I don't often use other people's work verbatim on this blog but the following piece on exercise and back pain is so good that I felt I just had to share it as is.  Short and to the point, addressing most of the main questions that people think of, and, most importantly, based on the very best of current research.  You can believe this stuff, even if it seems counter-intuitive.

So here's the link: 
www.pain-ed.com/blog/2018/02/13/10-facts-about-exercise-and-back-pain/

Just about every older client I see – those over 60 years of age say – will be experiencing muscular pain and stiffness.  A very large percentage of these people see this as a natural part of ageing.  “I’m just getting old” they’ll often say.
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Are they right to be so pessimistic?  Do those who are older need to expect muscular pain and stiffness?  Does it “come with the territory” and if so, can anything be done about it?

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I don’t make a habit in this blog of simply referring my readers to the other people’s work.  But I thought I would make an exception in today’s post, because this information is just so spectacularly important.

Dr. Mike Evans, a Canadian physician and health educator, has revealed the number one intervention people can take to improve their health.  And, no, it is not massage or Bowen Therapy.

Check it out ​here.

So How Do I Know Massage or Bowen Therapy Will Work for Me?
 
This is a question many of my clients ask, maybe not right away but usually it will come up.  That’s fine, that’s how it should be.  After all, bodywork costs money.  And besides, you would at least want to know you weren’t taking a risk by choosing massage or Bowen instead of some other therapy.
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Unfortunately, no one, certainly no therapist, can give an unambiguous yes/no type answer to this question.

​People with pain, tingling and/or numbness which extends into one or both of their legs will often be told that they have sciatica.  Actually, sciatica is not all that common a condition.  More often than not, what’s really going on is some sort of muscular or soft tissue complaint.

​Knee problems are a frequent reason people come to see me in my massage and Bowen practice.  This is a hard working joint in the human body and it’s no real surprise that things go wrong with our knees.  But what may be surprising is that the problem is often not in the knee itself but in the structures above and below, namely the pelvis and feet.

In this series of blog posts I’ve been summarising some myths and misconceptions around back pain.  We’ve seen that things commonly thought to lead to bad backs like poor posture, spinal deviations, too much sitting, lifting or twisting and carrying heavy school bags if you’re a child are not especially dangerous at all.  Further, the evidence is apparently telling us that protective behaviours people with back pain often adopt, like avoidance of exercise or particular movements, resting in bed and adopting altered postures are not helpful and may make matters worse.​

So what about when we try to do something to ease back pain, are there myths and misconceptions here too? Yes, there are. 

How many times have you heard someone with a sore back say, “Oh, my back is out again?  Clients who say this to me usually mean that some component of their back has shifted to a new and uncomfortable position.  These people believe their pain will be relieved when this component is put back where it should be.

This is wrong on both counts. 

In the first two articles in this series we looked at some common myths and misconceptions around back pain.  We discussed how back pain should be regarded as a normal life event, something to be expected and something from which nearly all of us will recover.  Also, when we seek medical help for our back pain we need to be wary of diagnoses based on scans which show structural changes in the spine.  Bulging and herniated discs and arthritic changes in the vertebrae are just about as common in people who have no back pain as in those that do.

Today we’re going to look at some of the steps people take to deal with their back pain which are not particularly helpful.  The first of these is rest, avoidance of movement.