Help! My Back Hurts!
Having back pain can be a scary situation. While not all cases are debilitating, often symptoms are severe enough to stop your daily activities or even leave you calling in sick from work. Luckily, less than 1% of cases seen in a doctor’s office involve any serious damage, injury, or serious medical pathology. However, many patients state that their back pain is “very severe!” due to high pain levels.
Think of most new low back pain like a stubbed toe or the common cold
Low back pain is very similar in nature to a stubbed toe. Like a stubbed toe, the pain is initially debilitating, so much so that you can’t put weight on that toe! But after a few wiggles and moving it around, you realize that it is not broken and it will be back to normal in a few days at worst. If you limp for a few days, maybe your hip starts to hurt a bit, or maybe not putting weight on your toe stops you from realizing that it is getting better! About 80% of low back pain cases are resolved in 6-8 weeks with early treatment and exercise helping to speed up that process. Also, by changing the way you go through your daily life without addressing the problem, other issues may arise that complicate your current painful situation.
Like the common cold, low back pain is experienced by almost all individuals. In fact, between 26% and 80% of people may report back pain on any given day! Like the common cold, we do not have a solid explanation for why each case starts. Maybe there is a movement such as lifting something heavy or twisting in a way that is unfamiliar, but most cases have no one event that can be labeled as the cause.
Like a cold, the cause is usually somewhere between a few factors including, but not limited to:
a lack of sleep
a lack of hydration
decreased strength, stiffness, decreased endurance for a specific task
depression, anxiety, or stress.
How do you go from severe back pain to your normal life?
While all this information is great to know, I assume your primary concern is how to return to your normal life. Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to help yourself out. Below is a list of tips for a recent onset of low back pain. If you are someone that has experienced low back pain or has recurrent low back pain, these tips are most likely applicable.
Try to maintain your regular life to the best of your abilities. That does not mean to force yourself to do the most painful activity, but it does mean to avoid forced bed rest. If there is a specific activity that you cannot perform, make sure to see a physical therapist as soon as possible. A physical therapist can help you regain the ability to return to your normal activities. The recovery timeline is most often faster when treatment is initiated early, even in the most severe cases. You can request an appointment now.
Consider immediate medical attention if your pain started due to a traumatic injury such as a car accident, a fall, or some type of impact and ask if imaging such as an x-ray is appropriate for you. If you did not suffer a traumatic injury, an x-ray or MRI is most likely unnecessary. Most low back pain is due to symptoms other than damage and imaging will rarely impact your treatment. Make sure to talk to a physical therapist before considering imaging. A physical therapist is more than qualified to let you know if you need to see a physician prior to beginning care.
You Can REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT HERE if you would like to get started today!
Exercise can help! This does not mean to perform your maximum deadlift, but some cardio, even as simple as a recumbent bike, can be helpful. Elevating your heart rate can unlock your body’s internal medicine cabinet which is full of endorphins that can help out with your pain.
Spinal mobilization and manipulation can help! Studies show that patients can greatly benefit from spinal mobilization or manipulation when symptoms have been present for less than 16 days. That does not mean that spinal mobilization or manipulation will not be beneficial at 17, or even 21 days, but it tells us that starting treatment early is a great option
It might be your abdominal strength but it might not be. Low back pain typically has a few factors playing into the condition. I use abdominal strength as an example because it is common for patients to ask us if this is the most important factor for recovery. It is important to seek medical advice in order to find out what is most applicable to your case. Low back pain may be related to a specific strength deficiency or may be just improving your tolerance to a specific activity. Each case is different so make sure to get an individualized examination. Contact us for an evaluation.
Heat, Ice, Pain meds, massage, spine manipulations, spine mobilization, TENS, E-stim and adjustments may help your symptoms, but know that passive treatments that do not involve you as the active participant are not a good long-term solution. One of the most important pieces of low back rehabilitation starts with an actively participating patient. Whether this is in slowly increasing activity to specific exercises to suit your needs, make sure your treatment involves YOU actively doing something!
Hopefully these tips are good knowledge to have to help with your current injury. Give us a call at 908-598-9009 if you have any questions. Even if you do not think physical therapy is appropriate for you now, we are here to help you when you are ready.
American Physical Therapy Association. (2011). Current concepts of orthopaedic physical therapy. LaCrosse, Wis: Orthopaedic Section, APTA.