6 Myths of Back Pain
Back pain can be frustrating and at times confusing. There are many myths and misconceptions about back pain. Some misunderstandings can lead to harmful coping strategies and prolonged recovery times.
A lot has changed in recent years in terms of what we understand about pain and how we treat it. This is why finding a good practitioner who stays up to date-with current research and practices is so important.
SO Let’s debunk!
Myth: “Back Pain Can Result in Paralysis”
Truth: The spinal structures are typically resilient and have excellent healing capabilities when treated appropriately. The common causes of back pain are often problems within the bony tissues or damage to the soft tissues, such as muscles, ligaments, nerves or spinal discs.
For paralysis to occur, the sensitive inner structures of the spine, such as the spinal cord or cauda equina (a group of spinal nerves that descend from the spinal cord) must be affected to a degree that the nervous transmission of sensory and motor signals are decreased or lost.
This occurrence is rare because the spinal cord and cauda equina are well protected within the spinal canal by strong ligamentous, bony, and muscular tissues. Even if the spinal cord and/or the cauda equina are affected, prompt treatment can help relieve and decompress these tissues, preventing long-term complications, such as paralysis.
Myth: “Rest is helpful”
Truth: Bed rest and prolonged rest were previously popular treatments for low back pain. However, we now know that people with low back pain who remain active (even when in pain) do better long term. In fact, it appears the longer a person stays in bed because of low back pain, the worse their pain, disability and ability to work becomes. Prolonged periods of bed rest and activity avoidance, may lead to the following changes in your spine:
• Your muscles can become tight and your joints stiff due to lack of movement.
• When you rest, inflammation builds up around your joints. Movement can prevent this.
• Movement increases blood flow to the muscles in your back, so rest may lead to a lack of oxygen in your muscles, causing more cramping and pain.
With all this in mind, it is important to keep moving, even when you are in pain. A slow walk around the block, gentle stretching at home or even just walking around the house for a few minutes at a time can make a huge difference. While this movement can help decrease recovery time, it is still important to have a chat with your chiropractor regarding your problem, to ensure you get the care you need.
Myth: “Lifting weight will cause my back pain to get worse”
Truth: It goes without saying that good technique is critical when it comes to protecting your back during weight training. With proper form and solid technique, studies have shown great benefits to hig- load resistance training in people with back pain. Weight training has an enormous number of benefits. With regards to your back, doing specific weight training is important to help strengthen not only your back muscles but also the ligaments, tendons and discs.
We frequently recommend resistance exercises where appropriate. Using the correct applications of strength and conditioning we can aim to improve the patient’s strength, flexibility and muscular endurance, ultimately rectifying the potential underlying problem.
Myth: "Lower back pain is only an old person's problem”
Truth: There is never one single reason for lower back pain, such as age, but rather several contributing factors. Low back pain is the most common cause of disability in the world. Since 1990, the prevalence of low back pain has increased by 54% worldwide. In Australia, 80% of people will be affected by low back pain in their lifetime, with 1 in 6 people reporting debilitating symptoms.
Myth: “Pain equals damage”
Truth: Pain is very complex and differs with every individual. There is a poor link between the amount of pain someone is in and actual tissue damage. Pain is, simply put, an unpleasant sensation as the result of actual or perceived threat of tissue damage. Like any other sensation pain is processed in the brain. The brain also processes our feelings, our hopes and fears, and our memories. These all combine with the potential or real threat of tissue damage to produce the experience we call pain.
Pain is real, whether or not there is actual tissue damage. But pain does not equal tissue damage! There are many factors that influence pain such as a negative mindset, fear avoidance behaviour, negative recovery expectations, and poor pain coping behaviours. These factors are more strongly associated with persistent pain than actual tissue damage.
Myth: “I need a scan to see what is wrong with my back”
Truth: In general, this is not the case. In most cases, Chiropractors and other allied health professionals should be able to develop a successful diagnosis and treatment approach, based on a comprehensive medical history and physical examination. Only a few specific symptom patterns in a minority of cases indicate the need for an X-ray, MRI scan or other investigations.