Risk Factors

The ladies and gents that are about three to five years into a corporate career, longer and longer hours at the desk every day, with less and less time to take care of themselves.  Patients really start coming in around the ages of 27 to 33.  There is no real split male or female.  The reason is that slowly the core stability has begun to waste away, partially because of less activity, partly because of the Thursday to Friday Post work antics starting to add up around the middle.  This is bread and butter presentation of a person coming in with a “slipped disc”.

Progression

Now typically this is a problem that has built up over a couple of years – but only starts to surface at the late 20’s early 30’s age bracket.  But after seeing, analysing and consulting on thousands of X-rays it really boils down to a degradation of posture over this time.  A gradual loss of the arch in the low back reduces the “suspension” in the low back and shifts significantly more weight onto the discs.  This is often made worse by the exercises (particularly the gents) that are chosen to strengthen the core to counteract the slow onset of low back pain that is often due to “nothing significant”.

How To Treat It

Unfortunately, the biggest issue with these problems is that they initially don’t present as a “major issue” so they are dealt with in ways which directly interfere with their resolution and healing.  Often misdiagnosed as a “muscle strain” and given stretching which unfortunately worsens the condition after providing some short-term relief.  In my opinion, it’s down to mismanagement.

Giving exercises as an initial treatment of a slipped disc is like asking a plumber to give you a quote for fixing the leak in your sink – but asking him to do it by looking at your house from outside front door, then shouting the instructions to you over the telephone. What we do need to do is, do the right investigation, followed up with the right short term treatment and then the correct exercise and rehabilitation for longer term management.

To get the best long term results you really want to see what you’re dealing with. Being Located in Harley Street, Central London, we are uniquely set up to work in synergy with the imaging clinics close by.  This allows us to refer for the relevant imaging in a timely manner.  And as a patient, although we may not require imaging first off, we would always recommend spinal imaging.

Get In Touch

To arrange an appointment or for more information contact us using the Facebook messenger feature in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

Your Download

For your visual instruction on core rehabilitation for slipped disc injuries, we put together this easy to digest download.  It is complimentary for you and will give you some “to avoid” exercises to keep your back out of harm’s way as well!

Click Here