Back Care Awareness Week – you don’t have to suffer in silence!

October 03 2021   |   News

Back pain can be a real misery – which is why it’s important to get it checked out and treated as soon as possible.

The bad news is neck and back pain can severely affect your day-to-day life. The good news is that it is rarely serious and an early visit to a GP will help to identify the problem and provide any course of action.

Raising awareness

Back Care Awareness Week runs from October 4th to the 8th and is a great opportunity to highlight the causes of back pain, how to avoid it and what can be done to address the problem.

The week is organised by the BackCare charity which has been raising awareness of back health issues for more than half a century with the aim of significantly reducing the burden of back and neck pain through advice, information and guidance.

More than 80% of the population will suffer from back pain during their lives – an astonishing number and the conditions range from the more prevalent mild to the rarer serious cases. Most cases of back pain are known as ‘mechanical’- where the pain originates from the bones, joints or tissue around the spine –  or ‘non-specific’ – where there is no obvious cause.

The more serious cases can be caused by infection, a broken bone in the spine, a severe compression of nerves in the back and certain kinds of cancer, but it’s worth repeating that these are rarer forms of back pain and will be something checked by your GP. Other causes of back pain include:

• Poor posture
• Sitting or standing in the same position for long periods
• Lifting or manhandling heavy items
• Being overweight
• Lack of movement and general exercise
• Wearing the wrong shoes
• Pregnancy
• Arthritis and osteoarthritis
• A minor injury like a strain, sprain or pulled muscle

It’s also worth bearing in mind that depression, anxiety and stress can lead to muscle tension in the back – often leading to any pain feeling much worse.

Treatments

Back pain can be treated through changes to lifestyle, medication and surgery, depending on the severity of the condition and if you have a problem it’s important not to delay in seeing a GP. You can book an appointment with one of our highly qualified GPs at Summerfield Healthcare to be seen quickly and at a time to suit you at our Shrewsbury or Wolverhampton clinics. You can self-refer, meaning there are no lengthy delays in waiting for a consultation, diagnosis and access to the treatment you deserve.