Project Description

WORKSHOP 9:

Rethinking women and back pain – Sex Specific Mechanisms Integrating Musculoskeletal, Hormonal & Pelvic Health Across The Lifespan

Speakers: Michelle Lyons

Back pain is one of the most common causes of disability in women, yet it is frequently assessed and managed without adequate consideration of female-specific physiology and life-course factors. This evidence-based workshop will explore back pain in women through an integrated musculoskeletal, reproductive status and pelvic health lens, highlighting particularly the bidirectional relationship between back pain and pelvic floor dysfunction.

Emerging research demonstrates that pelvic floor muscle dysfunction and central sensitisation can contribute to persistent low back pain in women. The workshop will examine key female-specific presentations, including back pain as a symptom of endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain syndromes, where nociceptive, inflammatory, and neuropathic mechanisms intersect. Pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy and the postpartum period will be addressed, with discussion of hormonal, biomechanical, and psychosocial contributors, as well as evidence-based screening and management strategies. The session will also consider back pain in menopause, with a focus on musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. osteoporosis, and the role of exercise and pelvic health in maintaining spinal health and function.

Participants will leave with practical, evidence-informed assessment frameworks and management strategies that reflect the complexity of women’s back pain across the lifespan and support more accurate diagnosis, targeted intervention, and improved clinical outcomes.