How long does back pain last? The truth about back pain recovery 

Hi Sean - feel free to email me on sarah@kalmpilates.com and let's see if we can figure out what is mainly affecting your back. 🙏 That way we can see if it may make sense to focus on particular exercises or stretches to help your healing...

I'm glad you have found a holistic way of getting control of your pain. 🤗

@@KalmPilatesChannel Thank you.

Hi Sheila! There is no simple answer as backs are complicated - I deal with lots of different people with back pain and my answer is my honest observation. Of course, I hope that your back issue was just a muscle strain and you were fine in just a few days. 😀 Be aware that when people injure their backs, there may be a bit of a weakness there going forward so make sure to stretch enough after any strenghtening exercises, esp gluteals, hamstrings and hipflexors (and QLs if extra time). xx

Hi Akshay - please don't be disheartened. If you have a back injury, for most people it's an imbalance in the body that needs to be corrected. Rather than looking at your back pain as something that you want to quickly fix (which is a normal reaction) , just look at it as an imbalance that needs correcting with regular stretching, which is something your body will require as a daily or weekly maintenance anyway. We constantly have to nudge our bodies back to balance - age, work, stress, injuries... all knock us of our equilibrium but with gentle care we get ourselves back. It may take time, but if you're getting pain free for quite a while with regular stretching, it's just your body telling you that you need to keep stretching... 😊

Hi there - it is extremely hard for me to give you a definite timeframe as everyone is slightly different, and it also depends on how much you commit to the recovery. So, I would say this is the normal process: initially you have to rest and allow the sharp pain to ease off - this may take a few days to a couple of weeks. Once you are past the initial 'sharp pain' phase, it's time to start doing exercises and stretches to tackle the causes of your back pain, and also strengthen the core to protect the spine. After 8 to 12 weeks of committed exercise and recovery, you will find your back weakness is totally under control or completely gone. If you want to know more, have a look at my free 30 min training on how to recover from back pain: kalmpilates.uk/joinfreetraining. I promise that you will learn a thing or two that will help you with understanding your path to recovery. Good luck! 🙏

Hi there! First of all, I have to mention that it's very hard for me to know exactly what is going on in your body - but having said that, let me make a few observations which may help you to find a way towards recovery. So, when you say your feet are hurting, is the pain caused by muscles or joints? Painful joints may be caused by arthritis or other inflammatory conditions that affect the bones. If it's muscular or ligament related, you may be looking at something like plantar fasciitis - this then could be caused by tight Achilles etc. It has to be said that Plantar Fasciitis is not easy to solve - it does take time and lots of stretches. Feet are complicated! Have you considered going to a podiatrist as they specialise in feet and would be the most qualified to help you with this? Then there is a link between ankle mobility and the spine. The fact that you now have back pain could be connected to your foot problem in two ways: firstly, you may have changed the way you are walking on your feet to avoid sharp pain and this may have created a misalignment all the way up, affecting your spine. Secondly, your foot issue and your back issue may be caused by the same issue, tight leg / calf / ankle muscles which are pulling on the feet ligaments and muscles and on your lower back muscles (because that's where they insert). Hope these observations may help. I would try and find a good podiatrist to get his/her opinion as the right diagnosis will help you find your recovery path much more easily. Good luck xx

Hi Katrina - can you email me? I'm more than happy for you to do the 12 week Back Care Programme free of charge in exchange for a review? If your back issues are caused by your work as a carer, then they are musculoskeletal and I can help... My email is sarah@kalmpilates.com. Nobody should fear of losing their job because of back pain🙏

Hi there! I'm sorry you are in pain. I know how frustrating it can be. I've helped people with protrusions at L5 and S1 and it takes a while, because that area gets quite a bit of movement when you go from sitting into standing and vice versa. So... I cannot give you an exact time, but what I would suggest is that if you work behind a computer, to use a standing desk (can be a a counter top - doesn't require any expense!) for now. I would also advise to use a diary to write down each day what you did and how the pain is - from this, you can hopefully start seeing which movements make it worse and which movements don't affect it. And then when you are starting to get pain free times, you can start with a light Pilates workout specifically for back pain. Also, have you figured out why the protrusion has happened? Is it because some muscles are too tight (leg, hips)? Is it lack of core strength? The more knowledge you can gather about your own injury, the more empowered you are to relieve it... If you have any other questions, just get in touch. I'm here to help xx

I can tell you what I know from teaching so many people with back issues. If you do all the right things and tackle the underlying issues of your back pain (see my webinar for more details on what these are ), then you can heal within a few weeks. If you don't make changes then the causes of your back pain will not be resolved, leading to more pain and it can linger. There are of course exceptions to the rule - but for 90% of back pain sufferers it's possible to become pain free or to reduce the pain significantly. Any questions, just feel free to drop me a line on sarah @kalmpilates.com

Hi Claire - are your shoulders very rounded, like hunched forward? You've been given a lot of thoracic mobilising exercises, rather than strengthening ones... but this may be because you are very tight around the upper back / shoulders. Could you let me know? xx

@@KalmPilatesChannel thanks for the reply! I don’t think they are very hunched? A little rounded maybe with forward head posture

Ah ok, if you have forward head posture, then you tend to be tight around your shoulders, so the mobilising exercises make sense. The electric shock must be when you pinch a particular nerve, which is also indicating you are very tight. Hmmm... ok yes this all makes sense. Have you not been given any spinal twisting exercises? I've got a few suggestions of what you can add to your routine for sure... just want to make sure first if your physio has told you to avoid any particular movements?

@@KalmPilatesChannel no at this stage I have been told it’s all muscular (not 100% convinced but every professional I see says the same) so not been told to avoid anything, been advised to keep exercising walk/swim/Pilates. I am scared that there is something more underlying and I could do damage but from my X-ray there are no abnormalities. Is a pinched nerve the same thing as a disc issue or is that totally different? Thanks so much for the advice

I think they are correct to say it's muscoloskeletal - it's not just muscular, but also how the spine is aligned (posture). You have to visualise your spine like a bike chain (it helps, bear with me! :) - it's made out of individual parts that have some limited mobility on their own, but they are also all connected to each other . That's a good way of looking at how your spine should function. The mobility in the spine is partly facilitated by the gel-like disc that sits between the vertebrae and this disc can leak (which is a slipped disc or a herniated disc), or bulge (bulging disc), but it can also get thinner because of wear and tear. A herniated disc is associated with sharp pains - esp when the injury has just happened. To find out whether you have a herniated or bulging disc, you need an MRI scan. However, even if it is a slipped disc or a bulging disc, the recovery is still similar to what they would recommend for most back issues - improve mobilisation, increase supporting strength, improve your posture. When these discs are harmed, they can pinch on nerves for sure. That's what causes the pain. However, if your discs are absolutely fine, it can also be that the muscles attached to the spine are tight and that those are pushing on nerves and/or causing the misalignment of bones. So, the solution is always to create as much length and openess in the body whilst building strength and improving posture. I will film a routine for you that you can do - I will message you when it's up! I have to say, based on everything you mention, I think you would really benefit from regular Pilates... :) xx