Understanding your back pain and managing it early on the right way can make all the difference to your recovery and to getting you back to doing what you love. Beliefs surrounding back pain are rife within our industry and within the media, which reinforces bad habits and incorrect management strategies. The unhelpful beliefs have been strongly proven to lead to greater levels of pain, disability, lower levels of productivity, and increased opiate use. There has been some great research into low back pain which we’re going to share with you here, to help disband some of the myths and to help you understand the facts surrounding low back pain.
Persistent back pain can be scary, but it is rarely dangerous
Persistent back pain can be distressing and disabling, it can cause us a lot of worry and it’s very tempting to forward think to the ‘worst case scenario’. However, back pain is very rarely dangerous or life-threatening and you are very unlikely to end up in a wheelchair.
Getting older is not a cause of back pain
Although it is a widespread belief that getting older causes or worsens back pain, research does not support this. Getting the right advice, evidence based treatment and rehabilitation strategy can help relieve back pain at any age.
Persistent back pain is rarely associated with tissue damage
A lot of back pain begins with no injury or simple everyday movements. These occasions may relate to stress, tension, fatigue, inactivity or unaccustomed activity which make the back sensitive to movement and loading. Backs are strong and it takes an awful lot to cause ‘true’ damage. Tissue healing normally occurs within 3 months, so if you back pain has been persisting for longer than this then it usually means there are other contributing factors.
Scans rarely show the cause of back pain
Scans are only helpful in a minority of people. Lots of scary sounding things like disc-protrusions, arthritis, degeneration etc can be reported on the scan. However, the scans don’t tell you what is the cause of your symptoms are as these findings are very common in people without back pain. Scan’s also change over time, with most disc prolapses shrinking over time.
Graduated exercise and movement in all directions is safe and healthy for the spine
It is common for the spine and the tissues surrounding it to become sensitive to touch and to movement. Therefore, when you exercise and movement, it is common to feel some pain. However, the pain is not an indication of tissue damage, rather it indicates the sensitivity of the tissues. Gradually increasing your exercise and movement is safe and healthy for the spine and has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to treat back pain.
‘Poor posture’ does not cause back pain
Variation is the key. Any posture can become a ‘poor posture’ if we sit, stand, move in that position continually throughout the day. Changing our posture regularly, whether that be to sit taller or to slump, is actually more efficient for the back!
A ‘weak core’ does not cause back pain
Whilst it is good to have strength in the core and the abdominal muscles, it is also equally as important to relax them when they aren’t needed. People with back pain tend to tense their core muscles as a protective response. Being strong when you need to is important, but being tense all the time isn’t helpful.
Backs do not wear out with everyday loading and lifting
The same way that lifting weights makes your stronger, back movements and loading are safe and builds structural resilience when they are graded.
Pain flare ups don’t mean that you’re damaging yourself
Whilst pain flare ups can be very painful and scary, they are not usually related to tissue damage. See our previous blog post on managing flare ups to find out more.
Injections, surgery and stronger medications aren’t usually a cure
These all come with risks and have unhelpful side effects. Finding low risk ways to help you manage your pain – such as physical activity and exercise, healthy sleep habits, optimising your mental wellbeing – is the key.
If you would like help to recover from back pain and feel empowered to a better health, then don’t hesitate to get in touch.
O’Sullivan PB, Caneiro J, O’Sullivan K, et alBack to basics: 10 facts every person should know about back painBritish Journal of Sports Medicine Published Online First: 31 December 2019. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-101611
