Have you ever said to yourself at the end of the week, ‘Ouch, my back is aching’? If you answered ‘yes’, moaning in agony from that excruciating back pain, rest assured that you are not alone. An estimated 3.7 million Australians (16%, or around 1 in 6 people) in 2014-2015 had chronic back problems at some point in their lives. It is also a major draining factor in the Australian economy, costing nearly $1.2 billion of total health-care expenditure allocated to disease groups in the year of 2008 to 2009. One-half (48%, $560 million) of this expenditure was for hospital-admitted patient services, followed by out-of-hospital medical expenses (39%, $464 million) and prescription pharmaceuticals (13%, $153 million).
Yet a cure for the common backache is as elusive as ever. Part of the problem is the complexity of the spine, disc, and surrounding nerves linking to the brain and the rest of the body. The lower back, known as the lumbar region, bears most of a person’s weight. The weight is distributed on five vertebrae, separated by a disc that acts as a shock absorber to provide cushioning and support, along with muscles and ligament. Over time, the effects of aging significantly decrease the bone mass and muscle elasticity and trigger disc degenerative changes leaving the back vulnerable to injury and susceptible to pain.
Here, I would like to share two useful methods that can help with pain and preventive measures from leaving that door of vulnerability open.
1. Vitality of Your Lower Back Is In your bed
Firstly, if you are in a position to do so, consider getting yourself a quality bed. A study conducted from Oklahoma State University found that simply by getting rid of that ‘worn out’ mattress can significantly reduce back pain and stiffness. A scientific team in 2006 lead by Bert Jacobson, reports that people who suffered from back pain experience relief by switching to a new mattress, and the immediate relief continued. In this study, a total of 59 men and women of all ages was examined for 4 weeks with their old mattress and 4 more weeks with their new ones.
The researchers found a positive relationship between a new mattress and lower back discomfort by analysing the participant’s daily assessment of their back discomfort, spine stiffness, sleep quality and sleep comfort. The participants displayed improvements in each assessment criteria when they slept on the new medium-firm mattresses. Subjects that entered the study with the highest levels of back pain experienced the greatest improvement. The research teaches us that we might need to trade in that old bed for a new quality one and that is the kind of painless treatment that anyone can take lying down.
2. Bioelectric Meridian Massage Therapy Could Be the Answer to Your Back Issues
Bioelectric Meridian Therapy (BMT) is a possibility for relief without taking drugs, having surgery or getting poorly manipulated. Bioelectric Meridian Therapy is a unique method that addresses back pain by unblocking the meridian pathways to promote self-healing mechanism with the usage of electrical currents which is safe for the body.
The electricity delivered from a machine to the client’s lower back through the therapist’s hands invigorate blood supply to the lower back area, eliminates fatigue on those overuse lower back muscles which often found in most back injuries during an examination, and promotes acid/base balance as a detoxification purpose to serve a foundation for the body to heal when the therapist applies a therapeutic cream which contains high alkaline properties.
3. Avoid Prolonged Sitting
In the earlier quarter of 2020 this year, the world has been strike with an unfortunate ongoing outbreak of the COVID‑19 pandemic. This saw many people go from an estimated two weeks working from home to two months. In some cases, it now seems like an indefinite work from home trending for many. This occurrence of working from home caused many people to be unaware of the dangers of sitting for long periods of time, which might seem unharmful at the beginning, but slowly contributed to lower back discomfort. Prolonged sitting can lead to compressive forces placed on the spine more compared to standing, which increases the risk of developing sciatica, or degenerative disc disease if we don’t change.
The solution to avoid excessive sitting is pretty straight forward, which is not sitting for such long periods. Some useful tips, when working at a desk, is to take intermittent breaks every 30 minutes by standing up. If possible, adjust your workstation to include an adjustable desk to allow work to continue while in the standing position. If it is not possible to stand up every 30 minutes, stretch and move the neck or back muscles, so static loading on the joints and muscles can be prohibited. Try to include movement into the daily routine, such as climbing stairs or parking the car in the last parking spot and walking to the store can be helpful in moving the body and prevent muscles from being shortened due to excessive sitting.
Nelson
Physiotherapist & BMT Practitioner
For more information on how you can utilise BMT to help your body heal, visit our contact page.
References
- J Chiropr Med (2009), as sited at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2697581/#:~:text=Jacobson%20et%20al%2C29%20in,efficiency%20with%20medium%2Dfirm%20bedding
- ABS 2015. National Health Survey: first results, 2014–15. ABS cat. no. 4364.0.55.001.Canberra: ABS.
- AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2014. Health-care expenditure on arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions 2008–09. Arthritis series no. 20. Cat. no. PHE 177. Canberra: AIHW
