Lower Back & Pelvic Pain
Osteopath in Darwin getting to the root cause of your lower back pain.
Lower back and pelvic pain can come in many different forms. Whether it be an acute flare up or chronic pain, the key to sustained relief is finding the root cause of the pain. Alterations in the position and biomechanics of your pelvis and lower back may be causing certain tissues to have to compensate, ultimately leading to pain. Treatment is aimed at holistically treating the area to reduce the load being place on the symptomatic tissues, whilst giving appropriate advice to avoid re-occurrence. Regardless if you have a disc injury, ‘wear and tear’, sciatica or a general ache steps can always be put in place to help provide long term relief.
Example case study
· 38-year-old female with right sided lower back pain, radiating into the buttock region. The pain is mainly present with sitting, standing in one position and in bed trying to get to sleep. She can get some short-term relief by moving about and stretching the hips however the pain will return upon taking up those static postures. The pain has been ongoing for 10 months, post pregnancy, and separation of the abdominal muscles was diagnosed post child birth.
· Upon examination it was found her pelvis was un-levelled on the right side, which was causing an increase in weight bearing through the right side. This was causing her gluteal muscles to overwork in compensation, while also increasing load through weight bearing joints. Her lower back appeared to be hinging through the lower segments which was causing them to become irritated and symptomatic, further compounded by abdominal muscle separation not being able to provide full support.
· For treatment, some gentle soft tissue work was done through the gluteals and muscles of the lower back, articulation performed through the spinal segments to even out the functional load and the pelvic position addressed through hands on treatment.
· For initial management, some gentle lower back mobility exercises were prescribed to bring movement back to restricted joints, and stretches were given for some symptomatic relief. Once the symptoms were eased, an exercise regime was given to work on abdominal muscles that became separated.