3 Back Pain Misconceptions and 3 Solutions!

Today we’re going to discuss 3 common misconceptions with back pain and 3 solutions that you can start today to start to resolve your pain.

Misconception #1: Rest

A lot of people think that when they hurt their back, they need to rest until the pain goes away. In fact, some people go to the doctor and are even told to stop exercising altogether!

While rest may have a time and a place in your recovery, it is not necessarily going to speed up your recovery process. Periods of complete rest can result in loss of strength and mobility as well as increased fear of movement, which can prolong the time it takes to get back to your old-self!

Solution #1: Movement

Well, you probably guessed this, the first solution is MOVEMENT.

This does not mean that you should ignore the signals your body is sending you and continue to exercise at your normal intensity.

What it does mean is that you should scale your exercise routine appropriately (*cough* we can help you with that! *cough*).

Even getting out and going for a walk is better than nothing!

The more that you can move, the more you'll prove to yourself that movement is safe, and that you can handle it. This really sets you on a better path to recovery than resting, because ultimately, your end goal is to continue moving and exercising, not lay around in a bed.

Misconception #2: Weakness 

Have you ever hurt your back and thought to yourself that this injury may have occurred because your back is weak?  Maybe this even sent you down a path of doing a lot of back and core strengthening exercises, like planks and supermans.

Consider this for a moment: Maybe your back is plenty strong enough, and it is doing more work than it wants to be doing because there is a weakness elsewhere!

That’s right, maybe your low back is getting cranky because it’s picking up the slack. Maybe your low back is actually doing a great job!

Think about doing group projects at work or when you were in school. How do you feel when you’re the only one in the group actually doing work while everybody else is slacking? You probably get pretty cranky too!

While there is something to be said about being strong through your back, we need to ensure that there aren’t weaknesses elsewhere (maybe leftover from that old ankle sprain or that knee surgery…).

Solution #2: Global Approach

When figuring out how to manage your low back pain, we don't want to take a magnifying glass and zoom in on your low back alone because we could miss a contributing factor elsewhere in the body.

We want to consider every piece of you and how that ties into the function of your back.

This includes the areas of your mid back, your hips, your legs, and even down into your feet! We basically want to make sure that everything else is doing a really good job so that your back doesn't have to take on all of the load.

Misconception #3: Imaging

While diagnostic imaging (such as x-ray, CT scan, and MRI) also has a time and a place, it shouldn't be your first line of defense.

There isn't a strong correlation between imaging results and what somebody's feeling. For example, you could have an image with no remarkable findings on it and you could have back pain. You could also have an image with disc bulges and arthritic changes (“degenerative disc disease”…they always make things sound so unnecessarily scary), but maybe not have any back pain associated with it.

Solution #3: Get PT First

Research tells us that seeing a Physical Therapist is a more effective step in overcoming back pain than having diagnostic images taken and can save you a lot of money in the long run!.

When we see patients with back pain, we work with them to develop a plan to not only reduce their pain, but get them back to the activities they love to do as quickly as possible.

We know that back pain seems like a step backward, but we want our clients to take 2 steps forward in their time with us!

If you have questions about what you can start doing today to help your new, chronic, or reoccurring back pain, email us today at info@rocptperformance.com!

Check out this video on our YouTube!