Steve Lockhart

Back Pain & Sciatica Triggers

When we move, especially doing vigorous exercise, we exert a force which should be carried evenly throughout our whole body. But as a result of even a minor imbalance it that force is distributed unevenly throughout our muscles causing compensations and the imbalance to spread deeper into the body, especially when the body is unhealthy or weak and holds onto its tension. The result is often back pain or sciatica.

 This build up of compensations and imbalances leads to a greater potential for injury if we over exert or over extend ourselves in our activities. This also explains why sportspeople, even elite ones, end up being much more injury prone later in their careers. Unbeknown to most of them, it is less to do with their age and more to do with bad body management during their younger years.

Even though at any one time most people have imbalances and therefore the potential to injure themselves it will generally only become a problem and end up a pain episode for people who push themselves beyond their physical limits through such things as an accident, or overuse in their job, sport or lifestyle.

Bending over at that particular angle to pick something up off the floor can be just a bit too much stretch for a muscle in the back that was already too tight and too weak to support the weight or pressure you were putting on it.

This movement can cause the muscle to go into spasm, (a permanent state of contraction) and become irritated at the point where it attaches to the bone. Alternatively it can upset the alignment of a vertebrae causing pressure on a disc.

A good example of this is when a person strains muscles across their lower back by lifting something fairly heavy into or out of their car. The erector spinae muscles (the supporting muscles that run either side of the spine) are often tight already and therefore weak and so the action of trying to support a weight out in front of the body is too much strain on them and they go into spasm.

When receiving treatment, attention normally focuses on the area where the pain is felt. The problem muscles that are causing the pain are left in the locked up condition resulting in a person feeling their back pain every time they sit or bend forward. Sitting and bending requires the erector spinae muscles to relax and lengthen but they are in spasm so they can't. In time the locked up muscles become weaker through a lack of circulation and function and the pain becomes more chronic.

Article Tags: Back Pain

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