Lower back pain could make you clumsy

Lower back pain could make you clumsy

Researcher explains that lower back pain could affect leg balance and coordination, even in mild injury or young people.

Dr Adrian Pranata, Senior Lecturer of Physiotherapy

“When we think about lower back pain, we think of it as quite localised pain. It is extremely common, affecting all ages and having a range of causes – from musculoskeletal disease to mild injury.

“However, our latest research has shown that even mild lower back pain can affect your balance and coordination.

“Given today's sedentary lifestyle and the recurrent, complex and sometimes disabling nature of low back pain, understanding the full scope of this ailment is more important than ever.

“Our tests showed poorer standing to sitting performance, for example, even in people aged 17–25 with mild back pain.

“For physiotherapists, this initial finding challenges the physiological understanding of back pain and may come to change how we assess and rehabilitate lower back pain.

“As part of this study, we developed a new tool for balance control assessment in lower back pain sufferers. Future applications could allow physios to have a quantitative measure of patients’ mobility issues, allowing them to target interventions and accurately measure their effects.”

Dr Adrian Pranata’s research aims to improve the quality of physiotherapy assessment and management of musculoskeletal conditions – including low back pain – using artificial intelligence, robotics and biomechanical modelling.

***

General media enquiries: RMIT Communications, 0439 704 077 or news@rmit.edu.au

09 February 2024

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