Not being able to sit straight on a chair or in a car for a long time, pain while walking or other daily activities, getting out of bed painfully, and not daring to load the back are just a few examples of common problems our patients’ experience while suffering from lower back pain. It’s horrible, excruciating, and can be incredibly inconvenient as it negatively affects everyday life.
Nowadays, we tend to move around less and we load our backs unilaterally (do you often carry your bag using only one strap?), causing a slight lean to one position, disfiguring the spine. Lower back pain in particular is becoming more common.
Because of the pain, our body tries to avoid certain painful postures, resulting in the body adapting a posture that can put even more stress on the body.
At Pain Away Clinic, we have licensed physiotherapists specialized in using advanced medical equipment to help assess your posture and determine irregularities in your spine.
Here is an example of one of our Posture Reports (click to zoom):
Most Common Symptoms
The symptoms might differ from person to person because we are all built slightly different and each person is unique. Different lifestyles (active vs. non-active) come into play as well, as your daily activities can have different impacts to different parts of your back. Pain can arise on both the left and the right side of the lower back, but it is often difficult to pin point the exact location, as the pain can radiate throughout the back, and even extend through to the lower body.
Here are some of the most common symptoms our clients experience:
- Stiff or stuck lumbar region
- Sore pain at the bottom of the back
- Pain shoots or cramps
- Sudden cramps with certain movements
- Radiance of the pain to the buttocks or thighs
- Stabbing pain
Lower Back Pain Causes
The causes are not always clear. In certain cases, a direct change in our lifestyle can cause the pain, such as changing to a new mattress or a new desk chair. This is specially true if the older model caused our posture to adjust to avoid pain. In other cases, pain develops with no obvious reason (also known as Lumbago). Usually this type of pain is temporary and will disappear within a few days up to a few weeks.
Most cases are caused by one or a combination of the following:
- Poor posture (long-term)
- Excessive load on the muscles
- Incorrect bending or twisting of the back
- Incorrect lifting techniques
- Being overweight and obesity
- Stress
- Pregnancy
- Hernia
Here is a fantastic video from Top Doctors UK that goes a little more into detail regarding things that cause lower back pain, when you should be worried, and how you can determine if your pain can be treated by therapy or if it requires surgery:
“While the cause of pain may be unknown, it is more important to rule out the more serious things that can give rise to back problems such as cancers, infections, inflammatory problems, and even trauma.”
Types of Pain
Besides pain in the lower back, the neck, shoulders, head, hips, or legs are usually also affected. It is important to assess whether the pain is acute (less than 6 weeks), subacute (6-12 weeks), or chronic (more than 12 weeks). The Pain Scale for Lower Back Pain is a helpful tool if you are not sure how to express the pain you are experiencing.
Here is a fantastic video by Dr. Eric Berg that is very informative, showing stretches you might be able to do at home to help relieve the pain:
Find Treatment in Bangkok
If left untreated, the pain can cause other complications that can be more difficult to treat at a later time (e.g. when your body has adapted to a different but poor posture, it will take much longer to correct). Most often the pain and complications keep getting worse. If you think you are suffering from this, please do not hesitate to find treatment from a licensed physiotherapist. Pain in the lower back can significantly bring down quality of life and make our daily lives a big challenge.
Pain Away Clinic is amongst the leading clinics and has the best knowledge and technology available in Bangkok. Lower back pain and posture adjustment is what we specialize in and we have hundreds of patients every week coming in to get treated for it. You can read some of their success stories here. We are more than happy to give you a quick consultation if you have any questions or are looking to get a professional opinion.
If you or one of your loved ones are experiencing lower back pain, feel free to reach out to us, or come on down to our clinic at Asoke, Bangkok so that we can help get you a proper diagnosis and find an effective treatment plan to speed up your recovery.
