Physio’s Journey With Back Pain - Part 4
In the lead-up to my next episode of back pain, I’d been painting the house and patching cracks with plaster—YouTube made it look a lot easier than it was. I was also doing several long drives back and forth to Adelaide. I couldn’t pinpoint a single moment when things went wrong.
It was Mother’s Day when the first real warning sign appeared. While out to dinner, I developed a deep, burning pain down my shin. Every time I sat for more than 20 minutes, the pain roared down my leg and into my hip. Standing up for 5–10 minutes would ease it.
Interestingly, my back itself didn’t feel terrible—but the leg pain was intense. Driving became the biggest challenge. By the 20-minute mark of my commute, the pain was excruciating. I remember pulling over in Caroline Springs just to get out of the car and ease the symptoms. The disc bulge was clearly pressing on a nerve and referring pain down the leg. This episode lasted around six weeks, and while standing was manageable, sitting was a nightmare.
Lessons Learned
1. Avoid the positions that trigger your symptoms
This sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how often we push through things we know will aggravate our condition. I had to completely avoid sitting—no exceptions. I watched TV lying on the floor, stood to eat dinner, stood to write my notes, and even stood at a bar when we went out to eat. I rotated between lying, standing, and walking. It was exhausting, but it helped.
2. Medication can help when things are highly irritable
I visited my GP and was prescribed stronger anti-inflammatories, which took the edge off and made the days more manageable.
3. Stick to gentle movement, especially walking and extension
I kept walking and doing gentle backward bending but wasn’t willing to push into anything more intense until the nerve symptoms settled. Slow, steady improvement is the goal.
4. Referred pain can play tricks on your mind
Even as a physio, the intensity of the leg and hip pain made me question where the problem really was. I kept checking my hip, bending and twisting to provoke pain—but only sitting triggered it. It’s incredible how real referred pain feels, and how easy it is to assume the issue is in the leg when it’s actually coming from the back.
5. Most disc bulges and sciatic pain improve over time
This is the hardest part—having patience when you don’t see daily improvement. People often chase quick fixes, but most episodes settle naturally. You must trust the process, even when the progress feels painfully slow.
6. Back pain doesn’t always have a clear cause
Often there is no single moment that explains your pain. It’s usually an accumulation of load—sitting, bending, working, driving, stress, fatigue. Mentally, this can be tough. We want a cause so we can avoid it next time. When there isn’t one, we can feel fragile or anxious.
But the truth is: the back didn’t “break”—it simply became overloaded, and just as it flared, it can settle and rebuild resilience with time and the right approach.
