What causes low back pain? There are so many possible answers to this question, but in this article we’re going to narrow it down to the most common ones we see here at Revitalize Physical Therapy. When a patient comes in telling us that they’ve tried so many things to get relief for their back and NOTHING works..well our minds tend to  jump straight to blaming the pelvic floor. Keep reading to learn about how the pelvic floor can be what causes low back pain!

Anatomy

With low back pain, people assume that the root of the pain is somewhere in the spine or the SI joints. However, there are a lot of structures such as pelvic floor muscles, ligaments, and fascia that are in very close proximity in the low back and pelvis. All of these structures function to support and stabilize the spine and pelvis, but can be problematic if there is any dysfunction such as weakness or tightness.  

The key muscles that work together in this area are the pelvic floor muscles, the back muscles, diaphragm, hip muscles, and the core.  If you haven’t done exercises that incorporate all of these muscles, there’s a good chance that they aren’t coordinating well together.  People often isolate muscle groups and only strengthen that one muscle group such as the core or glute muscles. However, these muscles can’t work as strongly if you don’t recruit the others listed above.  That’s why it’s important to do exercises that incorporate these multiple muscles in order to gain more strength and stability through the back.

Without proper stability and support at the spine and pelvis, the body begins to adapt to abnormal motions and movement patterns as their new ‘normal’. The longer these go on without being corrected or applying proper support to the back, pain begins to develop and worsen. 

Causes for Low Back Pain

What to do when nothing seems to help

If you’ve repeatedly tried stretching, core exercises, yoga, chiropractic or traditional Physical Therapy with no relief for your back pain- it might be time to book your consultation with a pelvic floor physical therapist. Those other things might not be working for you because they aren’t addressing the root of your pain (ie: the pelvic floor). The pelvic floor is too often brushed aside when looking for the root of low back pain, but you deserve a physical therapist who has been specially trained to assess all of the possibilities INCLUDING the pelvic floor. 

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