I believe that’s because the lower back is really only designed to bend forwards and back, but it’s trapped between two areas that twist – your ribcage and your pelvis. And if one of those areas becomes twisted and stuck, then your lower back is often forced to move suboptimally. Over time, poor movement patterns become habits, and habits cause wear points and injury.
My job is to work out whether the problem is coming from your ribcage or pelvis (and if it is, what’s causing the ribcage or pelvis to be twisted?) or from your low back itself. Is it acute (in which case, I often have to treat the low back first) or can I go straight to the cause and treat that?
Each back problem has its own specific cause, and therefore the best way to treat each back may be completely different.