Low back/lumbar spine

Lower back – According to the WHO 60-70% of individuals will experience lower back pain at least once in their lifetime. This makes it one of the most common presentations we see at Physio Plus.

Given the large prevalence in the community a lot of research has gone into lower back pain. The STOPS trial (specific treatment of problems of the spine) looks at diagnosis and management of lower back pain. From this research we have divided this into four main categories.

  • Disc herniation with associated radiculopathy (this is explained in greater detail in the radicular leg pain section below).
  • Reducible discogenic/ Non-reducible discogenic lower back pain
    • Common findings we see here are
      • limited sitting time
      • pain worse the day after the incident
      • difficulty with forward bending, lifting and sneezing
      • history of working in a manual labour job
    • Facet joint dysfunction
      • Common findings of this pathology are:
        • One sided symptoms that tend to be quite localized.
        • Pain with leaning back or side bending to the affected side
      • Multifactorial/non-specific lower back pain (this is explained in depth below in the acute and persistent sections).

If you are struggling with back feel free to make a booking today.