The good news is that even though the level of pain and disruption to your life can be quite pronounced, it is very rare for there to be a serious underlying cause to your low back pain.

However, if you were to experience any of the following, a trip to A+E would be advised:

• Numbness or pins and needles between inner thighs or genitals
• Numbness around back passage or buttocks
• Altered feeling when using toilet paper to wipe
• Difficulty with urination
• Not knowing the bladder is either full or empty
• Sexual dysfunction
• Shooting pains into both legs

You should also seek care if you have experienced unexplained weight loss alongside your back pain, or any fever, chills or signs of infection.

However this is very rare, and occurs in less than 1% of cases!

Sciatica is an umbrella term that often refers to pain radiating from the back into the leg. Depending on the acuteness of your sciatica episode, it is often possible to alleviate your pain using a combination of EMS and exercise.

This can be a confusing topic: is it my posture? Is it my lifting technique? The list goes on.

In many cases, we can see a seemingly minor event triggering an episode of lower back pain. 

This could be as simple as bending forward to pick something up, a sudden twisting movement or even a greater than normal time spent in a certain position.

In other cases we can see there is a build of stress over time and there is a final ‘trigger’ that sets the back off.

Of course we also see scenarios in which somebody is trying to lift a heavy object and feels the back ‘go’ there and then.

The back muscles then go into ‘protect’ mode and start to spasm.

Think of this like making a tight fist all day – eventually your hand will start to hurt!

It is important to emphasise that often the triggers or positions mentioned above aren’t ‘bad’ in themselves, but over time can feed into each other to produce back pain. 

Another key aspect in our experience is the strength of your legs.

Yes, you heard it right. 

You may be thinking why would I train my legs if my back hurts?

Put simply, if the legs aren’t doing the work for you, very often the back helps out, often to its own detriment.

Here at Ion Rehab, we have access to world-leading EMS technology which allows us to enhance your rehabilitation in just a 20 minute session.

We combine this with expertly designed rehabilitation programs, created by experienced physiotherapy professionals. 

These plans are based on material drawn from thousands of pounds worth of investment in ongoing education from some of the world’s leading physios – tried and tested in professional sport – delivered to you at a cost effective investment point. 

You can therefore be confident that you will be receiving the gold standard in your lower back pain rehabilitation.

Our process:

1. Initial Consult (we introduce you to EMS and our rehab principles)
2. Rehab Foundations (20 minute sessions delivered in our custom studios with the aid of EMS). Here we work on the lower body and back.
3. Rehab Mastery (for some people a second ‘phase’ of rehab may be needed)
4. Ion Body – EMS enhanced training

Alongside this you will receive some ‘at home’ rehab materials, in the form of a ‘rehab resources’ pack to support your process and optimise your results. 

Most episodes of lower back pain resolve within 4-6 weeks. Though in some cases this can take up to 12 weeks.

For this reason, our Rehab Foundations program runs for 6 weeks. From there we may move onto the Rehab Mastery or Ion Body progressions depending on your preference and how close you are to achieving your goals.

Each session only takes 20 mins, saving you time and ensuring you are performing your exercises correctly.

Gordon R, Bloxham S. A Systematic Review of the Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain. Healthcare (Basel). 2016 Apr 25;4(2):22. doi: 10.3390/healthcare4020022. PMID: 27417610; PMCID: PMC4934575.

Hayden JA, Ellis J, Ogilvie R, Malmivaara A, van Tulder MW. Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Sep 28;9(9):CD009790. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009790.pub2. PMID: 34580864; PMCID: PMC8477273.