Low back pain and your core

Low Back Pain and Your Core
 
Disability associated with low back pain has been increasing in all age groups over the last few decades (1). It is a growing problem and helping with prevention is an important key to slowing this trend. Do you or a loved one experience low back pain? This is an important article that could make the world of difference to you.
 
“Health care and social costs associated with low back pain have been estimated to be between $100 to $200 billion annually, with a majority of cost associated with lost wages and reduced productivity.” (2)
 
Core muscles are involved in maintaining spinal and pelvic stability. When the core muscles are functioning normally, segmental spinal stability is maintained, the spine and pelvic area are protected and the stress or load that can affect the lumbar spine and discs are reduced (3). So if they are not working well, and when there is no stability when performing unexpected tasks or overload, it leads to neuromusculoskeletal issues such as muscle spasms, neural compression and pain (4). Therefore it is important to work on the core and make sure that it is functioning well in order to help with low back pain.
 
In recent literature study they looked at 50 tennis players. They tested the core muscle strength before and after a chiropractic adjustment to the pelvis. It was found that there were significant differences in abdominal and back core results immediately after the chiropractic adjustment (5). Though it was only a small study and it only looked at the acute effects of the chiropractic adjustment, more studies would be helpful in further substantiating these findings and investigating the long term effects. However, the results so far are quite positive for chiropractic cares’ support of the core muscles function which would help manage low back pain by stabilising the spine and pelvis.
 
If you want to find out if chiropractic may help manage low back pain for you or your loved ones, have a chat with one of our chiropractors to see how they can assist.
 
“The core is an important aspect to look at when it comes to prevention of low back pain.”
 
 
1.Global Health Group Data Exchange http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool accessed Nov 15, 2020). 
2. Hazard, R.G., 2007. Low-back and neck pain diagnosis and treatment. American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation, 86(1), pp.S59-S68.
3. Chang, W.D., Lin, H.Y. and Lai, P.T., 2015. Core strength training for patients with chronic low back pain. Journal of physical therapy science, 27(3), pp.619-622.
4. Key, J., 2013. ‘The core’: understanding it, and retraining its dysfunction. Journal of bodywork and movement therapies, 17(4), pp.541-559.
5. Koran, S. and Sarıhan, A., 2023. The Acute Effects of Chiropractic Sacroiliac Joint Manipulation in Tennis Players: A Study on Core Muscle Strength. Azerbaijan Medical Journal, 63(2), pp.8045-8053.