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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Bianca Nogrady

‘The best movement is the next movement’: how to really look after your lower back

Illustration of a lower back skeleton.
Most cases of back pain start with something as benign as a muscle spasm, which then sets the lower back on a pathway of nerve sensitisation and pain that is hard to treat. Illustration: Guardian Design/Getty Images

Getting out of bed. Picking up a coffee mug. Waving at a friend. Bending down to pat a dog. Turning to flush the toilet.

Many who have experienced “doing their back in” have been baffled by the discrepancy between the mildness of the precipitating action and the severity of the resulting pain. How could such a small, innocent movement trigger such paralysing pain that lasts for weeks, months, years or, in some cases, decades?

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