The Three Big Myths About Back Pain
What I want to emphasize here is that we can’t just focus
on symptoms like pain. Instead, we must turn our efforts
toward figuring out and fixing the underlying problem
causing the pain. Before I explain the primary causes,
however, let me start by dispelling a few popular myths.
Myth #1:n
You “Throw Out” Your Back
In the course of my work, I’ve taught hundreds of
thousands of people my back-pain treatment approach. When
I ask them what’s wrong, they almost always say something
like, “I was doing X when I ‘threw out’ my back.”n
Usually, some physical activity precedes the back pain, like
picking up a heavy object, sneezing, bending over, or getting
out of bed. The thinking goes, “Well, since I didn’t have pain
before the activity, the activity must have caused the pain.”n
As you’ll see in the next few chapters, the reality is a bit
more complicated. In many cases, a physical activity can
trigger a pain episode, but by itself, it isn’t the underlying
cause.n
Consider this example: Let’s say you fill a room with
natural gas and then toss a match inside. You could say that
the match caused the explosion, but it would be more
accurate to say the match “triggered” or ignited the explosion.
The better question to focus on is “Where did all that gas
come from in the first place?”n
It’s very similar with back pain. A physical activity can
trigger a pain episode, but it’s not the “fuel” behind it. If you
don’t get rid of the underlying problem, then any number of
things can “trigger” the pain.
15 The 7-Day Back Pain Cure
Myth #2:n
Back Pain Means Something Is Wrong with the Back
People usually think that if they have back pain, their
bodies are suffering from some mechanical dysfunction.
“Since my body hurts,” they say, “it must mean something is
wrong with my body—something with the bones, the
muscles, or the soft tissue that connects them.”n
While this is sometimes, if not often, the case, it’s not the
only underlying cause of back pain. Other factors that
originate in your mind (e.g., stress levels) as well as your diet
(unhealthy foods) can cause severe back-pain episodes, even
when there’s nothing wrong with your spine, discs, joints,n
muscles, or ligaments. These factors also can exacerbate
physically caused back pain, making it many times more
painful.
Myth #3:
The Current Pain Isn’t Related to Previous Bouts
If you experienced a back-pain episode two months ago
and another today, you’re likely to think these episodes are
unrelated. Perhaps the last time it happened because you
sneezed. This time you were moving furniture.
For most people, the trigger that causes their pain episode
is different on different occasions. Naturally, they associate
the “cause” to the trigger and believe the episodes are
unrelated.
In fact, in the vast majority of cases, multiple back-pain
episodes are usually caused by the same underlying problem
even if each pain episode had a different trigger.
Let’s consider again the room filled with natural gas—a
dangerous situation, no doubt. But the gas is the source of the
danger, not the match, static cling, or a cell-phone ring that
might create a spark to trigger the explosion.
The same is true when it comes to back pain. Once you’ve
created conditions in your body, inadvertently or otherwise,
that are ripe for an explosive bout of back pain, any number
of things can set off a pain episode. Different activities that
may trigger pain are only sparks igniting the gas that was there
all along.
