The connection between low back pain and walking may seem an unusual one. We often associate prolonged sitting or standing with low back pain and until recently, I certainly would have questioned the link if I had not worked out the cause to my own chronic back stiffness.
We all get aches and pains from time to time but sometimes these aches and
pains hang around. Muscles that are chronically stiff, tight, achey, or weak can cause ongoing pain for an individual.
I don’t know how many times I hear people say, “I really need to work on my core strength,” or “my trainer says I need to activate my core more.”
Do we really need to be so obsessed with our core? How important is a strong core and good posture in avoiding back pain and stiffness?
Recently I had the pleasure of treating a lovely 86-year-old post-polio survivor. For as long as she could remember she had been experiencing debilitating muscle cramps all over her body which have become progressively worse as she has gotten older. The cramps had become so bad she had become afraid to leave the house.
Bursitis is a painful inflammation condition that affects the bursa (small fluid-filled sacs). Bursa help to reduce friction between bones and soft tissue by acting like cushions during movement. There are over 150 bursa within the body. Bursitis is often a symptom of a tendinopathy in the same area.
You’ve had an annoying pain or discomfort for quite some time but can’t pin point when you first noticed it. It’s now been weeks or months; and continues to niggle during certain activities, movements or positions. The pain is not always there, but it’s distinct in its location and enough to be a nuisance or worse. Of late it’s starting to impact on things you enjoy doing or need to do, exercise, sitting, driving, sleeping!!
There is a certain amount of cross-over with all 3 therapies, each will assess, treat and manage your condition with the goal of finding a solution to your pain or condition and assisting in getting you moving again. How this is done depends on your therapist, what they specialise in, and how they treat.
