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Lower Back Pain

The lower back consists of the 5 Lumbar bones, Sacral bones and pelvis. When one of the bones misalign, it can pinch a nerve and cause pain in the lower back and refer down the legs (Sciatica). 

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Screen Shot 2022-01-15 at 4.48_edited.png

Lower Back Pain

  • Can vary in intensity from local pain to sharp shooting pain

  • Patients often comment that their “hip feels out”

  • Early symptoms include:

    • Generalised or vague lower back ache

    • Pain during or after sitting

    • Pain getting out of the chair

    • Pain upon waking up or lying in bed

    • Pain on flexion (bending forward)

    • Pain while walking

    • Pain referring into the hip or buttock

  • Bad cases may also have:

    • Pain shooting or referring down the thigh and leg (sciatica)

    • Referring down to the groin, knee

    • Debilitating back pain that causes you to stand hunched or bent over

    • Sudden pain on coughing or sneezing

    • Agonizing pain on movement

    • Not comfortable at night causing no sleep

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Screen Shot 2022-01-15 at 4.48_edited.png

  • By heavy, repetitive lifting

  • Twisting of the spine

  • Fall or trauma

  • Standing on uneven surfaces

  • Bad posture

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Screen Shot 2022-01-15 at 4.48_edited.png

  • Gradually becomes more painful, and gets worse

  • Pain may start travelling down the leg

  • May cause pins and needles or numbness

  • May start affecting your hobbies and daily activities

  • Causes uneven stress on the lumbar discs causing wear and tear

  • Eventually may cause disc protrusion, prolapse or bulge (slipped disc)

  • The longer the condition is left untreated, the harder it is to fix. 

  • A more permanent damage will happen if left untreated for long enough, which may then lead to spinal surgery

Sciatica

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Screen Shot 2022-01-15 at 4.48_edited.png

  • Lower back pain

  • Referral pain into the leg, back or front of the thigh, ankle, foot, toes

  • Burning sensation

  • Pins and needles

  • Tingling

  • Prickling or crawling sensations

  • Tenderness

  • Numbness

  • Often begins slowly, and gradually intensify over time

  • Worsen after prolonged sitting, bending, sneezing, coughing, or sudden movements

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Screen Shot 2022-01-15 at 4.48_edited.png

  • Misaligned vertebra that puts pressure onto the sciatic nerve

  • Spinal stenosis (Narrowing of the spinal cord canal)

  • Degenerative disc disease (Better known as “wear and tear”)

  • Pregnancy (Extra weight and pressure on the spine)

  • Trauma (Falls, car accident, etc)

  • Piriformis syndrome (sometimes considered “false sciatica”)

  • Spondylolisthesis (A vertebra slips forward over another vertebra)

  • Spinal tumours or infections (Very rare)

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Screen Shot 2022-01-15 at 4.48_edited.png

  • Will gradually become worse, and more painful

  • May start referring further down the leg, into the ankle and foot

  • Pins and needles or numbness to become worse and chronic

  • May start affecting your hobbies and daily activities

  • Will cause more uneven stress on the discs causing wear and tear (osteoarthritis)

  • May eventually cause a disc protrusion, prolapse, bulge (slipped disc)

  • The longer the condition is left untreated, the harder it is to fix. 

  • A more permanent damage will happen if left untreated for long enough

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