Beat chronic back pain
There’s three certainties in life: death, taxes and back pain. If you get chronic back pain and it’s hard to get up, bend over, or lift things, keep reading.
The Problem
“Back pain happens to everyone at some point. When back pain becomes chronic you need a different approach than wait and see.”
At first, your back pain would go away with a little rest. Then, the pain became worse, happened more often, and lasted longer. Now, the pain never completely goes away.
“The problem is that back pain returns more often and severe or never completely resolves.”
Your back is very stiff getting out of bed in the morning. Putting on your own socks is a difficult task. It takes both arms and a groan to stand up after sitting. Your back feels tired standing in line. You avoid lifting anything heavy because it hurts after doing so.
At its worst, back pain drops you to the floor and leaves you bed-ridden for days. There’s no relieving position and pain meds only take the edge off. You awake from sleep every time you roll over. You feel stiff, fatigued and fragile.
If this sounds like you keep reading. I’ll explain how to beat chronic back pain.
The Solution
“We help a lot of patients with back pain, especially ones who have had symptoms for many years.”
So, how can you beat chronic back pain? If you’ve already tried treatment with limited success, and the problem is chronic, try a different approach.
Here are 5 mistakes made by those who seek treatment for chronic back pain and tips to correct them.
You’re pain reactive
You take action when pain appears only to slack effort when it resolves. This ‘scratch an itch’ approach leaves the issue sitting just below the surface. It takes time to change the texture, strength and range of muscles and joints. It also takes time to form new habits that prevent back pain.
Tip: become proactive and follow through once pain improves.
You’re dosage blind
You get treatment, but ignore the dosage. This ‘sporadic’ approach gives inconsistent results in patients who get the same treatments. Doing squats with different weight, volume and frequency can get very different results. Dosage of back pain treatment is no different.
Tip: perform treatment at the most effective dosage for the best result.
You trail treatments
You try out all the different back pain treatments, but quit early. This ‘trial’ approach fails before you can experience the benefit. Exercise and nutrition programs take effort before you see the results. The initial effort of back pain treatment is much the same.
Tip: commit to a treatment approach for the full benefit.
Your core is late
You start strengthening your core after you’re already in pain. This ‘prevention for treatment’ approach is backwards. Core strength exercises provide support and resiliency for the back. They’re great for prevention, but terrible for pain relief.
Tip: start and continue doing core exercises after the pain stage to keep pain away.
You’re structure focused
You become focused on tests and naming a pain source. This ‘paralysis by analysis’ approach can delay the actions that help. More than one thing can generate back pain. It isn’t always what’s on an MRI or X-ray. Naming the sources isn’t as important as addressing the cause.
Tip: shift focus from what is painful to why it’s painful, then take action.
You can become more resilient to back pain
“Correct these mistakes and you’re far more likely to move easier, get stronger and feel young again.”
If you’ve read until now you likely need help with chronic back pain. Send us a message and tell us how long it’s been affecting you.
The Challenge
“You might think that because your back has arthritis or a bulging disc you’ll always have back pain. That’s not true.”
I had a patient come to me after several years of chronic back pain. He had an MRI that showed a disc bulge in his lower back. He had tried other treatments a few times elsewhere when the pain got bad with limited results.
He wasn’t always in pain, but it was pretty easy to set his back off. Mornings were the worst. It would take him several minutes to get out of bed and then a couple hours before the back stiffness would settle. Getting out of his car was never easy after a long drive. He stopped the core exercises he was doing because they seemed to make things worse.
At this point he felt weak, fragile and old for his age.
I was sure we could help. I’ve seen this presentation thousands of times. The treatments and exercises he had tried were good, but he wasn’t applying them right.
I set out a treatment plan for him. I was clear about how often he needed treatment and for how long. I also made sure he was doing the right exercise at the right time, while not doing things that would set him back.
In a short time he has been able to get out of bed much easier in the morning. He no longer has stiffness after a long drive. We were able to start him on some core exercises at a later date. He has not had a pain episode since.
He feels strong, agile and young again because he took accountability and stuck to the plan.
We help relieve back pain suffering
“If any of this relates to you, I’m glad you’ve kept reading. We’ve helped many back pain sufferers move easier, get stronger and feel young again.”
If you suffer from chronic back pain and want to try something different send us a message now. Let us know how it’s impacting you and we’ll let you know if we can help.
