Here are 7 key things you NEED to know if you want to overcome back pain.
The treatment for back pain has come on greatly in the last 20 years thanks to some great research and amazing work done by these researchers to help therapists change their treatment approach.
While there are many therapists who keep up to date with the evidence and best practice for treating back pain, unfortunately there are many healthcare settings who still don’t.
Therefore, the best practice and management of back pain is often not practiced and there are still many myths and misconceptions regarding back that are outdated and, quite frankly, not true.
In this blog I want to help you get up to date with the latest research and best treatment practice for back pain.
Let’s break some of those old myths that still exist about back pain and help you regain control of your back and live a healthy active life free without back pain getting in the way.
If you are currently not suffering with back pain but know of a friend or loved one who is, then please share this blog with them as it may just be the helping hand that they need.
The Old Myths vs The New Facts You Need To Know When It Comes To Back Pain
Myth1 : Back Pain is usually a serious medical condition
Fact: Back pain can be scary, worrying, distressing and disabling but is rarely life threatening. You are very likely to end up in a wheelchair due to back pain.
Myth 2: Low back pain will become more persistent and get worse in later life
Fact: This is a widespread belief that getting older can cause or worsen your back pain but it is not true. Research does not support this, and evidence-based treatments can help at any age.
Myth 3: Persistent back pain is always related to tissue damage
Fact: Backs are strong and persistent pain is rarely associated with serious tissue damage. If you have had an injury, tissue healing occurs within 3 months so if pain persists beyond that time, it means they are other contributing factors.
Myth 4 : Scans are always needed to detect the cause of low back pain
Fact: Scans rarely show the cause of back pain. They are only helpful to the minority of people.
Many MRI findings from scans are normal in people with NO back pain.
Myth 5: Low back pain is caused by poor posture when sitting, standing or bending
Fact: Back pain is not caused by poor posture even though sitting, standing and bending may be painful.. It’s safe and more efficient to sit in a relaxed way and a variety of posture are helpful for the back
Myth 6: Back pain is caused by having a weak core
Fact: Weak core muscles do not cause back pain. In fact, people with back pain often tense their core muscles as a protective response which can cause further stiffness and pain.
Myth 7: Treatments such as strong medications, injections and surgery are effective and necessary to treat low back pain.
Fact: Wrong, they are not a cure. They have been shown to be not very effective in finding long term solutions for back pain.
With Knowledge Comes Power
There you have it. 7 myths and misconceptions that you may have heard before regarding treatment of back pain. As you can see, they are not true and there is plenty of evidence out there to back that up.
There are indeed more and maybe I will need to do a follow up blog to go through those also. Hopefully, you learned something from this blog today and it gives you some inspiration and motivation to overcome your back pain and lasting relief, even if you have tried before.
If you need help and guidance, as the vast majority of people do, and you like to adopt the Midlands Physio approach, we have a 5 step pathway that we use to help all of our back pain clients.
If you have been suffering with back pain for over 3 months and it is not going away even though you have tried many things to do then you can apply for a free phone consultation to see if our 5 step treatment pathway is right for you.
Fill in your details in the form below to apply for a free phone consultation
Thanks for reading,
Derek Stenson
