Why Your Lower Back Is Still Sore 6+ Months After Injury

Six months later and your back still doesn’t feel right?

Maybe you’ve rested it.

You’ve stretched it.

You’ve had treatment.

You’ve done your core exercises.

Things improved for a while… but every time you lift something heavy, spend too long sitting, get back into the gym or have a big week at work, the pain returns.

Sound familiar?

Here’s something important to understand:

Ongoing pain doesn’t automatically mean ongoing damage.

Sometimes there are still physical limitations that need addressing. But persistent back pain can also be influenced by how much load you’re currently able to tolerate, your confidence in movement, sleep, stress, activity levels and how your rehabilitation was progressed.

And one thing we commonly see at Fighting Fit?

Rehab stopped when the pain improved — instead of continuing until the person was actually ready for life again.

Let’s break that down.

1. Your Strength Was Never Properly Assessed

“Your core is weak.”

Cool.

How weak?

Which muscles?

Compared to what?

And is that actually contributing to the problem?

One of the biggest gaps we see in long-term back pain rehab is a lack of objective testing.

We want to understand things like:

How strong your back actually is
How well you tolerate repeated movements
How much load you can handle
How your hips and legs contribute
Which movements reproduce your symptoms
What your work, sport or training actually requires from you

Without assessing those things, rehabilitation can quickly become guesswork.

You wouldn’t prescribe a runner a training program without knowing what they can currently run.

Back rehabilitation should be no different.

Assess. Don’t guess.

2. Your Rehab Never Progressed

This is a big one.

Maybe you were given:

Bridges
Bird dogs
Dead bugs
Some stretches
A resistance band

Those exercises may have been completely appropriate early in your recovery.

But are you still doing exactly the same program six months later?

That’s the problem.

Good rehabilitation should progress as you improve.

That might mean increasing:

Weight
Repetitions
Range of movement
Speed
Complexity
Training volume
Real-world demands

Your rehab at week two shouldn’t necessarily look like your rehab at month six.

If the exercises never became harder, your back may never have rebuilt enough capacity for what you’re asking it to do.

3. You've Been Avoiding Loading Your Back

After a painful back injury, being protective makes sense.

You don’t want to set it off again.

So you stop bending.

Avoid lifting.

Keep everything light.

Maybe someone even told you:

“Whatever you do, don’t lift with your back.”

The problem?

Life requires your back to tolerate load.

Picking up the shopping.

Getting something off the floor.

Gardening.

Working.

Training.

Playing with the kids.

You can’t avoid loading your spine forever.

And you shouldn’t have to.

The goal of rehabilitation is to gradually reintroduce the movements and loads you’ve been avoiding so your body becomes comfortable and capable of handling them again.

4. Your Pain Improved — But Your Capacity Didn't

This distinction is massive.

Feeling better isn’t necessarily the same as being fully rehabilitated.

Massage, manual therapy, modifying activity and early exercises can all help settle symptoms.

That’s useful.

But let’s say your job regularly requires you to lift 20kg.

Your rehab finishes when you can comfortably lift 5kg.

What happens when you return to work?

There’s still a pretty significant gap between what you’ve trained for and what life requires.

Think of it like this:

Pain relief settles things down.

Rehabilitation builds you back up.

We want both.

5. You Haven't Gradually Reintroduced Load

Load isn’t the enemy.

Poorly managed load can be.

If doing absolutely nothing aggravates you less, that doesn’t mean doing nothing is the solution.

We need to find a starting point your back can tolerate and progressively build from there.

That could involve:

Bending
Squatting
Deadlifting
Carrying
Back extension exercises
Rotational movements
Work-specific tasks
Running or sporting movements

Then we gradually increase the challenge.

Your starting point might be very different from someone else’s.

That’s okay.

What matters is that you’re progressing.

6. You Still Think Your Back Is Fragile

This can be one of the hardest things to overcome.

Months of pain can change the way you think about your back.

You start worrying about bending.

You brace before every movement.

You avoid lifting.

You interpret every little ache as another injury.

But your spine isn’t a fragile structure that needs to be protected from movement forever.

It’s strong. It’s adaptable. And it responds to training.

That doesn’t mean ignoring pain and smashing through everything.

It means gradually showing your body that movement and load are safe again.

As your physical capacity improves, your confidence often improves with it.

And that matters.

So, What Needs to Change?

If your back is still bothering you months after an injury, simply repeating the same treatment probably isn’t the answer.

It’s worth asking:

Have we actually measured my strength?
Has my rehab progressively become harder?
Am I still avoiding certain movements?
Does my program reflect what I need to do at work, in the gym or in sport?
Have we rebuilt my confidence as well as my strength?
Are there other factors affecting my recovery?

Because the goal isn’t simply:

“Get the pain to settle.”

It’s:

“Get you capable of doing what you need and want to do again.”

The Bottom Line

If your lower back is still sore six months after an injury, it doesn’t automatically mean something is still damaged.

