I came across an article in the New York Times in which Dr. Dennis C. Turk mentions:
“The exact cause of back pain is never found in 85 percent of patients.”
“REALLY?!” I immediately thought.
Dr. Russell K. Portenoy said:
Dr. Russell K. Portenoy said:
“It’s good for the public to know how little we know.”
Is it?! You might just scare the you-know-what out of every patient out there! Think about being the patient with chronic back pain who is coming to the doctor looking for answers and the doctor says, “Well, we have no idea what’s causing your pain but…” Not what the patient is hoping to hear!
The article asks:
The article asks:
“So what’s a sufferer to do?”
Good question. The article starts talking about drugs and surgery and the side effects and unreliable results of them. But I think, before we start talking what to do, we should figure out why the cause of back pain isn’t found. THAT is the BIG question.
Why is the cause of back pain never found in 85% of patients?
It all comes down to WHAT we are looking for. If we believe the cause, or underlying source, of someone’s back pain is a disc injury, facet joint damage or arthritis, then we will look for damage using X-rays, MRI’s and CAT scans. When or if damage is found, treatment that will attempt to address that damage will be recommended. And then we see the painful statistics that large numbers of people who have surgery still have the pain afterwards and many people will have to have repeat surgeries. If drugs are recommended, well we all know that’s not fixing the problem, it’s just trying to cover it up – not good!
Here’s what’s important: doctors are trained to look at the condition of the body – disc injury, facet joints, arthritis – but what causes the condition of the body? Doctors often get this wrong – it’s not age, activity, or genetics – it’s position.
“Position?” You ask. Yes.
The position or posture of the body causes the condition of the body.
It’s that simple. The determining factor in your health is not your age or genetics as many people will try to convince you. Your pain is not caused by the activities you do as you have been told. Those are cultural lies. Stop believing them…or you may never get better. "Better" to me means 100% better. No pain. No limitation. No excuses. Freedom.
You’ve experienced this state before. We all did. When we were 5, 6, 7 years old. We could do anything with no pain or limitations and we loved it! We lived free. When we are free of physical pain and limitations something else very powerful happens: we start living the rest of our life without limitation and anxiety. We have piece of mind.
So now what do you do? Where do you go from here? Need help figuring out what you need to do to correct your postural imbalances?
Contact me today for a free consultation with a Postural Alignment Specialist and Advanced Exercise Therapist and we will happily help you learn what your postural imbalances are and what you need to do correct them allowing you to live a pain free and active life.
Related articles:
True source of back pain
Low back pain video
Spondylolisthesis and Egoscue
Dangers of epidural steroid injections for pain relief
Why is the cause of back pain never found in 85% of patients?
It all comes down to WHAT we are looking for. If we believe the cause, or underlying source, of someone’s back pain is a disc injury, facet joint damage or arthritis, then we will look for damage using X-rays, MRI’s and CAT scans. When or if damage is found, treatment that will attempt to address that damage will be recommended. And then we see the painful statistics that large numbers of people who have surgery still have the pain afterwards and many people will have to have repeat surgeries. If drugs are recommended, well we all know that’s not fixing the problem, it’s just trying to cover it up – not good!
Here’s what’s important: doctors are trained to look at the condition of the body – disc injury, facet joints, arthritis – but what causes the condition of the body? Doctors often get this wrong – it’s not age, activity, or genetics – it’s position.
“Position?” You ask. Yes.
The position or posture of the body causes the condition of the body.
It’s that simple. The determining factor in your health is not your age or genetics as many people will try to convince you. Your pain is not caused by the activities you do as you have been told. Those are cultural lies. Stop believing them…or you may never get better. "Better" to me means 100% better. No pain. No limitation. No excuses. Freedom.
You’ve experienced this state before. We all did. When we were 5, 6, 7 years old. We could do anything with no pain or limitations and we loved it! We lived free. When we are free of physical pain and limitations something else very powerful happens: we start living the rest of our life without limitation and anxiety. We have piece of mind.
So now what do you do? Where do you go from here? Need help figuring out what you need to do to correct your postural imbalances?
Contact me today for a free consultation with a Postural Alignment Specialist and Advanced Exercise Therapist and we will happily help you learn what your postural imbalances are and what you need to do correct them allowing you to live a pain free and active life.
Related articles:
True source of back pain
Low back pain video
Spondylolisthesis and Egoscue
Dangers of epidural steroid injections for pain relief
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