A PIONEERING project to stop back problems before they start has been launched in Blackburn and Darwen community centres.
Physiotherapists began touring local groups last week to give talks on preventing low back pain, which affects six out of ten people at some time in their lives.
Sue Whitehead, spinal specialist at Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust, said she hoped the talks would teach people how to prevent back pain and how to treat themselves if it occurred.
She said: "Back pain can make an enormous difference to people -- it can lead to people having to give up work and their role in their families."
The physiotherapists will visit groups at community centres in Audley, Accrington Road, Shadsworth, Ivy Street, Bangor Street and Sudellside, Darwen. They will return a month later to find out if they have made lifestyle changes.
The programme has been paid for by European Social Funding of more than £2,000. If their research shows the talks are effective, they may expand the programme to primary schools, factories and offices.
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