How to deal with back problems: an osteopath shares tips on keeping the pain away
- Long working hours in a sedentary posture with limited down time for rest and exercise can lead to upper back and neck restrictions
- Osteopath Jonine Nash offers advice about how to ward off and combat such problems
At least 80 per cent of people in the industrialised world suffer from back pain, either in acute episodes or as chronic pain. The onset can often be traced back to trauma, sports injury or postural strain. The body is very good at compensating for injuries and sometimes back pain does not immediately appear but can be triggered years later by either physical exertion or emotional stress.
Nick Battistella was a professional youth tennis player whose back pain developed from problems with his elbow joint. Over time, he developed scoliosis, (an ‘s’ shaped spine,) as a result of repetitive ‘top spin’ action in his youth. He became permanently misshapen and decided to see osteopath Jonine Nash, for treatment.
“Initially treatment was about restoring what range of motion we could, and then targeting the lower back/ lumbosacral spinal area to encourage it to take over the flexibility which was lost in the upper lumbar spine,” says Nash.
After four years, Battistella suffered from a disc prolapse which compressed his spinal cord to such an extent he lost motor control of his feet, and sensory loss in other areas. He needed surgery and the side effects resulted in degeneration in his sacroiliac joints. This time, Nash’s focus was on reducing pain and redistributing weight bearing back into the lumbar spine.
Battistella is certain that without Nash’s treatment, he couldn’t play tennis today. “In 2007, I was offered the opportunity to represent the Hong Kong Cricket Club on a sporting membership. Without Nash’s work on my scoliosis and elbow, I would never have been able to participate, let alone play in the Hong Kong Men’s league,” he says.
