As many as 16% of Australians – around 4 million people – suffer from back pain. And if you’re among these people, chances are you’ve spent plenty of time trying to learn the causes of your back pain, and how to alleviate it.
Unfortunately, it’s also very likely that you’ve heard plenty of commonly-held myths about the topic as well. Through this article, our physiotherapists wish to debunk some of those misconceptions – and hopefully help you along on your journey to being pain-free.
Truth: Your back can and should be strong.
It’s easy to see why we’d think we constantly have to treat our backs delicately. After all, we constantly hear of people around us hurting their backs doing everyday tasks. Not to mention the fact that our spine, made up of all those little bones, houses our spinal cord, which is crucial to our very survival.
But your back isn’t just those bones. It’s also made up of muscles, some of which are large and can be trained to handle plenty of load, with the proper conditioning. Strengthening these muscles is key to back stability and reducing the stress on your discs.
This diagram shows some of the main back muscles responsible for motion and stability: the erector spinae, latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius.
Truth: Excessive bed rest can delay your recovery.
Rest is important when you have a back injury. After all, sitting or standing for long periods when you’re in pain is exhausting.
But spending entire days in bed won’t make your back pain go away sooner – in fact, it can even slow your recovery and add to the problem. Spending too much time lying down can lead to your muscles becoming weaker and deconditioned, which can in turn mean reduced stability and range of motion in your back.
Getting back to gentle stretching and regular movements as soon as you can tolerate it is key. A physiotherapist can guide you on how to safely get moving again to facilitate recovery.
Truth: Lifting heavy isn’t necessarily bad for your back.
If you’ve ever looked at someone lifting heavy weights at the gym and think, “They’re bound to hurt their back,” then you might be in for a surprise.
Lifting heavy in and of itself is not injurious. (Powerlifting – a sport that revolves around lifting maximal weights – has a relatively low rate of injury compared with other sports.)
The important thing is to make sure you know how to use your muscles to lift safely and effectively, and to build enough strength in those muscles in order to handle loads.
Truth: Disc herniations don’t always require surgery, or even show symptoms at all.
For most people, the phrase ‘herniated disc’ is frightening. And it’s understandable, given how often we hear of people suffering debilitating pain from disc herniations and needing surgery to treat it.
But here’s some good news: having a herniated disc doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll need surgery. In fact, having a herniated disc doesn’t even always mean you’ll have pain or any symptoms at all.
In fact, it’s very common for people to be walking around with herniated discs without even knowing about it, because the affected disc isn’t pressing on a nerve.
And even if your disc herniation is symptomatic, it still doesn’t always mean surgery. There’s a good chance for disc herniations to heal, and symptoms to resolve, with conservative treatment and physiotherapy.
Truth: There are steps we can take to lower our risk for back pain even as we age.
While it’s true that we can become more prone to back pain as we age, we shouldn’t accept that back pain is just par for the course as we age.
Here’s how to keep our backs in good shape as we get older:
Truth: With the right guidance and physiotherapy, you can get back to your sport.
If you practise a sport, or any other physically active hobby (which could be anything from dancing to gardening), you may be worried that back pain will spell the end of it. Fortunately, that’s often not the case, and a qualified physiotherapist will have the tools and expertise to get you back to doing what you love.
Of course, you will need to be patient: depending on the severity of your injury, rehabbing your back injury can take time. After all, rehab doesn’t stop at just alleviating pain–it should also bring back the range of motion and strength that you need to perform.
Truth: While they can help, they’re not a guaranteed fix.
If you find that your desk setup is uncomfortable and leads to bad sitting posture, it may be worth it to spend a reasonable amount for a good ergonomic chair. This is especially true if you spend most of your day at your desk.
Same is true for your bed – after all, you spend about a third of each day in it – so if your current mattress is uncomfortable, it might be worth it to explore your options.
Just make sure to manage your expectations with either, and not be too disappointed if it doesn’t magically fix your back pain. While they can help you maintain good sitting or sleeping posture, realise that that is only one aspect of back health. It’s possible that your back pain may be caused by something unrelated to your posture, and you will have to try other modes of treatment.
Truth: There are different physiotherapy modalities that can help.
A physiotherapist can help address the pain and loss of mobility caused by your back injury.
When your back pain has been constant or recurring for years, it’s easy to think that you just “have a bad back” now. But you shouldn’t resign yourself to the idea that you will just have to live with back pain for the rest of your life – especially if you have yet to go to a licensed physiotherapist.
A qualified physiotherapist will explore different modalities to determine the cause of your back pain. This can be anything from manual therapy (e.g., joint and soft tissue mobilisation, myofascial release) exercise therapy, heat and cold therapy, and electrical nerve stimulation.
Determining the cause of your back pain, and then alleviating it so that you can return to your daily life and favourite activities pain-free, is a process that takes time and expert guidance.
Our team of NDIS physiotherapists is here to help you through that whole process. We’ll create and implement individualised treatment plans that will address your specific injuries and needs, to get you back to living pain-free. If you’d like to speak to one of our allied healthcare professionals and learn about what we can do for you, call 02 8808 4000 or message us through our contact form