Whilst muscles and joints anywhere within our body may become hurt if too much force is placed upon them (an ankle sprain for instance), it is widely accepted that exercise, particularly strengthening exercise, may assist with lower back pain.
Exercise helps us to recover from pain in a few ways – it improves blood flow to an injured area, thereby carrying oxygen and nutrients needed for healing to where they need to be. It also desensitises nerves, reducing pain. Exercise improves our strength, flexibility and balance. These attributes don’t remove pain on their own, but collectively allow ease of completion for day to day tasks such as working, cooking or cleaning.
An osteopath will explain to you why your pain is present, assist to relieve it with manual therapy and identify any barriers to your recovery. During a consultation with an osteopath, your practitioner will first discuss your case and thoroughly assess your condition.
Osteopathic treatment may be applied for a few reasons – first of all, pain relief. Osteopathic treatment may reduce muscle spasm and increase ease of movement, decreasing pain. With increased movement comes increased ability to exercise, and after assessing your condition, your osteopath will be able to fully guide you through any appropriate exercise that may speed up your recovery.
So, before you consider strong pain killers, injections or surgery, have a chat to your local osteopath!
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Written by Claire Richardson on behalf of Osteopathy Australia.