you aching and sore. But if we've reached “I threw my back out” level of sore, it's definitely a good idea to book that physio appointment! Of course there's every possibility your symptoms will calm down after a day or 2 of rest and pain relief. And that's actually great news, for you AND for us.
But why did that pain start in the first place?
I mean, OK, you might have been working way above your usual load, but for a lot of the patients we see, it hasn't been a crazy increase in workload that set off their pain. In fact sometimes it’s kicked off when they put their socks on!
In a nutshell, most non-traumatic musculoskeletal pains are the result of a failure somewhere along “the chain”.
Before we proceed….an important caveat!
If you're experiencing a back pain that starts spreading into your legs, or is accompanied by pins & needles or weakness in either leg, we are probably dealing with a different diagnosis that needs to be managed differently to this scenario. In which case, please don't delay seeking help!
Back to our Chain… The “Chain” I'm referring to is what physiotherapists call the Kinetic Chain. Put simply, the Kinetic Chain consists of all the muscles, joints and fascia (connective tissue) that are involved in a movement task of the body. We can break it down even further, into the direction of movement.
But essentially, the painful tissue is usually the one that's been working the hardest for the longest. It might be starting to strain, or it might simply be sensitised (pain neuroscience speak for “not damaged, just very grumpy”).
Either way, to only focus on strengthening the painful area will give way to a very hit & miss rehab strategy. That painful muscle could be a bit weak, but it's equally likely the muscle has been working extra hard, because a different muscle along its Kinetic Chain hasn't been working as it should. A skilled therapist will assess ALL the structures involved in your movements and work out which muscles aren't firing the way we need them to. Once we've teased that out, we can get cracking with the right exercises for the right muscles.
Then it's up to YOU! Yes, that's right. Exercise is the ONE thing your physio CAN'T do for you. And if you're looking for value for money, this is the ticket. Putting the time (and it needn't be a lot of time) into the tailored exercises you've been given, is how you will not only recover from your pain, but also keep it away.
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