Can Your Golf Swing
Cause Back Pain?

Golf is among our favorite pass-times in Colorado. With our sunny days and amazing views, it’s probably one of the most relaxing ways to spend a day. But since we tend to think of it as a leisure activity, the health benefits of golf are often overlooked. Like most activities with health benefits, golf comes with some risk. Although chances are slim, injuries and improper technique from golfing can lead to painful physical injuries and back pain.

According to golf injury statistics, approximately 15 – 20% of golfers experience injuries of some kind each year. Of the injuries typically experienced by golf athletes, back pain from golf swing is the most common by far. In fact, back pain from playing golf accounts for 20% of all reported injuries among golfers.

Chronic back and neck pain not only hinder one’s ability to enjoy the game but may stop them from playing altogether.  A proper golf swing is performed on a tilted plan and requires the use of several different muscle groups throughout the entire body working together to push the club head to speeds over 100mph. With the considerable muscle force required for the movement, the key for most golfers is learning how to avoid straining the muscles or causing pain without compromising the power and accuracy of their swing.

The Function of Your Spine in Your Golf Swing

Golfers have been previously taught that the power of their swing was generated from the arms and the shoulders. Newer techniques have shifted the power of the swing to start from the ground up. This newer method involves many muscles and structures in the body to achieve club head speed. As you may expect, this puts more stress on the spine. For this reason, the area most prone to injury among golfers is the lower back.

Golf Swing Spine Pain

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    Common Back Injuries from Playing Golf

    The most common back injuries from playing gold are muscle strains and disc injuries. The majority of these injuries are from over-use of the back muscles or abnormalities in the swing (which may aggravate a pre-existing spine abnormality).

    You can prevent this back pain by refining your form and technique. Additionally, exercising your back muscles through flexibility-focused exercises like yoga will ease back pain. It will also serve well in preventing future back injuries.

    Treating Back Injuries from Playing Golf

    Most of these acute back injuries will respond to rest and rehab, but more serious pain may require the help of a qualified spine specialist. Based on your individual condition, SpineOne’s specialists can provide physical therapy, epidural steroid injections, as well as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory injections to help relieve back pain. The treatment plans followed by our physicians are designed to relieve your debilitating pain, and then provide an ongoing blueprint to vastly diminish the chances your pain will return.