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Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners
Who can help me with constant lower back pain?
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I've had constant lower back pain for two weeks now.
I've seen a myotherapist which made my back feel better for a couple days but now its in pain again and is affecting my job.
Who should I see about my back pain? -
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Dr Greg Sher
Chiropractor
I am the Clinic Director of the Sydney Spine and Sports Clinic.At our clinic, we see an equal mix of city office workers and elite … View Profile
Further to Jordan's great answer above, back pain often has many factors causing it, and as a result, a combination of treatment options often works well. Making sure you correct and target the underlying cause of the problem (i.e. from prolonged poor posture at work….) will go a long way to making sure the symptoms are kept at bay.
We have found great success in taking an integrated approach, working closely with rehabilitation physiotherapists, musculoskeletal acupuncturists etc, to help the patient with symptomatic relief, and give them the best possible chance of long-term recovery.
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Dr Roi Cheng
Chiropractor
Graduating with distinctions from the prestigious 5 years Bachelors and Masters Chiropractic program at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Dr Roi Cheng took a … View Profile
I completely agree with Jordan and Greg's answers above. Back pain is a very common condition, you might be surprised to hear that in 2004-2005, approximately 3 million Australians reported having back pain!
The first step in treating back pain involves finding out the cause of the back pain. Back pain due to structural causes tends to be a very complex issue and can involve the muscles, spinal joints, spinal discs, nerves and fascia. There is also a psychological and emotional aspect to it, and this must be noted by the health practitioner diagnosing the back pain.
Most low back pain cases seen in my practice are structural in origin. This means that there is a problem in the way the joints, muscles, discs and nerves are functioning in the region, causing an imbalance in the way weight is carried by the joints and muscles. This results in pain and inflammation. Manual therapy has shown to be effective in the treatment of structural low back pain (Carey et al.,Spine, 1996). In the long term, core strengthening exercises also prevents the low back pain from recurring.
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Dr Julie Russell-Clark
Chiropractor
low force chiropractor for 27 years experienced in SOT AK diversified activator proficient and Neural organizaiton techniqu proficient. seminars given in perth auckland and sydney … View Profile
Chiropractors study for 6 years specializing in back pain a good chiropractor with many techniques to choose from to match the condition of the patient is your best option for any back pain issues.
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Sandra McFaul
Physiotherapist
Do you suffer from chronic lower back pain or neck pain? Based in SYDNEY, Sandra is 1 of ONLY 15 Physiotherapists in Australia with ADVANCED … View Profile
Temperoary relief can be provided by a whole range of thearpists.
I would like to suggest that you want some long term relief.
Physiotherapists who have specialised in the McKenzie Method (ie done post-grad training) will show you:- how to get pain relief with only 1 or 2 specific exercises
- what exericses of things you have to avoid
- how to sit and move with better posture
- how to stop the pain from coming back
And preferrably see someone who has is Dip MDT - which means they are expertise in treateing lower back pain.
Kind Regards,
Sandra McFaulReport this post
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- how to get pain relief with only 1 or 2 specific exercises
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Grant Dempsey
Counsellor
With a passion to see people move forward and break free from the barriers holding them back, Grant is a highly experienced counsellor with over … View Profile
Hi, I'm not a Dr like those above, just a chronic sufferer, here's what i found;
- exercise helps, I cycle and being fit helps my back - but make sure you have yor bike or other fitness equipment set up correctly
- seating, good seating helps, especially at home. I have a ‘stressless’ chair and love it.
- office - if you spend a lot of time at a desk get an Occupational Therapist to set you up correctly - I have brought a higher quality chair (they are rated for hours per day), don't use a cheap $80 chair. Also make sure your monitor is t the right height. I also use a foot rest thing.
- car - having your car seat set up correctly makes a big difference
- Lifting - learn correct lifting techniques, I find it is not the weight that bothers me lifting, it is ‘unstable’ loads like mattresses that will do me in. Avoid lifting unstable things and carrying loads on slippy services - learn to say NO when asked to help lift and move things that could risk injury
- cushions - I have cushions to ensure I'm comfortable when sitting, I take a round roll cushion with me a lot.
I found once I had my office, car, seats and bike set up correctly my life improved. It is worth getting in an OT to set your office up if you spend a lot of time there. Cheers
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Jonathan Harris
Physiotherapist
Jonathan Harris is a Titled Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist having achieved Master Degrees in both fields. As well as his undergraduate Physiotherapy degree he also … View Profile
Hi, I am with Sandra. It would be nice to be shown a couple of exercises that will eliminate your pain and prevent it from coming back. She has suggested googling McKenzie Method. I would also suggest Googling the Sarah Key Method. Both are very similar ……but read the web pages and find your nearest practitioner. Good luck, jono
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Dr Aaron Albrecht
Chiropractor
Dr. Aaron Albrecht works at Body Wise Chiropractic in Bibra Lake, Western Australia. The clinic is located within a gym, and Dr. Albrecht is the … View Profile
I'd have to add my agreement to many of the answers provided above! Multimodal therapy is generally the best way to go, as it will allow treatment of pain generating structures (such as trigger points in muscles guarding the injured region being treated with acupuncture or dry needling), while also providing care to the underlying causes of pain (for example chiropractic adjustment of restricted joints which are painful and causing the aforementioned muscles to guard the area). As a chiropractor, I also provide dry needling, TENS and other such physical therapies, to allow a combined treatment for this kind of complaint.
As far as evidence is concerned:
The journal Med Care. Dec 2012 studied 12k people and found: Costs annually for chiro patients was $424 less for spine AND $796 lower overall. Manga Report (OHM) found: "Chiropractic safer than medical management of low back pain."
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