back pain

Static vs dynamic stretching. What’s the difference and what should I be doing?

by
When it comes to preparing your body for a workout, the notion of static stretching as a warm-up is facing a considerable challenge. Recent research is uncovering potential drawbacks, revealing that this traditional approach might not be the performance booster we once believed it to be. In fact, static stretching could have the counterintuitive effect of decreasing muscle power for hours post-stretch, potentially hindering your athletic performance.

The promise of injury prevention often associated with static stretching seems to fall short in the scientific realm. Studies are urging fitness enthusiasts to pivot toward dynamic exercises for a more effective warm-up routine. Dynamic exercises, such as proprioceptive training, strength workouts, and dynamic warm-ups, are emerging as champions in preserving performance levels and reducing the risk of injuries.

The shift from static to dynamic warm-ups has a growing evidence base. Dynamic exercises engage your muscles in a way that static stretching simply doesn’t. They prepare your body for the dynamic movements that lie ahead in your workout, enhancing flexibility, blood flow, and overall performance. As we bid adieu to the old-school static stretches, consider embracing a new era of warm-up routines that incorporate dynamic, agility, strength, and balance exercises for superior results.

So, before you settle into that long-held stretch pre-workout, take a moment to reassess. Your body might just thank you for the switch, unlocking a new realm of athletic potential and injury prevention. After all, in the dynamic world of fitness, adaptability is key. ????????

Thoracic pain

by

thoracic pain

The thoracic spine is your mid back between lower back and neck. Each of the 12 vertebrae of your thoracic spine has a rib on each side. Acute thoracic spine pain can be very debilitating. When it hurts to breathe the joints between the ribs and the thoracic vertebral body and transverse process can be the source. Postural loading and stress are common causes of this type of pain. Another is trauma in sport, but you also need to make sure there are no rib or other fractures in these cases.

Simple analgesics are usually advised at first. Sometimes taping can limit the pain by restricting painful movement when pain is bad but shouldn’t be used for more than a few days. The next step is to get moving via walking in water or on land followed by stretches. At this stage massage and joint mobilisations can improve your overall movement and increase the speed of your recovery.

Get good advice early is the quickest way to get back to normal once you have acute thoracic pain. This also includes analysis of the causes and implementing movement-based prevention strategies. Read more here on how we can help or contact us on 4921 6879.

Bending the back

by

Back pain physio newcastle australiaWe all know the old posters showing correct lifting technique. An ominous red cross stamped atop a person bending the back to pick up a box. The message was clear “keep the spine straight and move through the hips and knees when lifting”.  After all, many back injuries result from lifting with a rounded spine. However, what if there is no load or you are not lifting? Is it unsafe to tie our shoes, or play with the kids? This message has been misinterpreted somewhat. Fearing bending the back (spinal flexion) when it is not under load in some cases can lead to persisting back pain. The problem is that if we don’t move and stretch our spine, it can become inflexible and tight, possibly leading to further injury. Maintaining flexibility and stability throughout our spine is optimal to allow us to perform everyday tasks and reduce back pain.

If you have recurrent back pain and don’t stretch contact us on 4921 6879 and we can develop a suitable program of movement to reduce pain.

NU Pilates is also a great way to introduce safe spinal flexibility and core stability for those who want general body conditioning for back pain. A physiotherapist supervises our small group classes, so your exercises are modified appropriately to suit your body.

To bend or not to bend – the choice is yours.

Spinal pain treatment – move more often

by

 

Back and neck pain treatment

NU Moves Physio leads the way in evidence based treatment. We are constantly looking to the latest evidence to help our clients move better and feel well. Being located at The University of Newcastle means a lot of our clients are academics, students and staff. A few areas we commonly treat are back and neck pain, which many people attribute to postural or sitting loads at work or while studying.

The scientific understanding of this problem has definitely evolved over the last few decades and has now changed significantly from the old adage of ‘sit up straight and don’t slouch’ to the ‘move more often’ advice. Move more means varying your postures and positions rather than having to sit up straight all the time. It might be that you need slouch a little if you have been upright for a while or sit back in your chair and use your backrest to sit up tall if you have been slouching. Stand desks are great to get you out of your chair but not for standing all day. A mixture of sitting and standing changes your posture which is best.

