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Lower back pain- the whys and A disc bulge isn’t the reasons!

Lower back pain in horse riders is one of the most common injuries that stop riders actually riding.


3 common causes of lower back pain in horse riders are


😖 poor force transmission(ability for the body to a paper force)

😖poor ankle proprioception(awareness and control

😖 poor mobility in Thoracic spine.

(See disc issues are not on the list 😁)


For each of these reason above need approaching neurally to ensure you get to correct the dysfunctions, not move the issue to else where in the body.


🐴 Common reasons to have poor force transmition normally occurs after a injury,pick up compensations then return to riding too quickly.


🐴 Common reasons for poor ankle mobility normally arises from previous ankle injuries/ surgery, or hip and knee issues.


🐴 Poor thoracic spine come from falls, rib and lung dysfunction( including asthma and long covid), stress, tension and anxiety.

When we work with back pain clients we get a lot of people who have been diagnosed with disc degeneration( from slight bulge, to a disc protrusion to those who have had lower back surgery). These people come in with very little movement and accept the pain they are in and live on pain relief. We called these people glass backed( they feel their back May 'go' at any moment). But that's NOT what science shows. A systematic review study by Brinjikji et al.,2015 used data from 33 other studies and found that in asymptomatic( no symptoms) people at the age of 40 years old 68% of people had disc degeneration, 50% had a disc bulge, 45% have height loss( distance between joints). See graph below for more age related a MRI diagnosed conditions.



So if this many people pain free can have disc issues this shows is NOT the disc causing pain, it is how threatening your body is finding it the disc issue.

What we mean by this are if you are not proprioceptivly aware you will over load the incorrect areas, with a disc bulge for example, you will be increasing the pressure and force on that area. To stop this your body causes pain to stop you. If you learn to move all the joints correctly, learn how to support that area correctly then you can unload that joint and reduce- possibly remove pain all together.


If you struggle with back pain, are fed up with living on pain medication, or have that 'it's going to go' feeling.


Get in touch we can help! Online or face to face consultations are available.



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