Sound familiar?
- A dragging lower back by the end of the working day
- Hard to straighten up after sitting for a long time
- A sudden catch when bending or lifting
- Pain radiating into the buttock or down the back of the leg
- Morning stiffness that eases after 20–30 minutes
Why it happens
The lower back is a crossroads. From above it is loaded by a thoracic spine that stopped rotating because of desk work. From below it is pulled by a pelvis and hips locked in the same chair. If the glutes have switched off and the deep core stabilisers are not holding, all the work falls on the lumbar muscles. They cope for months, and then they go into spasm.
That is why massaging the lower back alone gives short relief: the spasm is released but the overload remains. A week later everything is back. The real solution is to find the switched-off link and bring it back to work.
How we work with it
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1
Assessment
Muscle testing: glutes, deep stabilisers, pelvic and thoracic mobility.
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2
Releasing the spasm
Therapeutic massage of the lower back and the whole posterior chain, trigger point work.
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3
Activation
Kinesiotherapy: bringing back into action the muscles that stopped holding.
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4
Locking it in
A home programme of 10–15 minutes a day and a review of your workstation.
Questions and answers
Can I have a massage during acute low back pain?
In the acute phase with severe pain and an inability to straighten up, see a doctor first to rule out serious pathology. Gentle work is possible, but deep massage during the acute period only reinforces the protective spasm.
When will it feel better?
When the cause is muscular, relief usually comes after the first or second session. To keep the pain from returning in two weeks you need a course and a home programme.
What if my MRI shows a disc herniation?
Many people have a herniation on a scan and no pain at all. We check whether the clinical picture matches. Work is possible with a herniation but the approach is more careful — see the page on herniated and bulging discs.