It darn well hurts doesn't it! Walking is probably about the last thing on your mind right now.

We empathize with you. Geoff slipped a disc in his back many years ago. He still copes with significant back pain from time to time. (Especially if he doesn't always do his exercises and starts to carry too much 'excess baggage'!)

Back to your good question. How can you walk with lower back pain? Well it depends ... on things like:

• Injury of the spine or ruptured disc?
• Injury to the bones in the back?
• Muscle spasms or strains?
• Injured muscles or ligaments?
• Is it chronic (has it lasted over 3 months with little change?)

As an example when Geoff injured his back, his leg and knee were in serious pain for some time. Weeks later his doctor figured out that he actually had a slipped disc. That disc bulged out and pressed on the nerves in his spine that go to his leg and knee area. For all the world he swore his back didn't hurt, it was his knee! Wrong! His knee was fine. His disc was dislocated! He never would have guessed on his own!

Bottom line? If your lower back pain (or any new pain that follows you doing something silly to your back) hasn't pretty much resolved itself within 72 hours you really must...

See Your Health Care Provider.. (Back to Top)

You need to know what's causing your specific back pain before you start any walking program. When you do, your physiotherapist can recommend the right blend of gentle exercises and movement therapy to rebuild your back strength, abdominal strength and flexibility.

Exercise is one of the most effective ways for you to get lower back pain relief and help strengthen your back and abdominal muscles. You may be able to start some very gentle walking soon. Or you may need to limit yourself to very gentle exercises for a while.

Here are a couple of other tidbits for you as you head off to see your doctor.

A 1996 Finnish study found that people who continued their activities without bed rest after the injury occurred appeared to have better long term back flexibility than people who spent a week in bed.

In fact other studies suggest that more than 1-2 days bed rest may not make your back better, it will almost certainly make things worse! One thing that is even more certain is that complete inactivity will most certainly make things worse.

Even more reasons to check things out with your doctor first! They keep up with all this stuff! Find out what's best for you.

Once you've gotten the 'green light' from your physio, you're ready to start Fitness Walking Program that's just right for you. We look forward to the day you can join us!

Useful Things To Know (Back to Top)

• Exercise walking is a great way for you to benefit from regular exercise without aggravating the structures your lower back
• Walking tall with good posture will certainly ease your back pain.
• Keeping your eyes focused at least 15-20 feet in front of you with your chin parallel to the ground will help you maintain your posture.
• Good posture keeps you from leaning back or forward while you walk and makes your recovery more comfortable.
• Walking strengthens muscles in your feet, legs, hips and torso. This helps you with stability of your spine. Your muscles are better able to keep your body in the upright position
• Walking nourishes your spinal structure with better blood circulation. This pumps nutrients into the soft tissue and removes toxins
• Walking helps strengthen bone and reduces bone density loss

Here's a really great site put together by fellow webmaster Paula Fitzpatrick, a fully qualified physiotherapisst. All about lower back pain issues and just coindidentally called Lower Back Pain Toolkit. Paula has specialized in lower back pain issues for several years. Her site is just full of some great info. Let us know how you like it!

Hang In There!

Stay with your program and leave your lower back pain behind you - WAY behind you! Hopefully for good!