Most of us will have backache at some time in our lives. Indeed it is the most common place in the body to get pain

Backache is often caused by everyday activities:

• Gardening
• Car Maintenance
• DIY
• Housework
• Driving
• Lifting

Chronic low back pain (generally described as pain lasting more than three months) often results in a weakness in the muscles supporting your back which may lead to instability or incorrect functioning of the lower part of the spine (lumbar spine). Strengthening the muscles responsible for providing support to the spine is therefore very important. You need to remember to strengthen your stomach muscles as well as your back muscles, so that your spine is equally supported at both the front and the back. Loss of stability in your spine can lead to microscopic damage to the surrounding soft tissues, it is particularly important to address this problem quickly to minimise damage.

Low back pain affects elite athletes as much as the inactive person but there tends to be differences in the nature of the pain, the diagnosis and expectations regarding the rate of recovery. Recovery is often faster when dealing with physically active people due to the underlying level of fitness. Low back pain often results from an imbalance between the back and stomach muscles.

When you are recovering from an injury it is especially important that you warm up properly before you start the exercises given to you by the physiotherapist. This increases your circulation and helps prepare your muscles for the activity to come.