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Back pain, back to work.
Eighteen months of 4pm agony, one stiff thoracic spine — and six sessions that changed how Tom works.
Overview
Tom, 38 — persistent desk-related back pain.
Tom writes code ten hours a day. For a year and a half, every afternoon ended with a deep ache between his shoulder blades and a lower back that seized if he stood too fast. Scans showed nothing structural; painkillers and a standing desk had both failed.
His goal was unglamorous and vital: finish a workday without pain, and play five-a-side again without paying for it for days.
Challenge → approach → result
Challenge
Stiff middle, tired base
Thoracic extension was minimal, hip flexors shortened from years of sitting, and glutes that refused to fire during bridging.
Approach
Mobilise, then load
Manual thoracic work plus daily extension drills freed the mid-back; short strength circuits woke the glutes; a desk audit fixed monitor height and chair depth.
Result
Pain-free workdays
By session six the 4pm ache was gone, five-a-side resumed, and Tom's maintenance is eight minutes a morning — which he actually does.
What made the difference
We fixed the day, not just the back.
Hands-on treatment opened the window; the desk overhaul and micro-break routine kept it open. Tom's case is why Align & Thrive always pairs mobility with ergonomics: Align & thrive therapy.
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