The number of clients that complain of chronic lower back is staggering. What is worse is that many have resigned themselves to accepting this as part of life when it does not have to and should not be so. But, after having been to numerous practitioners with very little or no success, these chronic pain sufferers have usually given up. And the older one gets the worse it gets. Totally unfair! As if we don't have enough other issues to deal with as we age.

I have found, through personal and client experience, that most chronic pain can be managed at home, provided that the source of it is addressed.

Let's say your WiFi isn't working. You either check the router yourself for the obvious - not plugged in, no signal, etc - and eventually you get your telecoms company to check it out. They fiddle with it a bit and - woohoo - it works - for a while. And then it breaks down again - and again - and again - until you get so fed up that you replace it.

Well, pity that we can't replace our bodies in the same way. Not yet anyway. So, for now, we have to accept things as they are and move forward from there. If the usual approaches and treatment options have not yielded permanent results, maybe it is time to look at the problem from a completely different prespective.

Just because the lower back hurts does not automatically mean that there is anything wrong with the lower back itself.

Is the pain a dull circular pain or pulling sideways across the back? Is it permanent or only develops after standing for an extended period of time or turning around in bed?

Is there a dull ache running down the back of the leg(s) or a tingling sensation in the foot? How does sitting affect the back pain?

These and many more questions are the ones I ask my clients before looking at their habitual ways of standing, walking and sitting and correspondingly identifying the cause of the pain.

Usually, it is repetitive incorrect muscle use that causes mostly undiagnosed chronic pain eventually. Think of the gearbox of your car. If you grind it repeatedly, it will still work, but one day it breaks down. Our bodies are much the same. Very forgiving when we are younger and then, one day, the wheels start falling off. It is NOT too late to repair the damage!

It is only a question of identifying the causative factor(s) of the pain, drawing up a plan of action and going through with it.

Things don't get better by chance but they do get better by change.