WHAT IT IS
Around 80% of Australian adults have at least one episode of low back pain in their life. It is often very painful, but it is usually not caused by anything serious, and it usually settles with simple care. Movement is part of that care.
SEE A HEALTH PROFESSIONAL PROMPTLY IF YOUR BACK PAIN
- Follows a car accident, a fall or another traumatic event
- Wakes you during the night
- Never changes, no matter how you move or sit
- Comes with numbness, tingling or pins and needles in your backside, legs or feet
- Comes with changes to bowel or bladder control
HOW EXERCISE HELPS
No specific type of exercise is best. Stay as active as you can within the limits pain gives you — a gardener may potter without digging; a runner may keep training on shorter distances. Staying active also stops your fitness, strength and heart-lung function sliding while you are sore.
WHAT WORKS
- A graduated program — the work gets slightly harder over time (further, faster, hills, or a bit of extra weight)
- Your preferred form of exercise, planned properly rather than guessed at
- Professional help planning it if you have had repeated episodes, because back muscles behave differently after several bouts
SOURCE AND CREDIT
This page is our plain-English summary of a guide produced by Exercise Right. Published by Exercise Right, an initiative of Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA). All credit for the original material belongs to them. We link to their file rather than hosting a copy, so you always get the current version.
These summaries are general education, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or an Accredited Exercise Physiologist about your own body and conditions.