Acute immobilising lower back pain

Approximately 70% of adults between the ages of 20 and 55 will suffer at least one episode of acute, immobilising lower back pain. In most cases there is little to worry about as no serious damage has been done. A cause of osteopathic treatment will normally speed patients back to normal movement. However, in a small number of cases the underlying cause of the back pain is serious and a referral may be necessary for injections or surgery.

Common Causes

• Can be set-off by almost any bending movement such as picking up a dropped pen, turning to reach something, or the jolt from missing a step
• The root cause is typically an underlying disc instability which is inadvertently triggered by an unexpected event
• Pain and lack of mobility is caused by muscle spasm which are part of your body's defence mechanism

Treatments

• An ice-pack may help at the acute stage
• Anti-inflammatory drugs and pain-killers will probably be prescribed by your GP.
• Once the spasm begins to ease, osteopathic massage and manipulation will typically be very helpful in restoring mobility and reducing pain more quickly than the bed-rest often recommended by GPs
• The exercise programmes your Osteopath recommends are important to ensuring that the underlying instability which caused the problem is addressed and the injury does not recur.

The content of this page is informed by feedback from practices in Essex and also osteopathic practitioners in Manchester. Further input was received from osteopaths in the Sheffield area and a practitioner in Glasgow. Finally a contribution was made by clinics in Cambridge