Lower back pain can show up in many forms. It might come on suddenly after an injury or accident—what we refer to as acute pain. Or it might linger over time, becoming chronic, with a constant, nagging discomfort that seems to never fully go away.
While identifying the type and cause of your lower back pain is important, the real question most people want answered is: How do I get rid of it?
There are definite steps you need to take to recover from an acute lower back injury and seeking professional help from either a doctor or allied health professional would be the first step to learn the nature and severity of the injury.
Regardless, the development of a strong “core” is the path out of any lower back pain.
Unfortunately, there’s a common misconception that “core strength” means having strong abs.
Your core includes all the muscles of the trunk and torso—from your shoulders down to your hips. This includes your spinal muscles, pelvic floor, abdominals, and even your breathing muscles.
The original pilates method is designed to develop postural integrity with the deep stabilising muscles that support the spine and in fact all the joints in the body.
If you looked in the mirror, you wouldn’t be able to see these stabilising muscles as they are very deep inside body.
The major breathing muscle, the diaphragm is one of those muscles that you can not see but let’s face it, is probably one of the most important muscles you have!
It’s attached to the inside of the ribs and also…the inside of the lower back.
Nothing in the body works on isolation, and there are many other muscles that attach to the lower back, but this direct relationship of the diaphragm to this part of the spine has a direct impact on the health of not only the lower back, but the entire spine.
When there is pain in the lower back, this can impact how you breathe. And how you breathe can then impact lower back pain.
The diaphragm can become tense, stressed and weak with the ability to take a deep breath inhibited.
If this goes on for an extended period of time, this dysfunctional breath pattern can become habitual and prevent the development of deep, functional core strength.
Retraining or learning to breathe in a different way is not easy!
The first step is awareness of how you’re breathing and the possible implications this has been having on your spine.
Then it’s all about learning the basic principles of the original pilates method which has breath as the foundation of movement.
If you’re struggling with back pain, never underestimate the impact functional breathing has on developing functional core strength that keeps you pain free.
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