In clinical practice, I have repeatedly seen the same pattern.

Someone makes progress, starts to feel more confident, then a flare-up happens and it feels as though they are back at the start again. This “start-over” cycle can be one of the most frustrating parts of recurring lower back pain.

The problem is often not a lack of effort.

It is often that the advice has arrived in disconnected pieces.

One person says rest. Another says stretch. Another says strengthen. Another says keep moving. Each piece may have some value, but without the right timing and context, people can be left feeling as though they have tried everything.

BackAtlas is built around a different idea:

You may not have failed because nothing works. You may simply not have been given the right thing, in the right order, at the right time.

The aim is not to give people a huge library of information. It is to help them understand where they are, what matters now, what may need to wait, and what the next useful step could be.

BackAtlas is built around structure, timing, and clearer decision-making.

Recurring lower back pain can feel unpredictable, but repeated flare-ups often have patterns. These patterns may involve load, recovery, fear, overdoing it, underdoing it, stress, sleep, work demands, movement habits, or returning to activity too quickly.

BackAtlas helps people begin to understand those patterns without turning the process into a complicated medical lesson.

The focus is not on rigid rules or generic exercise lists. It is on helping people make better sense of what is happening, so they can take the next step with more confidence and less guessing.

That means understanding things like:

• what may matter during a flare-up

• what not to rush too soon

• when gradual movement becomes useful again

• why setbacks can happen even when you are trying hard

• how to move from “it has settled” toward trusting your back more in daily life

BackAtlas is not about giving people more noise. It is about helping them find a clearer path through the noise.

BackAtlas exists to help people move from confusion to clearer next steps when lower back pain keeps returning.

Its purpose is to provide calm, structured, educational guidance for people who are tired of conflicting advice, repeated setbacks, and not knowing what to do when symptoms flare again.

The goal is not to promise a quick fix. It is to help people understand the process more clearly, make better-informed decisions, and rebuild trust in their back gradually.

BackAtlas was created by Marc Sanders, a UK chiropractor, clinic director, and postgraduate musculoskeletal researcher.

Marc has worked as a chiropractor since 2017 and is the Clinic Director of Nottingham Chiropractor. His clinical work has focused on helping people understand and manage spinal pain in real life - including the recurring lower back pain flare-ups, setbacks, and uncertainty that often leave people unsure what to do next.

Alongside clinical practice, Marc is a postgraduate musculoskeletal researcher within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton. His research focuses on chiropractic care and health system integration, including how different parts of healthcare can work together more effectively.

BackAtlas brings together Marc’s clinical experience, evidence-informed thinking, and public education work. It is shaped by years of seeing the same problem in different forms: people are often given advice, but not always given the structure, timing, and explanation they need to use that advice well.

BackAtlas is shaped by three main strands: clinical experience, evidence-informed thinking, and public education.

Clinical experience matters because recurring lower back pain rarely follows a neat textbook pattern. People often have to make decisions while they are tired, frustrated, cautious, or unsure whether they should rest, move, stretch, strengthen, or seek more help.

Evidence-informed thinking matters because advice should not be based on guesswork, trends, or fear. BackAtlas is built from clinical reasoning, ongoing professional development, research reading, and an understanding that the right advice depends on timing, context, and the person’s current stage.

Public education matters because useful guidance needs to be clear enough to use when someone is actually in the middle of a flare-up. Since 2018, Marc has served on the British Chiropractic Association’s Communications Committee, contributing evidence-informed public and professional education on low back pain, spinal pain, prevention, self-management, and musculoskeletal health.

These strands come together in the aim of BackAtlas: to help people understand what may matter now, what may need to wait, and how to take the next step with more structure and less guesswork.

Marc’s professional background combines clinical practice, academic training, research, public education, and professional service.

Selected background:

• Chiropractor since 2017

• Clinic Director of Nottingham Chiropractor

• Postgraduate musculoskeletal researcher, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton

• British Chiropractic Association Communications Committee member since 2018

• British Chiropractic Association Policy Committee member

• Contributor to national consultations and professional discussions relating to spinal care and musculoskeletal health

• Recipient of the British Chiropractic Association Chiropractor’s Chiropractor Award 2025

• Recipient of the British Chiropractic Association Research Prize in 2024 and 2025
• Doctor of Chiropractic, Health Sciences University 2017

• Graduated as Valedictorian and received academic excellence awards including the Hugh Gemmell Memorial Scholarship and Arthur Scofield Memorial Award

• BSc Biochemistry, University of York 2009, including biosciences achievement recognition and early scientific publications

• Qualifications: DC, BSc (Biochem), BSc (Human Sci), MSc (Chiropractic), MRCC

BackAtlas content is written from clinical experience, evidence-informed reasoning, and safety-aware education.

The aim is to make lower back pain guidance clearer, calmer, and easier to use. That means explaining common patterns, flare-ups, setbacks, and next steps in plain language, without turning the reader into a back pain expert.

BackAtlas does not use fear-based messaging or promise quick fixes. It is designed to help people understand what may be happening, what may matter now, and when self-guided education is not enough.

Future BackAtlas articles and guides will clearly identify who created them and will be reviewed periodically to keep the information clear, accurate, and safety-aware.

BackAtlas provides educational guidance for people whose lower back pain keeps returning after it seems to settle.

It is designed to help people understand flare-ups, make sense of repeated setbacks, and take clearer next steps with more structure and less guesswork.

BackAtlas does not provide diagnosis, personalised medical advice, emergency advice, or a replacement for care from a qualified healthcare professional.

If your symptoms are severe, changing, unexplained, worrying, or linked with other health concerns, you should seek appropriate medical advice. If you have symptoms that may need urgent attention, follow the guidance on the Medical & Safety Disclaimer page or contact an appropriate healthcare service.

BackAtlas is best understood as an educational support tool. It can help you think more clearly about common patterns and next steps, but it cannot assess your individual health situation.

BackAtlas is a UK-based digital education project created by Marc Sanders.

For questions about the website, waitlist, pre-launch updates, or the lower back pain guides, please use the Contact page.

For information about how BackAtlas handles personal information, please read the Privacy Policy.

For the terms that apply to using the website and joining the waitlist, please read the Terms & Conditions.

For important safety information, including when to seek medical advice, urgent help, or further assessment for lower back pain, please read the Medical & Safety Disclaimer.