Back pain has become part of our society and life. It is a huge reason for people missing work and for people to search for opioid drugs, which actually cause more deaths than auto accidents; so back pain is becoming an enormous problem.\u00a0 While most back pain will self-resolve if you are willing to wait a month or so, it is also important to know that some conditions require a doctor\u2019s attention such as: kidney stones, arthritis, appendicitis, aneurysms and the bone thinning condition called osteoporosis.\u00a0 Most people do not want to hear back pain is in your head, however, some recent research may support this claim.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. John Sarno, a famous back pain doctor, used a technique similar to Emotional Freedom Techniques.\u00a0 Sarno says that one can unconsciously cause pain due to emotional responses such as anger, fear, frustration and rage.\u00a0 He explains it as your brain suppressing these emotions and your body directing the emotions elsewhere eg: neck, back, shoulders.\u00a0 Sarno states that back pain is in your head because it is actually a distraction from what is truly bothering us and that the pain is what keeps us from an emotional explosion.\u00a0 Sarno believed that people can overcome their pain by confronting their conflicting emotions.\u00a0 Sarno\u2019s work lived on after he died and is present in many research studies.\u00a0 Recent studies show that pain from conditions such as fibromyalgia had significant results using emotion awareness and expression therapy in reducing pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Mel Pohl reminds us that even though pain is created in our brain\u2014it is real; stating, \u201call pain I regulated by the brain\u2014whether there is an actual nail in your thumb or an old injury that should have healed by now but inexplicably keep hurting\u2014both cases it is nerve fibers that are sending messages to your brain that cause you to feel the pain.\u201d\u00a0 Pain does not necessarily have to carry an emotional component; however, the longer the pain is present, the more probability for it to create an emotional component which can excite neurotransmitters to decrease your pain threshold.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Movement is essential to gain freedom from pain; in fact, sitting actually may cause pain to worsen!\u00a0 When we sit (especially for long periods of time), muscles such as iliacus, psoas and quadrates lumborum start to adaptively shorten; so, when we attempt to stand, these muscles stretch and cause pain.\u00a0 This pain is not necessarily telling us that there is a dramatic problem; however, it does let our bodies know there is something wrong.\u00a0 Carefully walking, bracing with one leg, or not moving is not the answer\u2014though it may seem like it; in fact, it\u2019s actually quite the opposite!\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experts now state that it is better to continue to move.\u00a0 Recent research shows that exercise is the best way to avoid a flare-up of pain and even prevent pain.\u00a0 In the article, \u201cNoninvasive treatments for acute, sub acute and chronic low back pain: A clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians,\u201d it states three new recommendations, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. \u201cclinicians and patients should select no pharmacologic treatment with superficial heat, massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation\u201d and is a \u201cstrong recommendation.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n