Was jet-washing the patio the straw that broke the camel’s – and your – back? That’s a possibility, but experts say the actual causes of back pain may surprise you – and it’s a bigger issue than most may realise. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that lower back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, with cases projected to rise to more than 800 million by 2050, largely as populations grow and age.
Here, clinicians reveal some of the unexpected causes, and how to avoid them. But in most cases, the hardness or softness of your mattress won’t be to blame. An unusually active day can leave muscles and joints feeling sore the following morning, but the opposite can be true too – sitting at a desk or simply being less active,” she says.
Others, she says, “remember that they washed the patio for five hours the other day and haven’t deduced that this may be the reason for a flare”. Both extremes – too active or too sedentary – can cause back pain. Antony Bush, a physiotherapist and author of The Back Fix, says office workers can be sitting for 12 hours a day once work, travel and Netflix in the evening are counted, “double what we know gives people back pain”.
At the opposite extreme, repetitive loading, relevant for rowers or gymnasts, can be too much for the back. In Bush’s experience, half the cases of back pain have several contributing causes, suggesting it is best to look at the whole picture rather than a single trigger. If you were told to sit up straight as a child, that advice may not have served you particularly well.
Bush argues that a rigidly held but conventionally “good” posture can itself cause back pain, especially if this isn’t your natural resting position. London-based osteopath Anisha Joshi, who counts Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw among her clients, still warns against a heavy slouch, but says “a very upright, fixed posture” can create tension in certain muscles, most often from sitting in one position for hours without a break. A bent back isn’t necessarily a bad one as long as your movement varies throughout the day.
Bush goes further, arguing that posture myths extend into lifting. He says lifting with a rounded back, rather than the typical straight-back-bent-knees approach, isn’t as dangerous as it’s made out to be. Pain is in the brain, but that doesn’t mean it’s imagined.
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