UNDERSTANDING BACK TROUBLE: PREVENTING A RECURRENCE-BACK SCHOOLS AND ADVICE ON POSTURE
For people who have already experienced one episode of back trouble, the probability of being struck by an acute attack of back pain is higher than for people who have never yet been troubled. This is because an attack, regardless of what caused it, tends to leave the victim with a degree of damage to the tissues, or with less elastic back and abdominal muscles than before.
Back schools-There are a growing number of back schools, usually attached to physiotherapy departments in hospitals. Instructionshould consist of advice on how to use the body, actively and posturally. Anatomy of the spine and descriptions of the causes of back pain are included. Advice on the layout, planning and design of work – ergonomics – is also given. The lesson is simple: the better you understand your back, the more readily you can cope when it is painful.
Advice on posture-Many of us acquire minor postural deformities which lead to avoidable backache and which can be treated: for example, the tendency to a rounded back, head poked forward and shoulders tensed up. If this is due to muscular imbalance and stiffness, exercises should help. But often it is just a matter of habit. Old habits should therefore be shed and new ones learned, and postural advice on a new way of using your body can help.
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