Low back pain – Let’s bust the myths!
10 facts you need to know about low back pain:
1. Research shows most people experiencing their first episode of acute low back pain will recover within two to six weeks maximum! Providing they follow the basic proven rules outlined below.
2. Bed rest is not helpful. Although it can be of great relief to lie down initially with acute low back pain, continual bed rest and inactivity is detrimental to a speedy recovery.
3. Staying active during an episode of acute low back pain can help to reduce pain and improve function faster.
4. Scans and X-rays are usually not necessary. A large number of pain-free people have findings like disc bulges which is just normal. It does not mean you have pain from the disc nor that you have a “pinched nerve”.
5. Avoiding activity and moving carefully does not help you long term. It can set bad habits that are harder to get rid off than your initial back pain!2. Bed rest is not helpful.
6.Worrying about your pain will influence your back pain. Anxiety, worry and fear can just fuel your pain levels and it is not necessary. Back pain does improve. Read point one!
7.Lifting and bending can be done in a safe manner and your physiotherapist is the best person to educate you on this. It is a fallacy to believe that bending is bad for you. Your spine was designed to bend, twist and be used!
8. Movement of your back is good. It was designed to move in all directions as already stated. Sometimes there is too much emphasis on core training to the point that a person stiffens their spine too much. This can interfere with healthy movement.
9. More back pain does not usually mean more damage. There is no correlation to tissue damage and the level of back pain one suffers. Injured tissue heals. Unfortunately, those who are misled to believe they are damaged and won’t recover take longer to recover or develop an unnecessary chronic pain cycle.
10. Back pain is not caused by something being out of place. This is a fallacy and not proven in research, science or literature. If your therapist tells you that you are “out of alignment” or your “joint is out of place” or “you have slipped a disc” they are conditioning you to believe something that does not exist.
Are you suffering from lower back pain?
Get it sorted soon to get you out of pain quicker and prevent any recurrence.
