NEW: Back Pain Exercise Program

Back pain can seem like an inescapable aspect of life. We all know someone who has a “bad back” even if we and haven’t had one ourselves. And the statistics back this up – 16% of Australians have reported back issues, while a huge 70-90% of Australians will suffer some form of back pain at some point in their lives.

Back pain is a complex condition, so treatment can also be complex. This is largely because there are many things that can contribute to back pain, ranging from how much movement and load we have during our lifestyles and exercise routines, the way our bodies move, our injury history, and also psychosocial factors (i.e. mental health and other stressors in our life etc…). Often several of these factors impact each individual case of pain, so using a personalised approach that is tailored for each person is important.

The vast majority of back pain cases can successfully be managed conservatively – i.e. by using non-invasive management techniques including exercise, manual therapy (hands-on treatment), education and advice on modification of training loads and activity. Occasionally people may need invasive management such as guided corticosteroid injections, and even more rarely surgery may be required. It should be noted that even in the rare cases that invasive management like surgery is required, the success rate depends largely on how well a person adheres to their rehabilitation program, so exercise and education still play a major role.

THE CENTRAL PERFORMANCE BACK PAIN PROGRAM

The Central Performance Back Pain Program is specifically designed to be easily personalised to meet the needs of each client. It has been developed to provide an effective, structured and adaptable way to comprehensively manage back pain in two groups of clients;

1. Clients With Recurrent Or Chronic Back Pain

2. Post-Operative Rehabilitation Following Spinal Surgery

Goals Of The Central Performance Back Pain Program

The primary aims of the program are to help these two client groups to;

1. return to normal daily activities in a safe and confident way

2. establish a healthy exercise routine and regain confidence to move, exercise and build strength again

3. learn how to maintain strength and resilience for an active future doing the things that you love

How Is The Back Pain Program Structured?

The Back Pain Program is a staged program, based on achieving certain performance criteria before progressing on to the next stage. This ensures that you progress at the right pace for you, rather than you being pushed too fast just because a certain amount of time has passed. You may progress through some stages faster than others, but using performance criteria rather than a time-based system means you get fully confident in each stage before moving on to the next.

The program guides you right from early movement following a pain episode or surgery, and progresses you through to functional exercise in a fully planned and structured format. The 5-stage program includes;

Stage 1

Movement pattern restoration: targeting painful or fearful movements to restore your mobility. Low-level exercise is introduced to build your confidence to move freely again.

Stage 2

Continuance of movement progressions: an introduction to higher-level body weight exercises, as well as preparation for weighted exercises

Stage 3

External load introduction: building confidence around exercises involving weight and targeting difficult activities of daily living

Stage 4

Advanced load progressions: increased weight and complexity of exercises. This phase works on building you up to a return to sport or normal exercise routines.

Stage 5

Exercise independence: discharge from the program into the activities and life you love. You also have the option of moving into our Group Fitness Program which allows you to further build and maintain strength, fitness and flexibility.

Our exercise physiology team will also liaise with your medical providers whenever appropriate. This may be your GP, or your spine surgeon if you have had surgery. For surgical clients we always work within the protocols and post-op instructions set by your surgeon.

We Focus On Understanding And Fixing The Cause Of Your Back Pain

For clients with recurrent or chronic low back pain, we work with you on addressing the underlying causes of your pain. As well as assessing the physical factors, we delve into your beliefs surrounding your back pain and use education whenever required to discuss and modify your beliefs about your pain. This is important because extensive research shows that what you believe about your pain has a strong influence on your recovery. Using education and open discussions with you, as well as exercise targeted exercise, helps you return to doing the things you love to do sooner and in a more confident and sustainable way.

The Ideal Program Following Back Surgery

For post- surgical clients, we work with your surgeon and GP to ensure all your post-surgery goals are met. We regularly update them following your initial assessment and provide progression updates. We are fully familiar with post-surgical protocols and modify your program whenever necessary according to your surgeon’s instructions.

The Central Performance Back Pain Program is ideal for surgical clients who have recently left from an inpatient rehabilitation program. Many clients go to a rehab hospital or facility for 1-2 weeks following their back surgery, and are then discharged. Moving into the Central Performance Back Pain Program at this discharge stage is ideal because it allows you to continue to build mobility, strength and confidence under professional supervision as you return to activity following your surgery.