How to stop low back pain By Michael Sheynin P.T. Low back pain is without a doubt one of the most common complaints you hear. In fact,most of us suffer from symptoms of low back pain at some time during our life.You hear people complaining about soreness and stiffness of the lower back, radiating pain to the buttock and the leg,and tingling and numbness in the foot. Sometimes these symptoms come and go; sometimes they are constant and can last for months and even years. Sometimes you ignore the pain,and sometimes it's so bad,you can't get out of bed. Eventually, the pain simply makes your life miserable. It forces you to change or give up activities you used to enjoy;you have to take pills and may have difficulty sleeping and concentrating at work. In short, your quality of life is greatly decreased. What causes low back pain as well as its associated symptoms of sciatica or buttock and leg pain?The fact is, in most cases it is caused by poor posture and improper body mechanics. It is very easy to get into bad postural habits.Try to observe yourself doing different activities.You are working on the computer.Are you slouched? Do you look up to the screen with your head protruding and shoulders rounded?You dropped a pen and had to pick it up.Did you keep your knees straight? Did you bend from the waist? Do you carry your purse or shoulder bag on one shoulder so you are leaning like the famousTower of Pisa? (By the way,what do you have in there,bricks?)All of the above are simple everyday activities but they can put a tremendous amount of stress on your low back. Just changing your body mechanics and paying attention to your posture will greatly reduce your risk of having an episode of low back pain. The good news is there are very precise techniques and exercises to improve your body mechanics and posture and increase the stability of your lower back area.These exercises can be learned and done quite easily. What do you do if you have an acute injury? Perhaps a person has injured their back playing golf or tennis, lifting their kids or grandkids or rearranging furniture in the house.They may have gone to their family doctor who prescribed rest and pain medications.But they still have pain radiating in to the buttock or going down the leg,can barely get up from the chair and during night the pain wakes them up. That's when physical therapy can really help. Physical therapy consists of a vast array of highly effective manual techniques to accurately evaluate your pain, determine the root of the problem,and then immediately proceed to alleviate the symptoms. Many patients have immediate pain relief during first session.The key to the radicular pain (pain that radiates to the buttock or the leg) is to centralize it as fast as possible because that means that the pressure on the nerve root is decreased. If the pressure on the nerve root is not addressed and it persists,a person may experience more serious consequences such as foot drop and chronic sciatica.That's usually when people start considering surgery. The good news is that even patients with chronic low back pain and sciatica can be helped by properly designed and performed physical therapy interventions. A new injury is easier to treat than an old one, but it is never too late to seek help and get relief from that back pain. Michael Sheynin, P.T., is the executive director/owner of Free Motion Rehabilitation Center, located at 528 New Friendship Road, Howell. For more information, call 732-901-8844.