[VIDEO] Tradies National Health Month - What Causes Lower Back Pain?

August is Tradies National Health Month

Tradies National Health Month is an initiative of the Australian Physiotherapy Association raising awareness of health and injury prevention for those working in blue collar industries.

Did you know..

That 22% of roofers, labourers and plumbers experience back pain from lifting equipment or slips and falls when handling materials*? Usually, an episode of low back pain on the building site will come from a traumatic event such as lifting a heavy piece of machinery. However, you can also suffer a low back injury from being in an awkward position for a prolonged period of time, such as being bent over and twisted in a confined space.

Don’t ignore the pain!

Even though your symptoms may resolve with rest, the biggest predictor of a new injury is a previous injury. Back In Motion Bundall physio Justin Mistry explains more about back pain in the video below (including a skeleton demo!)

Watch more physio tips and how to videos on our YouTube Channel.

*Worksafe, 2008

Justin Mistry - Physiotherapist and Director, Back In Motion Bundall

Practice Director and proud new Dad, Justin graduated from Griffith University in 2008 with his Masters of Physiotherapy. He launched Back In Motion Bundall in 2012 after owning and operating another Back In Motion practice. Justin was raised in Sydney, his father a General Medical Practitioner and he spent one year studying abroad in San Francisco. He is a regular on Gold Coast radio, writes articles for health magazines and lectures nationally to Universities and Personal Training schools. He further provides information seminars to local businesses wishing to reduce the risk of injuries at their workplace. 

Justin has many areas of specialty including the treatment of BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) and the use of Clinical Exercise and Whole Body Vibration Therapy to ensure a complete rehabilitation. Sports strains and sprains, lower back and neck pain, postural dysfunction and ergonomics (work environment) and management of chronic pain are other specialities. 

Transcript: What Causes Lower Back Pain?

Hi everyone, my name is Justin, Practice Director at Back In Motion Bundall. Today we're going to be talking about discogenic lower back pain, which is by far one of the most common conditions we treat here at the practice.

Model of our spine, we are looking at it from behind. So, this region is what’s called the lumbar spine, the thoracic spine where the ribs come around and here's the neck up here. These structures here are the discs. They basically act as shock absorbers. So when you bend or twist, these guys take the load, so it's not bone grinding on bone. Now there's two structures that make up the disc, the outer ring, the outer surface is a really dense hard tissue, the inside of it is more like a toothpaste or a gel.

So, when you are doing activities like bending, like lifting, like sitting, we are bringing our spines to a flexed forward position which closes down the front end and it pushes the fluid material backwards. That can lead to a bulge or irritation in the disc. Now, if that bulge or irritation is big enough, its going to compress on the nerve which is when we get that sliding pain down the leg.

When you have an injury like this as well, all the surrounding muscles are going to go into quite a lot of spasm, which is quite kind counterproductive because we want to do everything we can to take pressure off it.

So, if we look at our muscle chart as well, we want to be looking at quadrupeds, hamstrings and hip flexes are doing also because these muscles come in and attach on the pelvis and the spine. So, if they are tight, they are going to be putting a lot of load on your back as well.

So, if you or a friend are suffering from lower back pain, please like this post and take advantage of our free initial assessment by calling back 'Back in Motion Bundall' on 1300 694 325.