“More than 80% of the adult population suffer from back pain at some point in their life”

What is back pain?

There are two types:

Non-Specific- Tension, soreness, and/or stiffness and the specific cause of pain is not specified. 

This type of back pain, is usually from formed incorrect movement patterns and incorrect posture that we just pick up through life for one reason or another.

Specific- Accident, injury and often localised (one area).

Usually the trauma heals and then becomes a non-specific pain (above) and we continue to blame the accident or injury. However, in a lot of cases, the body heals within a few days and it is the continued use of adapted incorrect movement patterns and compensatory posture due to the initial pain that maintain the feeling of discomfort in the body.

EXAMPLE: Getting up and down for sitting. Anyone with back pain will adapt a very rigid position when trying to sit down or stand up. They stop bending at their hips- but their hips are fine! It is the body’s way of protecting itself. (which ironically, is unnecessary and results in the real problem).

So whether you have had an accident (specific pain) or not (non-specific pain) the treatment is the same. 

As a Movement Therapist, it is really helpful for me to have information about falls and accidents and know MRI results, but what I really want to know is exactly where you feel pain, exactly where you feel discomfort and in what activities you feel this, and what time of the day.

This helps me to work out how to balance your body to take away the pain. It helps me to see where there is movement avoidance and where we can reduce overuse of compensating tissue.

Where to go from here

As with any pain, comes low or high level trauma, so I hope this helps you understand that you can let go of anything that happened to you, it isn’t important. Including how it has unfairly changed your life. What is most important is how you feel now and what we do about it- now. 

Holding on to fear of movement and the memory of what happened, so you don't do it again is going to exacerbate the problem.

If you do have a tear in a disc, you can rest in the knowledge that it is normal and it is okay. Movement avoidance will exacerbate the problem so we need to get you moving confidently in every day functional activities, such as getting up and down for sitting and putting on a pair of trousers- We build you up from there. I find with all of my clients, that once these two very normal activities have been achieved without pain, there is no stopping you.

Read Rusty’s story:

“Letty’s Movement Therapy has, without exaggeration, changed my life.

Two years ago my lower back, previously injured with a herniated disc, hurt with every step I took.

Letty got me on the Reformer and gradually worked her magic, making me find and strengthen muscles I never knew I had until I achieved a new posture, so that my lower back no longer hurts. I now enjoy weekly Nordic walking and golf without worry and without pain.

I honestly owe her my improved strength, mobility and lack of pain. It’s nothing short of a miracle at my age!”

-Mrs Rusty Dawson age 66