Making Sense Of Fear In People With Low Back Pain

Fear. It’s quite possibly the number one factor I have to work with on a day to day basis. Especially when it comes to lower back pain. Which is why this article “Making sense of fear in people with low back pain” is so important.

Some interesting points raised...

“Fifty percent of the general population believe pain in the back means that the back is damaged.”

• Pain is a response to a threat on the body whether that is perceived or real. Pain does NOT always equal damage.

“Around ninety percent believe that ignoring pain can damage the back.”

• Pain is an alarm. To let us know that something is not quite right. BUT that doesn’t mean we have to cave in to its every whim. Some pain is ok and is actually beneficial. The important factor is knowing when to ignore and when to do something about it.

“Seventy percent believe there is ongoing weakness in the back following an episode of low back pain.”

• Yes some people have ‘weakness’ but in the majority of cases the back is super strong. And thinking it’s anything other than that can cause more problems than the perceive weakness itself.

“The experience of LBP can feel threatening and scary for many people.”

• What’s scary is the lack of knowledge in this area and the scaremongering going on from people that tells us that LBP is always something serious, that we are weak, damaged and vulnerable.

“Contrary to popular beliefs, the spine is a strong structure and serious underlying structural causes of LBP are rare.”

• For the majority of people, there is a way to live without fear of back pain and actually live without the pain itself. It’s not always about damage.

“The association between common MRI findings such as disc degeneration and disc bulges and LBP disability is weak.”

• Research has shown that a) people within ‘degeneration’ are not always in pain. And b) people in pain do not always have structural issues. Degeneration is like wrinkles on the inside. It’s normal. It comes with age. Which is why we cannot always trust MRI findings to explain our pain.

“What people believe and do about their LBP has a strong influence on how long the pain will last and how disabled they will be by it.”

• Pain has so many factors. It’s not just one thing. But I’ve come to realise that if people believe that they are damaged and weak they will be less likely to do what they actually need to do to get out of pain. Their response is one of protection and avoidance behaviours. And THAT does not solve anything.

Original article: http://bit.ly/2in4gws