Back School: Holistic Course Program
Pain (including back pain) is understood as a bio-psycho-social phenomenon – in other words, it develops through the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors. The back school as a holistic (bio-psycho-social) course program does justice to this approach. Its main purpose is to prevent acute and chronic back problems.
Back school: imparting knowledge
Another pillar of back school is the imparting of knowledge that is important for maintaining and restoring back health: for example, participants learn how activity and sport have a positive effect on the body and well-being, what the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of sport are, and what self-help measures are advisable in the event of acute back complaints.
Contents of a back school course program
- Structure and function of the back
- Causes of back pain (e.g. stress)
- Posture, dynamic sitting
- Body awareness
- Back-friendly lifting and carrying
- Back-friendly design of the environment (e.g. office)
- Training of the deep muscles
- Dealing with acute back pain
- Prevention of permanent back pain
- Use of relaxation techniques
- Life-long sport
When is a back school useful?
Attending a back school makes sense even before the onset of back pain, as the content is primarily oriented towards prevention. However, back school is also useful for existing complaints in order to alleviate the discomfort and prevent it from worsening. Since most people suffer from back pain at least once in their lives, attending back school is considered an important prevention and treatment measure.
The basis of the back school is the following ten rules:
- You should move.
- Keep your back straight.
- Squat down when bending over.
- Do not lift heavy loads.
- When carrying, distribute the loads and keep them close to the body.
- When sitting, keep your back straight and support your upper body.
- Do not push through your knees when standing.
- Do not lie with a hollow back or a cat’s hump.
- Exercise, preferably swimming, running or cycling.
- Exercise your spinal muscles daily.
