Back pain is one of the biggest causes of time off work in the UK. Indeed, in 2015, statistics show that 10 million work days were lost due to back pain. This costs the country £1 billion in lost earnings a year, according to the British Chiropractic Association. But for the individual, it is a case of being unable to do normal everyday things without pain interfering. And this issue covers all age groups. The statistics show that 1.89 million of the days lost were from 25-34 year olds.
Most episodes of back pain are unable to be sourced to a specific anatomical issue, so these are termed as non-specific back pain. It is rare that a person only suffers a single episode of back pain in their life. One episode can lead to chronic pain later on, although medical science is still trying to understand the conditions or factors that lead to the pain escalation. Research has so far shown there are two main sets of factors that are most relevant in the prediction of the extent back pain will be experienced. These two factors are the history of previous back pain episodes and psychological aspects such as depression.
It has been found that physiotherapy can assist in management of back pain and prevent it from becoming chronic. And it isn’t just traditional body manipulation associated with the art of physiotherapy. When it comes to back pain, London physio patients are being educated on understanding the condition and how to interpret the signs and signals. This education is unlikely to have a physical effect on the pain itself but it has shown to help in a more positive approach to management and recovery.
The general path is that the physiotherapist advises and educates the patient on the importance of remaining active during a pain episode which aims to reduce the propensity of patients to stop and do virtually nothing out of fear of exacerbating or prolonging the pain. Additionally, the physiotherapist assists the patient in adapting their regular daily activities to enable them to carry on their normal life without the problem of too much pain. Simple lifestyle changes can make a surprising difference to the quality of life of a back pain sufferer.
London physiotherapy clinics can also help where a patient is suffering depression. Depression can reduce the will to be active making it more difficult for patients to tune into the idea of self-help. The physio can recognise this and work on the patient’s fear avoidance with recommending graded exercises and a functional programme to gently push the patient into resuming a level of normal activity.
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EXCLUSIVE: Millions of working days lost to back pain - and it costs us £1BILLION a year, express.co.uk
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