In week three of our Monday Myth series, we’re going to talk about a very common belief that the best thing for your low back pain is to get rest and avoid your normal hobbies and activities. Then we’re going to replace this myth with an even better truth!
This very common belief about low back pain is a myth. It’s not backed by the latest evidence about diagnosing, treating, and managing low back pain.
Remaining active is shown by the research to be one of the best things that you can do for both acute and chronic low back pain. Chronic or sustained low back pain is considered to be back pain that is at least 12 weeks or more. So remaining active is great for short term back pain and longer-term back pain.
Remaining active will not only help relieve your back pain quicker than what bed rest will, but it will also lessen your chances for developing chronic low back pain and help prevent reoccurring low back pain as well.
Exercise is also a far more effective treatment than bedrest is. This includes both a general exercise program, and also doing specific rehab exercises for your low back as well. The best chiropractor near you will give you advice to remain active and continue to do certain exercises despite your low back pain. These exercises will help you get out of low back pain quicker and staying active gives you a better prognosis.
What if Movement Hurts?
If you hurt your low back doing a certain movement or activity and that activity continually gives you pain; then it’s not smart to just plow through the pain just because you know should remain active. For example if you were playing a sport and you hurt your low back doing a certain movement, and re-performing this movement gives you pain; a good Sports Chiropractor would not recommend continuing to do this same movement. There are other ways to remain active without continually going through the movements that are painful to you.
If that is your case, come in and see us and we’ll find a solution for you. We’ll make sure we can find ways for you to remain active while we work on decreasing your pain as quickly as possible. We will get you back to performing your best at whatever you love; whether it is a sport or another hobby.
After we get to know you and perform a thorough exam and movement assessment, we’ll give you the specific care that you need to get out of pain so that you won’t be sitting on the sidelines. So that’s this week’s myth – that bedrest is the best thing for your low back pain. So now that you know that it’s a myth, tell a friend and we’ll see you next week.