And it definitely doesn’t mean your back is broken.

Sometimes the missing piece is that rehabilitation hasn’t progressed far enough to match the demands you’re placing on your body.

Other times, persistent pain is more complex and we need to look beyond strength alone.

Either way, doing another six months of exactly the same thing probably isn’t the answer.

Assess what’s missing. Build capacity. Progress the load. Get back to living.

Still Dealing With Back Pain Months Later?

If you’ve done the stretching, had the massage, completed the basic exercises and your back still isn’t where you want it to be, let’s work out what’s missing.

At Fighting Fit Physiotherapy, we’ll assess your strength, movement and physical capacity, then build a progressive rehabilitation plan around what you actually need your back to do.

Work. Gym. Sport. Kids. Life.

👉 Book in with the Fighting Fit team and let’s get your back stronger, more capable and ready for what you want to throw at it.

Renae Wood

Renae joined our Exercise Physiology team in 2021.

Having a long history in the health and fitness industry as well as growing up around all things exercise (her mum is also an Exercise Physiologist) this career runs in her blood.

Renae has a love of both strength and conditioning as well as pilates to help people over come injury, pain or health concerns.

Brenda Samosa

2 years ago

I had a really bad shoulder and had been seeing a different physio for 3 months (from a different place) I got told Tyson was good. After just a few sessions the movement was coming back. I’m 66 and was worried I would have to stop surfing. But with a lot of help from Tyson I’m back in the waves ( thank you so so much)

Cyana Ferguson

Steve Harris

Great team, all friendly, super helpful and first class clinical advice and a big shout out to my Physio Noah with my shoulder issue

Andrea Bell

These guys are the best in the biz 🎉

Ryan Brockett

Shout out to Max from fighting fit physio. He helped me out massively straight after shoulder surgery and back into work and sports in no time. Couldn’t recommend anyone better!

Scotty

Five star service from Max & the team!
Professional & very thorough, you know that patient outcomes are of the highest priority.
I highly recommend this business.

Riley Wilson

Be AWARE they’ll immediately try to commit you to multiple follow up sessions after your initial consultation. This happened to me and then I later found out that as it just so happens, they have a cancellation policy that says you have to pay 100% of the consultation fee for cancelling. They failed to tell me this when they were pushy in committing me to 6 sessions after my consult, so that was a really nice little surprise.

I was already uncomfortable with how pushy they were in having me commit to so many sessions, so when I heard about the policy I just cancelled all together. So, I can’t speak further to the quality of their service throughout therapy phase. FYI this was also a few months ago now, it’s possible (though unlikely) they may have changed the policy. Just ask the question.

Megan Shelley

Fighting Fit Physiotherapy is hands down the best physio I've encountered. Having tried multiple physios for various injuries, I always find myself coming back to them. Their expertise consistently exceeds expectations, helping me get back to my sport faster than I thought possible. Their personalized approach and attention to detail make all the difference. I could not recommend a better or more exceptional physio team!

Gina Matthews

3 years ago

Can't recommend this place high enough. I was in so much pain with my knee an had been for months through advise an exercises I'm now looking forward to returning to gym an back riding my horses in endurance thank you so much

Courtney Halse

4 years ago

Kyle was knowledgeable, personable and professional. He saw me through my second pregnancy and continued to work with me until 6 months post partum on issues with my back. Would recommend anyone to go and see him.

Also shout out to Georgia on the front desk. She makes you feel welcome and brings a sense of warmth to the place!

Alli Davenport

After hip replacement surgery in February I wanted toget back into weight training legs, I started with Mitch 18 weeks ago and after a lot of hard work and sweat I am able to safely train again, I cannot thank Mitch enough for his support,encouragement and knowledge. The staff are friendly and helpful and I always looked forward to my session's

Robert Parkinson

This is the second time I have been treated by the team at FFP.
As a health professional myself I have been impressed with the level of care I have received from all members of the team.
The personalised treatment and rehabilitation programs have produced excellent results and I have completed both programs pain free and feeling stronger than before my injuries.
During the program there was constant communication and follow up and they were very accommodating with my work schedule.
All in all it was a very holistic experience and I would highly recommend the service.

Kiri Canavan

Tyson was amazing! We came up with an 8 week plan at my first consultation with weekly check ins and updates to exercises. 8 weeks later, I am pain free and able to train harder than ever. Highly recommend and the staff are all fantastic and super accomodating!

Six months later and your back still doesn’t feel right?

1. Your Strength Was Never Properly Assessed

2. Your Rehab Never Progressed

3. You've Been Avoiding Loading Your Back

4. Your Pain Improved — But Your Capacity Didn't

Feeling better isn’t necessarily the same as being fully rehabilitated.

5. You Haven't Gradually Reintroduced Load

6. You Still Think Your Back Is Fragile

So, What Needs to Change?

The Bottom Line

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