1. Masking the symptoms.
There isn’t anything wrong with dealing with your acute low back symptoms with medication. Pain is the body’s way of warning us that the problem has reached a critical stage like a fire alarm. But, you need to figure out WHY those tissues are getting irritated and so treating the root cause of the pain, instead of “killing the pain”.
2. Never ignore your pain
People ignore their pain for too long, hoping that it will just go away. This can go on for years and years- it comes back again, goes away and comes back again, so you might think that if you don’t do anything it will go away anyway. The problem is that the longer you have had it for, the longer it may take to solve it.
3. Not realising back pain doesn’t just appear overnight
Mostly, back problem has slowly developed over time. If someone bends over to pick up the newspaper and his back hurts, it is not just the fault of picking up the newspaper. That was only the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Our work and our play have become much more specialised than they were for our ancestors who walked hours a day. We just don’t get the range of movement and activity that they did, getting stiffer and more prone to injuries.
4. Once you start having back pain, you have to live with it for the rest of your life.
Back pain can recur above all if there are degenerative changes. However, thanks to relevant and specific programmes of rehabilitation, most of problems can be stabilised and even improved. Besides a good spine care practitioner should recommend how to prevent recurrence and how to cope if you experience more problems.
5. Staying still
A couple of days of rest at the onset of acute injury may be indicated and helpful. However, many people often take a few days of rest to mean stop moving completely and protect the back at all costs. In fact, stay active.
6. X-ray/MRI are necessary to diagnose the cause of the problem
It is internationally recommended not using x-ray or MRI for common non-traumatic low back pain. The film may show degenerative changes, however it won’t show the cause of the pain necessarily. In fact, you may have terrible pain and an MRI scan that shows a normal-looking spine, or you may have an MRI that shows a large bulged disc yet have no correlated pain.
7. Jumping to surgery
For many, it’s tempting to view spine surgery as a “quick fix.” However, for common low back pain, it is typically recommended to avoid non-surgical treatment for several months. In fact, hardly half of patients experience good outcomes from surgery, with many still experiencing pain and restrictions in function; not mentioning risks. It is estimated that only 1% of people suffering low back pain need surgery.
