As Southampton Pilates instructor working with pain sufferers, I get some very strange explanations as to why and how my clients’ back pain started! The most common usually includes the phrase ” I was just bending down…or I was standing there washing up and I felt my back go”

Despite realizing through that movement that something is wrong; the problem usually started much earlier. It’s rare that through straight forward movements you will occur and injury, normally this is more relevant to sports and heightened activity. If a simple movement causes something to ‘go’ in your back, the chances are, there has been tension developing in and around the rea for some time.

What causes back pain?

There are many reason why people get backache. But, broadly speaking you can divide them into these categories:

• New use
• Misuse
• Overuse
• Abuse
• Disuse

The problem is often an amalgamation of all of the above, but we can also ass the following contributory factors

New use

A common cause of backache is starting up a new activity, something that you may not have done before. Moving house, clearing the garden or joining the local gym and signing up for every class on the schedule are few common examples.

Misuse

This is where we are not using our body correctly, such as a poor posture at work as we slump across our keyboard. Most people know this misuse bad for your back.

Overuse

Often referred to as ‘repetitive strain’, by using the same muscle groups time and time again, you will increase both pressure and fatigue of the area. If you repeatedly reach to a shelf behind you to hand a product to a customer, eventually your arm, shoulder and hand muscles will be subject to overuse.

Abuse

Lifting a piano or crate a beer would be included in this category. We can’t push our bodies too far, or ask too much without it letting us know. It is not necessarily lifting either, for we can just as easily strain by over-reaching twisting or, worse still, a combination of all three.

Disuse

Lack of exercise, persistent sitting or standing etc will lead to key muscles being disused. For example, the glutes play an important part in our posture when standing or moving, if you spend your days sitting you will discover that this disuse leads to back problems.

Environmental

Whenever we are stressed we tend to tense our muscles. That’s why we often suffer from tension headaches, because the whole angle of the head and neck is altered under stress resulting in a build-up of tension at the back of the neck and around the jaw

As a massage therapist and Pilates instructor, it is my job to determine the causality of your back pain and a treatment plan to combat such. Usually my recommendation will be a combination of massage and Pilates, plus postural awareness and exercise from home.

Contact Us today to book a consultation and start unravelling the mystery of your back pain and treating it with our combined therapy available at our Southampton studio.

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