 |
 |
Treatments for lower back pain
It's official: massage is recommended for persistent lower back pain. The Good Spa Guide explains which massage and what type of therapist to look for.
Check with your GP firstCan a spa treatment help?
Which massage?
Can heat treatments help?
References
Check with your GP first
If you suffer from a bad back, you're not alone. In industrialised countries, up to 7 out of 10 adults will experience back pain at some point in their lifetime (1), and the numbers of people affected by lower back pain seem to be increasing. (2)
Before seeking a spa treatment, make sure that you haven't got any medical problems. If you have any concerns, always check with your doctor.
If you have persistent, non-specific low back pain, it used to be the case that your doctor would advise you to rest. Nowadays, however, doctors usually recommend that you stay physically active and keep up the exercise. The more active you are, the quicker your recovery is likely to be.
Can a spa treatment help?
There is good news for spa fans suffering from a bad back. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has advised that patients with persistent low back pain should be offered an exercise programme, a course of "manual therapy", or acupuncture as a form of treatment. (3) This is the first time that NICE has explicitly backed the use of complementary therapies. So, get to a spa -- it's medicinal!
Which massage?
With such a bewildering range of massages available, which is the right one for you? We spoke to Tania Mattock, massage tutor, therapist and co-owner of Savana Urban Spa in London, to get her advice:
"A good place to start, if you're not a spa regular or don't know your therapist, is with a sports massage. Therapists that are just trained in this area are strong on remedial work, which is good for bad backs.
"Another option would be to aim for a therapist who has many different strings to her bow and has been trained in a number of massage styles. If a therapist has different skills, they will be able to tailor the treatment to you and your problems. More experienced therapists are best here as they have the skills and understanding.
"I'd also recommend trying Thai massage. A good Thai massage will loosen and stretch out muscles so you really feel results.
"For effective work to be done on a bad back, you really need to lie on your front so that the therapist can get in there to release and move muscles. At Savana Urban Spa, we use something called a 'pregnancy cushion' which allows you to lie on your tummy with no gravitational pressure on your boobs or belly at all. This is perfect, not only if you're pregnant and want a treatment, but also if you have problems lying on your front, if you have bigger boobs, for instance, or have had a heart operation, surgery, or if you're breastfeeding. The cushion is curved, which encourages your back to curve and stretches it out. This means your therapist will be able to open out your hips and reduce pressure around the pelvic girdle."
Can heat treatments help?
"In most cases, a bad back may be caused by a pinched nerve or muscle spasms. Heat treatments will relieve the pain but not solve the problem. Treatments which apply mineral mud, such as a rasul, or thermal treatments which involve heat, will certainly help relieve swelling and so are better for painful joints, rather than backs."
Thanks, Tania! And remember, if back pain is getting you down, be sure to check with your doctor as well as your massage therapist.
See also:
* I have diabetes. Can I still go to a spa?
References
1 "The lifetime prevalence of low back pain is reported as over 70% in industrialised countries." Burton AK, Balague F, et al. (2006) European guidelines for prevention in low back pain. Eur Spine J 15(suppl 2): S136- S168. Read the full reference.
2 "Over a 10 year interval the one year prevalence of back pain rose by 12.7%." Palmer KT, Walsh K, et al. (2000) Back pain in Britain: Comparison of two prevalence surveys at an interval of 10 years. BMJ, 320: 1577-1578. Read the full reference.
3 NICE Guidance on low back pain. Read the NICE Guidelines.
|
|
|