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Lower back pain affects both men and women, affecting 80% of all people at some time in their lives. Many causes, such as poor posture, muscle weakness, or herniated discs, are common to both sexes.
However, women's anatomy, hormonal fluctuations, and life stages—such as pregnancy or menopause—can introduce additional challenges.
The good news is that with a targeted approach that seeks to find the root cause instead of just treating the symptoms, lower back pain can be effectively managed and often eliminated.
Women, like men, frequently experience back pain due to:
1. Muscle Weakness: If your muscles don't have the strength or endurance to provide the support your spine needs you will overload them, crossing the tipping point into pain and injury.
2. Herniated Discs: The intervertebral discs in your lower lumbar spine may bulge or herniate due to poor movement patterns or incorrect lifting technique, often involving excessive flexion and/or extension of the spine, especially while under load.
3. Poor Posture: The alignment of your spine while you sit, stand and move determines the amount of stress it's subjected to. Excess stress can cause premature degeneration of the intervertebral discs.
Disc herniation explained by Dr. Stuart McGill
However, women are more susceptible to certain types of lower back pain:
1. Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Dysfunction
Hormonal changes during pregnancy can loosen ligaments, destabilizing the SI joint. This can often be addressed with targeted spine and hip stabilising exercises that strengthen all of the muscles around the SI joints.
2. Endometriosis
Uterine tissue growing outside the uterus may cause severe pelvic pain that radiates to the lower back. A laparoscopy (a minimally invasive surgical procedure) remains the gold standard for diagnosis, as it allows direct visualization and biopsy of the lesions.
3. Fibroids
Benign growths in the uterus can exert pressure on the lower back. These can usually be identified by ultrasound.
4. Osteoporosis
Women are at higher risk of reduced bone density, which can lead to spinal fractures. One in two women over the age of 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture. This highlights the importance of full body strength training for peri and post-menopausal women. You can take a bone mineral density test to understand more about your individual risk.
5. Hormonal Changes
Menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause can affect ligament flexibility and spine support. Spine stabilising exercises are often the most successful way to address any resulting hypermobility.
To rule out conditions such as endometriosis and fibroids that could be contributing towards your back pain you should consult with your medical doctor.
However, if your back pain changes when you move or change posture, there's clearly a biomechanical component to your pain.
If this is the case, it's important you undergo a thorough biomechanical assessment to determine its precise cause(s). There is no more thorough assessment for low back pain than the McGill Method assessment.
As a McGill Method Certified Personal Trainer, I provide a science-based approach to identifying the cause of your back pain and helping you to become pain-free.
Using evidence-based techniques developed by Dr. Stuart McGill, one of the world’s leading experts on low back pathologies, I help my clients alleviate their pain, restore function, and build injury-resistant backs. This is how it works:
1. A Comprehensive Assessment
I take you through a thorough assessment to Identify the postures, movements and loads that provoke your pain. This includes assessment for conditions such as hypermobility or a dysfunctional SI joint that may be a result of hormonal issues specific to women.
2. Education and Empowerment
It's empowering to understand the precise cause of your low back pain. I teach you movement tools and 'spine hygiene' practices that help you avoid provoking your pain and put you on the path to becoming pain-free.
3. Personalised Training Plan
I provide you with an individualised exercise plan based on what we find during the assessment. I only give you exercises that you're able to do pain-free. I adapt your program progressively as your muscular endurance and strength improve.
4. Accessible Coaching
With remote consultations, I support you wherever you're based in the world. I have helped women in North America (eastern and western time zones), Europe, Asia and the Middle East overcome their back pain exclusively via online assessments and coaching.
“I have had a variety of back issues for most of my adult life. At 57, despite exercising regularly, I was taking daily pain medication and physiotherapy wasn’t helping. I tried programs for back pain but suspected they were making things worse.
In the initial 3-hour session, Andy was meticulous about understanding my history and which movements caused or relieved pain. No other health care provider has taken this kind of time and attention.
His training sessions are enjoyable, varied, and effective. The app works very well, and Andy is always responsive to questions. When something isn’t working, he suggests alternatives until we find a solution.
Living in a rural area, I wasn’t sure how effective online training would be. Andy’s unique skills make it feel like we’re working in the same room.
Highly recommended!”
“How lucky to have found Andy! For several years I suffered from lumbar back pain, which worsened after pregnancy despite physiotherapy and exercise. I was starting to despair.
Andy's program saved me—I learned to relieve my pain, move correctly, restabilize my back, and build muscle. Andy’s professional follow-up and involvement, all by video, were simple and effective.
Thank you! I recommend him 100%.”
“I had been struggling with lower back pain (L4-L5) for almost three years. Surgery helped with leg pain but not the back pain itself.
I began Andy’s program four months ago with online sessions every two weeks. I now have days where I don’t notice my back at all and I’ve resumed ordinary activities I had stopped.
He is an extraordinary professional — always kind and willing to help. If he’s helped me this much in a few months, I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Thank you, Andy.”
“I call Andy a miracle worker. I suffered with chronic back pain for four years and tried everything: medication, physiotherapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, yoga. Nothing worked.
Remarkably, just by stopping the stretches I’d been doing for years, I experienced immediate relief.
Andy’s thorough approach and easy-to-follow program have made a huge difference. I now feel empowered, in control of my pain, and hopeful about the future. I understand my triggers and how to work around them.
Although there’s still a road ahead, I finally see a silver lining. I fully recommend working with Andy.”
“Andy has worked a literal miracle on my back. Before, I had almost constant pain; now I hardly have any. His practical approach to strengthening, stretching, and movement comes from real experience and knowledge.
My general strength and fitness have also improved — I can run pain-free again. I couldn’t recommend him highly enough!”
“After months of back pain and trying massages, stretching, yoga, and physiotherapy that only worsened my symptoms, I found Andy.
I was surprised how detailed and effective it was online. He quickly identified pain-causing movements and showed me how to modify them. The pain improved quickly and within weeks I was almost always pain-free.
Thank you for your patience and dedication, Andy. This money is well spent for the sake of a pain-free life.”
Lower back pain doesn’t have to control your life. Whether it’s caused by an issue common to men and women or by one unique to women, I’ll help you get to the root of the problem and put you on the path to becoming pain-free.
Book a free online consultation with me today to find out more about how I can help you.
