Back Pain: More Myths

Following on from last month, where we discussed the first two myths about back pain, here the experts at True Physio look at another couple of the most frequent things they hear in clinic, that aren’t quite accurate

Have a look back at the last edition of Live Ribble Valley if you haven’t already read about the first two myths.

Myth Three: A scan will tell me exactly what is wrong
The problem with scans is that they show everything that is happening in the spine. This can be incredibly useful at times but is not always helpful.
Lots of research has been done recently, and it’s shown that a massive majority of people who don’t have any lower back pain, will have ‘problems’ that show up on an MRI scan.
An amazing number of people get told they have arthritis in their back or degenerative disc disease. Well yes they might, but it’s like telling someone they’ve got grey hair. It’s a completely normal part of life and it doesn’t have to cause pain.
We see loads of people who have been told they have arthritis, and degenerative disc disease who come to us thinking there isn’t really a lot that can be done for them. However, that problem didn’t come on overnight.
One day they didn’t have pain, and the next they did. There’s no way that their arthritis or degenerative disc disease wasn’t there one day and was their the next – and that means that you may well have those things, but it doesn’t mean you have to just put up with the pain!
Scans taken in conjunction with a physical assessment will give a much clearer picture and there’s nearly always something that can be done.

Myth Four: Pain equals damage
With the better understanding the medical profession is developing on what pain is and how it works, we know that this simply is not true.
Pain and how we perceive it can be influenced by a whole host of thing. For example – previous experience, beliefs that back pain cannot be treated and will reoccur, general health and sleep, all play a part in the severity of the pain we experience. That, and with the back being very important to the body, the brain usually makes the pain feel even worse just so you don’t ignore it.
Often the severity of the problem is very small. If you had the same issue in your ankle for example, the pain would be massively less as it’s less important to you.
This fourth myth means that to treat back pain and get our patients back to doing the things they love, we spend time on an in-depth assessment and explanation of what the injury is and how the problem can be resolved. Done properly this ensures that our patients understand the problem and how best to resolve it – a very important first step to getting our patients back to the life they love and away from the pain they hate.

If you have any questions about your back pain, or any other issue, please don’t just put up with it. Get in touch and speak to one of our physios so you can get the right advice at the right time.

www.truephysio.co.uk

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