What is Lower Back Pain?
Common causes of low back pain (lumbar backache) include lumbar strain, nerve irritation, lumbar radiculopathy, bony encroachment, and conditions of the bone and joints.
Nerve irritation: The nerves of the lumbar spine can be irritated by mechanical pressure (impingement) by bone or other tissues, or from disease, anywhere along their paths — from their roots at the spinal cord to the skin surface.
These conditions include lumbar disc disease (radiculopathy), bony encroachment, and inflammation of the nerves caused by a viral infection (shingles).
Bone and joint conditions: Bone and joint conditions that lead to low back pain include those existing from birth (congenital), those that result from wear and tear (degenerative) or injury, and those that are due to inflammation of the joints (arthritis)
Symptoms of Lower Back Pain
Low back pain can cause a wide variety of symptoms and signs depending on the precise cause of the pain as reviewed above. Symptoms that can be associated with low back pain include numbness and/or tingling of the lower extremities, incontinence of urine or stool, inability to walk without worsening pain, lower extremity weakness, atrophy (decreased in size) of the lower extremity muscles, rash, fever, chills, weight loss, abdominal pains, burning on urination, dizziness, joint pain, and fatigue.
Treating Lower Back Pain with Osteopathy
- Staying active as advised by your osteopath. Evidence suggests that staying active with even acute back pain gives you better long term results. You will not be harming your back if you stick you the recommendations.
- Osteopathic Manual Therapy to reduce muscle tension of the lumbar erector spinae muscles.
- Using a lumbar support or placing a lumbar roll behind your back while sitting.
- Gentle exercises to strengthen and support the lower back.
Your practitioner may refer you to a Sports Physician for further investigations if your lower back pain does not respond in our suggested time frames.
Your North Melbourne osteopath is trained to determine the most appropriate form of treatment that is tailored specifically for you.
Consultation Fees
Initial Consultation (45-50 mins) $110.00
Standard Consultation (30 mins) $85.00
Long Consultation (60 mins) $140.00
Payment Types Available: HICAPS, EFTPOS, VISA & Mastercard
Most private health insurance companies cover Osteopathy for Lower Back Pain. We recommend contacting your medical insurance company to clarify the terms and conditions of your policy.
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