This is notably advice based on research for lower back pain. A common mistake leading to neck pain is reaching too far whilst at a computer.  Neck pain is often also related to the stress and tension that we carry in our shoulders. Again the best advice is often to get up and move more – go for a walk or do some exercise for 30 mins aiming for a daily basis. If you are too busy to walk that is often the problem that needs to be managed.

Professor Peter O’Sullivan leads the way in back pain research and advises ‘your best posture is your next posture’. Simple spinal pain treatment – move more often!

If you have neck pain or back pain at work or study, get moving and if pain holds you back then contact us on 0249216879 or admin@numovesphysiotherapy.com.au

Lifting and stooping- the latest in lifting related research

by

lifting

Should we avoid stoop lifting? There has been plenty of lifting related research in the past but none of it is conclusive. We rely on expert opinion that says the squat lift is safer than stoop lifting but recent discussion amongst clinical experts and researchers surrounds other factors being more important than the classic type of described lift when it comes to avoiding injury. The original review of van Dieen at el in 1999 highlights the very little amount of good quality research existing in the area and recent research from Dreischarf et al 2016 has provided data that challenge existing beliefs on lifting.

A summary on our recent masterclass session on the topic of lifting and avoiding injury concluded the following 5 factors were valuable:

  1. Keeping the load close to the body reduces the forces on the lower back more when compared with the type of lift (stoop vs squat).
  2. Strength and conditioning to the chosen method of lifting is important. I.e. if you never stoop lift and then have to because of where the object is then you are more likely to have an injury than if you stoop lifted more often.
  3. The timing of the movement is important. This is a difficult concept to simplify but refers to when the knees and hips straighten during a lift and what the back is doing at the same time. A common observation in the clinic is that over-arching the back during a lift often leads to pain.
  4. Cumulative loading is important. If you sit and slouch through the pelvis for long periods then it will increase your risk when lifting but if you get up regularly and change posture from sitting to standing or walking then the effect of cumulative loading is reduced.
  5. Semi squat lifting places less stress on the knees than the full squat which is important if you have knee pathology. If the timing is correct and you are conditioned to lift this way it remains the optimal choice of lifting.

For those who are interested, the references referred to in this blog are:

Dreischarf et al, 2016. In vivo loads on a vertebral body replacement during different lifting techniques; Journal of Biomechanics. 49(2016):890-895

Van Dieen et al, 1999. Stoop or squat: a review of biomechanical studies on lifting technique; Clinical Biomechanics. 14(1999):685-696

 

Feel better through movement

by

Manual physio newcastle

The Uni Physio Clinic on Callaghan campus is located within The Forum Sports Centre. NU Moves has been helping staff and students for more than a decade now, specialising in manual therapy, exercise prescription, and rehabilitation. Our goal is to help you feel better in the short term and increase movement / exercise in the long term.

Are you currently:

  • Sitting most of the day?
  • Not exercising daily?
  • Stressed (workload, interactional, emotional)?
  • Have any neck / shoulder or back / hip pain?

If you answer yes to 3 or 4 of these questions then it’s time to reflect and make some changes to your daily habits now.

If you answer yes to the first 2 questions then consider how you can start to fit a walk or another exercise you enjoy into your day. The goal for long term health and feeling better now is 30 mins of activity per day. It can also help prevent muscular pain associated with excess sitting.

If you have neck & shoulder or back / hip pain, that is when we can help you the most. Physiotherapy has a range of treatment options from massage, spinal manual therapy or dry needling to reduce pain. There should always be advice on activity / exercise or we can design a full exercise program suited to your goals. Assessment of your computer ergonomic setup is essential and advice on simple changes often helps. Occasionally we utilise orthotic prescription but only if it helps you get active with less pain.

To book an appointment with NU Moves call 4921 6879 or email admin@numovesphysiotherapy.com.au

MRI scans for low back pain

by

MRI scans for low back pain – when are they useful.

