With my split life existence I dont know whether to look for one in Hull or in Manchester - online/yellow pages has loads in both places - and most talk about back problems..
MrsTT had a load (6-9 months worth) of osteopath sessions down the road from her - but that seemed to make things a bit worse and as someone said to her - if it wasnt working after a couple of months he was either bad or osteo was the wrong option. This contributes to my distrust/concern/uncertainty...
I'm not anything medical etc.
Physio/Osteo/Chiro etc. for the sort of acute back pain you're suffering is a patch not a cure, but a good physio should help with getting relief from acute back pain. Seeing a substandard one is like throwing £30 - £45 in the bin. The important bit is learning what needs doing to avoid further flare-ups like you're now experiencing.
I've been through the whole unresolved back pain process - from suffering years of flare-ups, seeing physios/chiros/osteos/acupunctures/podiatrists, numerous disc issues and sciatica, mri's; to epidural injection; further disc issues/sciatica, to spinal surgery; followed by recovery/change of poor long-term movement habits. All via about 25 different physio's, chiro's and osteo's, a podiatrist and 3 different surgeons.
If I could change anything it would be to have found good advice about doing corrective stabilisation exercises, described below, and to have done them at the beginning of symptoms!
I'm guessing that you, being an academic with climbing as a hobby, do a lot of sitting and possibly a lot of driving, probably have some 'head forward'/slumped posture from using a PC, are fairly active outside of work and therefore have some muscle imbalances at play which add stress to an already stressed structure (your spine). Unknowns like predispositions to injury in the spinal area you may have been born with and you can't do much about.
Your back needs movement/flexibility i.e. not being in one position (sitting or standing) for too long, and it needs stability from the large back muscles and from the various small stabiliser muscles that protect the spine during movement. It's likely your large back muscles are more than strong enough (and probably over-active, like now) and some of your back's stabilser muscles are imbalanced/turned off.
Working the stabiliser muscles is a lot more subtle and counter-intuitive (was for me) than working the abs and large back muscles i.e. the 'movement muscles' worked by deadlifting, sit-ups, lat pull-downs etc. Targeting these involves doing some very specific combined balance and endurance exercises which you won't learn how to properly do from a physio handout or off a website. You need to be led through them, the best (but most expensive) way is 1-to-1 coaching rather than a class. Then you need to keep doing them over a sustained period of time. Together with an adjustment of poor movement habits and lifestyle stuff like sitting for too long, screen height etc. etc.
The stabilisation exercises are similar to pilates in that they're designed to train/improve the co-ordination and endurance of the whole kinetic chain but with, I believe, more of an emphasis on the endurance and switching on of the stabiliser muscles through the movements whereas pilates has more of an emphasis on flexibility through the movement - that could be wrong I'm no pilates expert.
As far as physio's, ones with MACP accreditation have a higher level of training than standard physio's in the sort of manipulation that can be effective for relieving acute back pain :
https://www.macpweb.org/home/index.php?p=1I saw this person years ago in Sale who was very good, (gave short-term relief from a back flare-up in one visit):
https://www.macpweb.org/home/index.php?p=18&id=714&page=1For the corrective exercises/movement mechanics (the important bit) you'll have to dyor. I'm lucky to have found a very good person in north wales.
I sent Monolith some useful notes on general back care given to me by my surgeon, I'll pm them to you.
