Back Pain

Back pain has been found to be one of the most debilitating disabilities worldwide, and most of us may get it at some point in our life. Pain during sitting and sleeping, difficulty walking for a long time, or difficulty bending forwards to play with your kids are common complaints. This pain is definitely limiting and disruptive to your daily routine, taking away your concentration and productivity, making it hard to focus on your work ahead. 

Common causes:

LUMBAR DISC INJURY (Common recovery time: 4-12 weeks)

In between our spine, we have discs that are filled with jelly-like fluid. Think of it like a water balloon, when these discs are pressured due to prolonged sitting or lifting, it may press onto the nerves nearby and cause pain at the low back, or even symptoms down towards your legs. In some cases, there could be tears in our discs that can cause intense pain and limitation.

MECHANICAL LOW BACK PAIN (Common recovery time: 2-6 weeks)

Other than spinal discs, we also have other structures like muscle and ligament to support and stabilise our spine. It is common to have muscle or ligament injury as a result of our daily activities such as lifting and carrying.

SACROILIAC JOINT DYSFUNCTION (Common recovery time: 2-8 weeks)

Sacroiliac joint (SIJ) is an important weight bearing joint and plays an important role in distributing weight evenly around our body.When you sit for prolonged hours, this may cause the structures around SIJ to be stiff and lead to the discomfort that you may be having.

What kind of treatments can help solve back pain?

• Chiropractic adjustments: Targeted spinal adjustments can be done to reduce stiffness, as well as reduce the pressure on your spine or hip bones, and reduce your pain!
• Physiotherapy rehabilitation: Specific rehabilitative exercises to activate and strengthen the muscles around your back and core to stabilise the spine, teaching you how to manage your pain so you do not need to rely on us! If the injury is fresh, here are some things we would do for you.
• Decompression therapy: In cases where the disc and nerves are involved, a gentle stretching using our one-of-a-kind machine helps to reduce the pressure placed on the neck and improve numbness, tingling, and radiating pain down the arm.

Is there anything I can do at home?

• ICE: Wrap an ice pack, or a bag of ice in a damp towel, over the area of pain for about 15 mins. Ice helps in reducing inflammation and pain.
• Move Around: once then pain has come down a little. Notice if there is any sharp pain or pain traveling down your legs, or if you’re able to move a little better.
• Stand Up: If your job requires you to be sitting at your desk for long hours at a stretch, try standing up, walking a little every hour or so, keep moving even while you’re at the desk. Our body is not meant to stay in one position for long periods of time!

If your pain is still not getting any better, please seek help from a healthcare professional who can give you accurate and targeted advice to help reduce your pain and get you active again!

Slipped Discs

FAQ About Back Pain