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Three ways to not reduce your lower back pain.

She had tried all kinds of things to reduce her chronic lower back pain.

A few years ago, I met a woman. In her late 40s and with low back pain for more than half her life. Bending over to pick something up off the ground was a strange movement that already took a lot of effort. Let alone all the other impacts of constant pain on her daily life.

We started talking and she asked if I might be able to do something to help her. I was convinced that I could and that it didn’t have to be something difficult.

She had already tried all sorts of things that should help:

Stretching. Who doesn’t do that? Something is stuck, feels cramped, what could be better than stretching it in the opposite direction. And often in such a way that you actually feel it stretching and pulling. I often fall for this myself, with the result that I am often still in discomfort the next day.

This was also her go-to, because it felt soooo good.

Abdominal muscle training: another familiar one! My back hurts so I start training my abdomen to create stability because my lower back doesn´t have that. A wonderful compensation, which can certainly help for a while. Until it no longer helps and your pain comes back in the same place, or somewhere else.

Painkillers: Handy because the pain definitely goes away for a while, until the pill wears off. So nothing sustainable about that and with undesirable side effects.

Does any of this sound like you too?

What DID work?

We started looking at the biomechanics of her movement. What were her back and other muscles doing, that wasn’t their job?

With simple movement of just lifting a leg (see photo), we noticed that her abdomen, pelvis and shoulders were helping to lift her leg. She couldn’t fathom that something so simple and small was going to help her get rid of the pain. So it also took quite a while before she was really ready to give it a chance.

It became a fairly short journey into feeling and quieting down movement. Listening to signals and limits of the body and respecting them. To letting go of old habits that seemed to feel good in the moment but really weren’t working. Allowing the muscles that are supposed to do the work to do so, and the rest to stay calm.

And her pain lessened.

So much so that last year she dared to start strength training, because she was no longer in pain.

The Key is Feeling

So yes we work with muscles, but actually more with the nervous system and our awareness.

Can you FEEL what you are doing and does that match what is actually happening? And can you RELAX again?

So there is not just 1 thing that works and helps you get rid of pain. Depending on what is going on in your body, different movements can help, it could be nutrition or lifestyle. It’s always a personalised approach, but the key is Feeling.

What have you learned from your body? Have you discovered things that do or do not work for you?
I’d love to hear from you!