The 6 Most Common Misconceptions About Low Back Pain
And the REAL culprit in each case
Low back pain affects millions of people, yet many of the commonly accepted explanations miss the underlying cause. Let's examine six widespread misconceptions and reveal what's really happening in your body.
Low back pain is "muscular"
The Misconception: People think low back pain happens from overuse, lifting heavy objects, or awkward movements straining the muscles.
The Reality: The only reason muscles are strained, torn or overworked is because they were not strong enough to take the strain when required. If a muscle doesn't contract quickly enough, the ligaments of the discs or facets will have to take up the slack and if they can't, they will sprain with accompanying pain. Restoring normal muscle tone is the answer to preventing injury and healing it quickly.
Degenerative disc disease
The Misconception: As discs in your spine wear and tear with age, they become less flexible and cause pain.
The Reality: DJD is often dismissed as "wear and tear," but it occurs as a long-term reaction to poor movement control resulting from poor muscle tone. This has been most clearly shown in the knee joint, but all joints are vulnerable to long-term wear if the muscles around them fail to resist the forces on that joint. Poor nutrition can also have an effect.
Sciatica
The Misconception: Sciatica is simply the result of a disc bulge pressing on the sciatic nerve.
The Reality: Sciatica is often the result of a disc bulge, which is a localized form of degenerative joint disease. As the fibers of the disc tear, the soft inner portion pushes outwards or bulges, sometimes irritating the sciatic nerve. However, sciatic-like pain can also be caused by kidney stones, the sacroiliac joint, or the hip joint. Careful examination from a trained professional is necessary to diagnose the real cause.
Arthritis
The Misconception: Arthritis is just an inevitable part of aging that causes back pain.
The Reality: Osteoarthritis is another name for degenerative joint disease, but sometimes arthritis in the spine is due to inflammation rather than wear and tear. This inflammation might be psoriatic, rheumatoid, or other forms like ankylosing spondylitis, and they require different management than osteoarthritis. We work hard to identify the source of inflammation, which may require examination of dietary and lifestyle factors including toxicity patients may be exposed to at home.
Poor posture
The Misconception: Sitting hunched over all day or slouching puts strain on your back muscles and ligaments.
The Reality: Posture can be involved, but it's usually an effect rather than a cause. You can sit properly for brief periods, but the reason we revert to sitting badly is that a lack of muscle tone means we can't maintain good positions for long. Restoring normal muscle tone allows us to sit well—or sit badly—without suffering.
Obesity
The Misconception: Carrying extra weight puts stress on your back and contributes to low back pain.
The Reality: There is little to no evidence linking obesity to low back pain, except that obesity can be another effect of poor muscle tone. Since muscles are one of the main engines of metabolism, inhibited muscles result in less energy being burned every day, with the subsequent accumulation of excess energy in the form of fat.
The Common Thread
The easily identifiable common factor in all of these so-called "causes" of low back pain is muscle inhibition or poor muscle tone.
In each case, the muscle inhibition either caused the injury or is caused by the injury. Either way, if the muscle inhibition can be eliminated, the problem is solved—quickly, efficiently, and permanently.
Our Approach at Pain Solutions
Here at Sovereign House Pain Solutions in Berkhamsted, we specialize in finding and eliminating the causes of poor muscle tone and muscle inhibition. Through our advanced Afferentology techniques and comprehensive muscle testing, we identify the root cause of your pain and restore proper muscle function for lasting relief.