Which is why many people don’t fully recover and end up with a “bad back” for life.
Back pain is a national and international epidemic. An estimated one billion people across the globe suffer with it every day. In fact, chronic back pain has become the number two reason people seek medical care and is the number one cause of disability.
As it turns out, we have been treating back pain all wrong! This report will show you where we have gone wrong in treating back pain.
1. Over-reliance on Xrays and MRI scans to diagnose the cause of your back pain
MRI Scans and Xrays rarely help to identify the true cause of back pain.
When MRI’s came out in the 80’s they thought that we had the technology to identify back pain as we could see changes in people’s backs more clearly, especially the discs of the spine. We jumped to conclusions and associated these changes on the MRI’s with the patient’s back pain.
But what we didn’t realise was that healthy people often have these changes in the spine and they do not have any back pain at all. In fact, many people over the age of 30 have signs of a disc bulge on a MRI and don’t have back pain.
We know now that most cases of disc bulges are like wrinkles – they are a natural part of ageing but don’t cause us pain.
Only in less than 1% of cases MRI’s or Xrays are valuable in determining the cause of your back pain.
If you have been diagnosed as having:
- A disc bulge/prolapse/herniation,
- Arthritis,
- Apondylitis
- Wear and tear based on your MRI or Xray alone
You need to see an experienced and up-to-date back expert who can accurately diagnose your condition.
Imagine trying to work out why your car engine was not working by taking a photograph. There is no chance they could tell what was wrong with it. You can’t diagnose what it causing back pain by taking a fancy photo either.
2. You are given medication to fix your back pain.
In the short term anti-inflammatories and painkillers help to reduce pain so you can move better and heal. Simple over the counter medications is often all that is needed for most cases of back pain.
They probably have their peak effect after 2-3 days and up to 7 days in total, but beyond that, they do more harm than good.
The stronger the medication the more likely you are to have more serious side effects, which can include an increase in pain. Dependency on codeine based painkillers is a significant problem.
“Consumers frequently became addicted to codeine,” a TGA statement said. “Misuse of OTC [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][over-the-counter] codeine products contributes to severe health outcomes including liver damage, stomach ulceration, respiratory depression and death.” Long-term use of medication is not going to fix your back pain – ever.
Pain is a signal from your brain to take action. You can’t cover up the pain with drugs and expect the cause for your back pain to go away. You have to find out the real cause for your back pain, and in many cases, there is a simple fix,- as long as you are in the hands of an expert back pain practitioner who is up to date with current treatment.
If you would like your back assessed by a back pain expert for no out of pocket expenses: CLICK HERE
3. You are told that surgery will fix your back pain
Unless you have a serious disease process like:
- cancer
- a fracture of the spine
- you can’t feel one or both your legs
- the nerves to your bowel or bladder are affected
Surgery is more than likely not the answer.
We know that the scans that surgeons use don’t reliably detect the cause of your back pain. So if it’s not the true cause of your back pain, you should not go cutting into it. In fact, new research has shown that surgery does not get better outcomes than a comprehensive management by a back pain expert.
We had seen many cases that were recommended for surgery get better in under 4 weeks under a comprehensive spinal management program.
The body is a complex interaction of body parts. You can’t just go and cut out an important part like a disc and expect the body to be better afterwards. Strengthening your gluteal ( buttock) muscles will probably get you much better results without any of the trauma.
Clients often think surgery is the answer to their problems, but what they don’t realise is that after the surgery there is a long rehabilitation process.
If clients just did the rehabilitation before surgery, they would have superior results without the trauma of surgery.
4. Laying on a table receiving ONLY passive treatment will fix it.
Passive treatment such as massage, heat, manipulation or adjustments are helpful for early stages of back pain. Often this is all you need for cases of back pain that are treated early (within 6-12 weeks).
If your back pain has been going on for more than 3 months, it is classified as chronic or persistent in nature, you will need a different approach. If you have persistent back pain and you do not have a plan to work on your muscle imbalances and weaknesses, you will not achieve permanent pain relief and you will need ongoing passive treatment. This is why some people keep on going back to a practitioner for treatments week after week, month after month, year after year.
In our experience, passive treatments work well at the start of treatment to decrease pain temporarily, increase movement and decrease muscle spasm. Once you start to move better, you can start to get your back stronger and more resilient again. There are no quick fixes no matter what anyone promises, but by following a tailored back rehabilitation plan, you can eliminate pain and return to activities that you once performed.
5. You are told having a bad back is normal or that you will just have to live with it.
Many people simply put up with back pain, thinking that it is normal, that it’s a part of ageing (often reinforced by doctors).
Back pain is not normal.
Having a bad back is not normal.
In a majority of cases, it can be resolved with the right guidance and dedication.
