Montpelier Family Chiropractic Newsletter
Our free monthly e-newsletter is designed to be used as a resource for our patients in discovering and empowering them to make the best choices for their health and wellbeing.
16022 Newfound Hills Lane
Montpelier, VA 23192
Ph1: 804-883-3000
Fax: 804-883-7247
Theresa Neiss
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Back Surgery Results Very Disappointing
Dr. John Zimmerman
[ read article ]
All Out of Joint
Dr. David Koivuranta
[ read article ]
Seven Myths About Lower Back Pain
Dr. David L. Phillips
[ read article ]
Back and Neck Pain: Heavy Burdens
Dr. James Bogash
[ read article ]
Refer someone today so you can both be "on the ball" with your health. We are giving fitness balls away to each new patient this spring.
Seven Myths About Lower Back Pain
Dr. David L. Phillips
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Lower back pain is common…more common than the common cold. 8 out of every 10 people have had a back problem, or will have a back problem sometime in his or her life. Consequently, when it's your turn it seems as if everyone has an opinion and some advice to offer. Sometimes this unasked advice can be very helpful. On the other hand, sometimes this advice can actually be harmful, even damaging. Age-old wisdom about back pain abounds. Some of these so-called common sense notions have long since been discredited by research, observation and study. In this article, I’d like to discuss the most common urban myths surrounding lower back difficulty. Much of my background information comes from Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins publication The BackLetter from the January 2004 edition. This edition sites a study from Norway in which over 1000 telephone surveys were conducted about beliefs of back pain. The results were surprising, only in the fact that these false opinions seem to live on.
The 7 most common wrong notions about low back pain are:
1. Back pain is usually disabling.
2. If your back hurts, you should rest until it goes away.
3. Most back pain is caused from lifting.
4. If you have a slipped disc, you need surgery.
5. X-rays, MRI’s and CT scans can always tell what’s wrong with your back.
6. Everyone with back pain should have an x-ray.
The main thing to do with a sore back is to rest in bed.
A good majority of those interviewed held these thoughts about back pain. Although this study involved random members of the Norwegian population, I suspect these views are quite universal. Many of these attitudes come from medical advice given to patients by their doctors 30 or 40 years ago. In spite of new thinking on these subjects, conventional wisdom dies hard.
It is amazing to me how much stock people put into x-rays and other imaging techniques, especially MRI. How can we get it across to patients that these modern gadgets, while very helpful with some disease states, are of minimal value when dealing with the common, garden variety lower back strain? By far the majority of back pains are functional in nature, not structural; therefore, pictures and images that look at bones and muscles (the structure) cannot possibly see problems in the way things move, and work in the spine. These advanced imaging methods are expensive, time-consuming and somewhat dangerous (particularly ionizing radiation). Waiting weeks and weeks for a CT or MRI while still in pain only serves to potentiate the problem getting worse and more chronic.
Another myth, and one that is potentially harmful, is that of resting a sore back. Sure a person needs to take it easy, especially in the early acute phase of pain. But the notion that you should head for your bed and stay there for days, or weeks, as it was several decades ago, is downright detrimental. Spines are in effect organs of movement, and without movement, these organs lose their abilities. Loss of flexibility, loss of strength, disc degeneration, weakening of ligaments and often fear of further movement are the usual results of too much rest. Most back problems need to be worked through, especially in conjunction with proper professional care.
Professional care is critical to the successful recovery of function after a lower back injury. As an organ of function, the spine needs to regain its mobility, strength and full range of flexibility in order to be considered healed. Simply having the pain go away is not recovery. The functional deficit that resulted in the pain occurring in the first place will still be there long after the pain has gone. That functional deficit will surely come back again, if not restored to normal.
Evidence-based studies of lower back pain have clearly shown that the only ways to restore a spine’s function is to have spinal manipulations, or at least mobilizations and exercise. Drugs to dampen pain and relax muscles have been clearly shown to be temporary and not curative by any stretch of one’s imagination. Use these medications sparingly, with great caution and only for short initial periods.
If you truly want to get over your back problems, see a competent and reasonable chiropractor, the sooner the better.
We welcome you to our clinic! We are a family oriented practice. We are here to help you reach your health care goals and encourage you to take an active role in the process. We use a variety of techniques and look at all aspects of your life to find a plan that works best for you. Care is taken with every patient we see. You are the reason we are here, You are like family to us, we will treat you with integrity and the best possible care.