Nagging low back pain? For years, right? Someone suggested massage? You tried that. Someone suggested physio? You tried that. Chiro? Done. All very valuable tools to treat low back pain with great success. But…what if your low back pain isn’t just the result of a low back dysfunction. What if there are other muscles, tendons, ligaments that are vying for attention and as a result, are masquerading as the cause of persistent low back pain?
Muscles that attach to and support your pelvis and tailbone include back muscles, abdominal muscles, glutes, and other hip muscles, as well as your pelvic floor muscles. These muscles all come together to create our CORE and our core functions as a unit. If your pelvic floor is not being assessed for dysfunction, then we may be missing a significant piece of the persistent low back pain puzzle.
More often than not, there is some level of pelvic floor dysfunction in people with low back pain. These muscles work to help stabilize the low back and they will surely step in when the low back is in pain. On the contrary, unhealthy pelvic floor muscles may alter the mobility and stability of the low back.
So…which came first…the low back pain or the pelvic floor dysfunction? It is not always clear however we do know that there is evidence to support that low back pain and pelvic floor dysfunction can reinforce each other and to assess one without the other, may just leave that back pain unresolved! A Pelvic Physiotherapist has the knowledge and the skill set to thoroughly assess the low back AND the pelvic floor! Might just be the puzzle piece that you have been looking for!
~Ker xo