What Golfers Can Do About Low Back Pain

One of my patients, Norm, originally came to see me with a health problem that affected his ability to enjoy recreational sport and also affected his relationship with his wife. Norm had a lower back problem that limited his ability to play golf. You might ask, “I can see why this would affect your ability to enjoy recreational sport, but why would it affect your relationship with your wife?” I also wondered about this. Norm told me, “When I can’t play golf, I sit at home all day and drive my wife crazy.”

For Norm’s sake and his wife’s sanity, he was motivated to help eliminate her back pain and get her back to playing golf. I am a chiropractor and treating golfers’ lower back discomfort is one of my specialties. This article will explain why many golfers have back pain and how it can be helped.

Recently, a study published in the South African Journal of Physical Therapy, March 2018, indicated that almost half of golfers have back pain. The research showed that among a group of 271 recreational golfers, 45% suffered from mechanical low back pain and 23% had sacroiliac joint dysfunction. A more detailed analysis showed that almost 96% of golfers with sacroiliac joint dysfunction had mechanical low back pain.

Mechanical low back pain simply means there is a movement and / or alignment problem. The sacroiliac joint is a pelvic joint, in the hip pocket area. There is a sacroiliac joint on both sides of our pelvis. Sacroiliac joint dysfunction means that it is misaligned and / or not moving properly.

As a chiropractor, I am trained to evaluate the sacroiliac joints in golfers with lower back complaints. Through a simple physical exam, it can be determined whether one or both sacroiliac joints may be misaligned or move incorrectly.

If this is the case, it is a problem that can be treated with chiropractic care. Typically, a series of “chiropractic adjustments” is administered to the patient with misalignment and / or sacroiliac joints that move improperly to correct the cause of the problem. Once corrected, 90% of these back conditions improve and

most golfers can resume the sport.

Many professional golfers undergo regular chiropractic care. I encourage any recreational golfer who is limited by low back pain to explore chiropractic care for their condition. If it’s good enough for the pros, it’s certainly good enough for the rest of us.