Back Pain Myths – Back Pain Expert Asheville

MYTH #1 - You Should Avoid Movement And Rest To Relieve Back Pain

This is the biggest and most harmful myth that I come across on a daily basis - that prolonged rest will fix your back pain and sciatica.

And this is just simply wrong, sure a day or two of taking it easy is fine, but it doesn’t mean you sit on the couch gorging on junk food and death-scrolling on social media.

Prolonged rest when you don’t feel good already, limits the circulation to the affected area and actually slows down your recovery, leaving you feeling like you can’t return to your regular activities.

It's best to stay active while being sensible and limiting strenuous activities, and then start to do more and more until you've fully recovered.

I’ll give you an example of the kind of damage these myths can cause.

Recently I had a patient that was about to cancel a once-in-a-lifetime trip because they had hurt their back and couldn’t walk, fearing something was broken.

So, what did they do?

Stayed as still as possible for five days!

This only made it worse, but after we got them in and gave them an evaluation, we were able to treat them and provide them with the right tools to be able to make it on their once-in-a-lifetime trip.

And the shocking thing was, they were a health professional too who believe the back pain myth that rest is the cure!

MYTH #2 - It's because you're getting old!

Back pain doesn't have a timeline and is not inevitable as you get older.

However, at some point in our lives, all of us will feel like something is not right in our back whether that's from a heavy gym session or a long weekend on our bike.

When it comes, it’s not because you’re getting old, it’s not arthritis that you've been constantly warned about, and you certainly didn’t inherit your back pain from your parents!

It’s usually because something is out of balance.

Pain is your body's way of alerting you to something that needs attention.

Think of it as the check engine light on your car - 99% of the time when the check engine light comes on it doesn’t mean it’s suddenly going to catch fire, or the engine is going to fall out.

But it does probably mean it could do with a tune-up or an oil change, and that is exactly what your back pain is doing.

Just because the signal is a little bit loud, it doesn’t mean that it is something sinister that can’t be treated in an easy, natural, progressive way without drugs or surgery.

The best thing you can do when back pain strikes is get expert help straight away before it does become a serious issue.

MYTH #3 - If I get a strong core it will solve my back pain!

I have heard literally thousands of patients with back pain walk through my doors and say the line “I just need to work on my core more” and “I need to get my core stronger”.

Often this is coming from Pilates instructors, martial artists, gymnasts, all people that regularly perform incredible feats of strength with their bodies, which tells me they already have an incredibly strong core!

If your car is pulling to one side and you get the alignment fixed and it continues pulling, the alignment probably wasn’t the problem - the same logic can be applied to your back pain.

If you’re already engaging your core and can see and feel its strength, then it probably isn’t your core that is the root cause of your back pain.

Often it has nothing to do with strength and instead it is coming from balance, endurance, and timing.

When it comes to activities such as throwing a ball we think about all the muscles working together and the coordination it takes to throw that ball where we want, but we never think about our spinal muscles in the same way as having coordination and timing.

But the thing is they do!

So often we must take patients back to basics and help them find how these muscles work in a synchronized, coordinated way and what it looks like in a healthy person versus how it looks in you right now.

When we experience back pain we lose the awareness of subtle movements in our body because the pain is acting like someone with a blowhorn in one ear, while you’re trying to hear the whispers of subtle movement, coordination and timing of these muscles.

And it can be really hard to ignore those loud noises as your body has been conditioned to not ignore them because that keeps us safe from dangers like sabre tooth tigers or snakes, but today it’s more like because your back is stiff or you haven’t moved enough today, and we need to bring that subtlety and understanding back that the body needs to move well and in a balanced way.

Are You Shocked, confused Or Even Angry About These Myths That People You Trusted Have Told You - Which Have Probably Lead To MORE BACK PAIN?

I know how worrying it can be when you don't know why you're injured, in pain, or struggling to move freely - and I would love to help you get some clarity in a quick, free telephone call.

Simply click the button below, and arrange a free telephone consultation with me - the leading back pain expert in Asheville - who can answer your questions, listen to your story, and end your uncertainty, confusion and frustration.

BACK PAIN Myths You’ve Been Told By Doctors, Friends, And Social Media – That Stop you hiking, biking and keeping fit

MYTH #1 - You Should Avoid Movement And Rest To Relieve Back Pain

MYTH #2 - It's because you're getting old!

MYTH #3 - If I get a strong core it will solve my back pain!

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