Lower back pain is common with almost all of us suffering from it at some stage in our life. Most times it settles fairly quickly and other times it responds to treatment. Scans or investigations usually in the form of MRI or CT are recommended when it doesn’t settle in an acceptable timeframe or your physio and doctor indicate it is recommended earlier.

low back pain scans and diagnosis newcastle physiotherapy

The purpose of this blog is to reduce fear or concern if you have scans that show pathology. Although any pathology seen on imaging can be responsible for your pain, it doesn’t have to cause pain. The following table is from a systematic review in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. It looks at lots of research studies where they have scanned the lower back in people who don’t have any pain. The table below shows the % of people that when they had scans they found pathology BUT these people did not have any symptoms or low back pain. In other words pathology is a common finding in people who do not have lower back pain.

20yrs 30yrs 40yrs 50yrs 60yrs
Disc Degeneration 37% 52% 68% 80% 88%
Disc Bulge 30% 40% 50% 60% 69%
Disc Protrusion 29% 31% 33% 36% 38%
Disc Annular Fissure 19% 20% 22% 23% 25%
Facet joint Degeneration 4% 9% 18% 32% 50%
Brinjikji et al, 2015. Systematic Literature Review of Imaging Features of Spinal Degeneration in Asymptomatic Populations. Am J Neuroradiol 36:811–16 Apr

The highlights in the table show that 37% of those in their 20’s had some disc degeneration but no pain. In the 30s age group it had increased to 52% but again no pain. If a scan is likely to show normal pathology associated with age but doesn’t mean you will have pain and it’s also not going to change the treatment, then scans are not recommended. So if you do have lower back pain, scans are not usually recommended in the early stage.

If you have low back pain, firstly you should manage the pain with simple analgesics such as paracetamol; stay active as tolerated and occasionally use positions that offer short term relief. In acute low back pain, physio can help with the posture and movement means to reduce pain.

There are times when you do need to have scans straight away and your doctor or physio will identify those occasions. For example if your pain is severe, worsening or if you experience neurological symptoms such as weakness, tingling or numbness, then you need to be assessed by your physio or doctor.

If you have back pain and it is affecting your ability to be active then contact us for an appointment. We believe in an active approach to treating low back pain. Contact us on 4921 6879.

Low back pain – Is it in the way you move?

by

woman doing fitnessMedical literature places all those with low back pain that have no pain down the legs or other nerve or medical features into one group “non-specific low back pain”. It is a large group (approx 80%) of all people who have low back pain. So how do we best help such a large group of different people with non-specific low back pain? Every person is different in their physical makeup and past experiences.  We cannot separate the ‘who’ you are from the ‘what’ is wrong when answering this question.

 5 areas worth considering when helping someone with non-specific low back pain.

1. How much sitting do you do? As a nation, we are now sitting more than ever before thanks mostly to computers. Remember the message from Dr Mike Evans and his 23 1/2 hrs video! If you haven’t watched it, click here to learn what’s the single best thing we can do for our health.

2. How much movement/exercise do you do? Too much of any position can make us sore, and simply doing something different can offset that. Walking to counteract the sitting can help those who have pain with sitting. If that is you, start a regular walking program.

3. The way you move can predispose you to pain. Dr Peter O’Sullivan is a world leader in researching back pain and remains a practicing physiotherapist in WA. His research looks into sub-classifying mechanical low back pain into which movements increase it and improving how you move to reduce it.

4. Core strength – this actually has the least amount of research behind its benefits. Sometimes strengthening the back and abdominal muscles does work (as evidenced by those doing pilates) but other times it creates pain.

5. Stress levels – this is a common contributor to low back pain. Occasionally it is the main cause of the pain but often being stressed just makes your pain worse. There are lots of resources to help in this area but starting with your GP is a good option.

Management needs to identify and address all of these factors. Get moving if you aren’t already (if the pain allows you). Get out of the chair as much as you can. Look at what movements or postures make the pain worse – that’s where your physio can help the most! Consider your stress levels relative to the pain. Lastly you can start core exercise/pilates if there is no increase in pain – note there are many types of core exercises and choosing the right level and having the correct technique is important. Sometimes it helps because it’s just another method of getting you out of the chair and active.

It’s a lot to consider but if you have back pain that is affecting your life then you need a physiotherapy assessment. We will get you moving in the right way. Let us know if we can help at 4921 6879 or email admin@numovesphysiotherapy.com.au.