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“Latest Breakthrough in back pain” - Dr Serene Lim, G.P., TV Presenter & Writer for TV series ‘The Nature of Healing’ Do you suffer from low back pain? Are you suffering in silence? Are you at risk of getting back pain through exercise or work? Are you confused or worried about all the various drugs and their possible risks and side effects? Have you tried numerous treatments/exercises, yet your back pain is no better, or the pain keeps coming back? Does your job include alot of sitting at a computer, in meetings, cars, planes, trains or busses? Would you like more relief from back pain and improve your quality of life? Do you feel there is a general lack of understanding about what causes back pain? Do you want to know what is causing your back or sciatic pain? Do you participate in strenuous sport? Does your job include heavy pushing, pulling or lifting especially in awkward postures? Do you find certain movements aggravate or worsen your pain? 8 out of 10 people get significant back pain sometime in their lives. An orthopedic surgeon once said to me ‘there are only two types of people in this world, those with back pain and those who are going to get back pain.’ Half of them will get back pain before the age of 30 and in 85 to 95 % of the cases the cause of the back pain is unknown. This is sometimes called non-specific back pain. Back pain can be a very debilitating problem with great stress and cost to the individual, their family and their employer. It puts a huge strain on the community and the government and the health system. Numerous therapies have been developed to try to help people with back pain. There have been a lot of claims of good successes with certain therapies or exercises but research studies have not shown any therapy that is far superior than the others. 30 to 40% of the adult population has back pain at any one time so this is a very common problem. Often the people without back pain don’t see what the fuss is about until they get it themselves. The recovery rate is worse than commonly suggested with a study (BMJ 1998) showing complete recovery of only 21% in 3 months and 25% in one year. Recurrence rates is also dismal with a study (A Barton 2005) showing a recurrence of problems of 66% after only one year. Without knowing the underlying cause of back pain, we are having difficulty curing back pain and preventing it from returning.

A Word From the Author…

Over 20 years ago, I made a discovery that over 99 % of patients with mechanical back pain also suffer from hip rib impingement (Costo-iliac impingement). Apart from treating my patients with analgesics and Laser Acupuncture for pain relief, I also measured the gap between their hips and ribs and taught them how to go through life avoiding hip rib impingement. I found that the patients who were able to change their posture, the way they work and exercise to prevent further impingement got better a lot faster. They were also able to tell me about the exact movements or postures that cause hip rib impingement and how the back pain would come back as a result.

Costo-iliac impingement was able to explain why some of my patients with hip pain, groin pain, knee pain foot pain and sciatica had exacerbations of their symptoms. Biomechanically it also explains the development of Osteo arthritis and degeneration of the spine including the findings of bone spurs, facet joint disease, disc buldging and herniation, nerve root impingement, sacroiliac joint disease and myofascial trigger points. It also explains why so many of the common exercises and stretches that have been recommended for back pain therapy actually made my patients worse.

I then wrote a book called Be Your Own Back Guru to try to help explain how hip rib impingement causes back problems and illustrated with lots of diagrams and photos to help explain to them how they could manage their back problems themselves. Other health professionals especially occupational therapists have also found the book useful in their work place and sports professionals especially golfers have used the techniques in the book to help improve their performance.

This book is unique as it is based on a simple mechanical problem that is the root cause of such a common and complex problem that is back pain. If you are unsure if this theory is valid, then put your hands on your hips now and work out how much space you have between your hips and youre your lower ribs. You will be surprised.

 

Chris’s Latest Blog Post’s

• December 8 2011 : Back pain and sciatica (No Comments)
  

  Many patients with Back pain also suffer from sciatica. Sciatica is usually described as a pain that arises in the back or the gluteal area and radiates down the side of the leg into the little toes or down to the back of the calf. There are variations of severity, the most being neuropathic pain; and associated symptoms such as muscle spasm, weakness, numbness and tingling. The classic cause of sciatica is compression or chemical irritation of the spinal nerves (dorsal nerve roots)  that make up the sciatic nerve. This [Click here to read the rest of his entry...]

  
  
• December 2 2011 : Back pain sitting (No Comments)
  

  The incidence of back pain has increased steadily in the last 50 years. Why is it happening. There are numerous reasons why this could be happening. Lets focus on sitting. In the last 50 years we have the evolution of the television and along with that we are spending more and more time sitting in front of it. Studies done in the 1950s show that if you sit for more than 20 min at a time, your muscles start to fatigue. ( and so does the brain ) By getting [Click here to read the rest of his entry...]

  
  
• November 10 2011 : Back Pain and Migraines at the Annual Australian Medical Acupuncture College Conference in Adelaide. (No Comments)
  

  Its that time of the year again for the annual Acupuncture College conference. This Saturday, I have been invited to give 2 talks. The first is about all the Musculoskeletal Impingements that contribute to back pain, hip pain and sciatica. This will include Hip Rib Impingement which I have talked about on this blog and also include some of the other impingements such as 12 rib/L1 impingement, L5/iliac impingement and the groin impingements. The second presentation will be on how Musculoskeletal Impingements cause neck pain, headaches and migraines. This includes Atlas [Click here to read the rest of his entry...]

  
  
• November 3 2011 : Back pain and work postures (No Comments)
  

  Apart from seating, bending and lifting at work are common problems encountered by patients with low back pain. Examples are floor tiling, carpet laying or welding where the person is at floor level and bending over most of the day. In these situations, it is better for the person to kneel than to squat. The difference is that in kneeling, the knees are lower than the hips and this increases the gap between the ribs and hips thereby reducing the risk of Hip Rib Impingement ( HRI ). in squatting, [Click here to read the rest of his entry...]

  
  
• October 27 2011 : back pain and car seats (No Comments)
  

  A large number of my patients have difficulty with car seats. They drive long distances to get to and from work or drive their children around to school and their sporting or social activities. They may also do a lot  of driving as part of their occupation such as pharmaceutical reps. There are many variables that determine if an individual will have problems with the car seat. In general, car seats are designed to be comfortable but also safe just in case of a crash. Most car seats are classified [Click here to read the rest of his entry...]