SHOW NOTES

Should I go to the doctor for back pain?

In the previous episode, I talked to Suzanne Wylde about getting the level of self-reliance right.

This episode is a little shorter than usual because I don’t have a guest this time. I just go a little deeper with my own thoughts on this subject.

Should we treat back pain as a medical issue, to be dealt with by medical professionals? Alternatively, should we try to tackle the problem ourselves?

You can either play the episode or read the show transcript within this post.

• Should I Go to the Doctor for Back Pain?
• Back Pain Red Flags
• Non Specific Back Pain
• Should I Exercise with a Bad Back?

Should I Go to the Doctor for Back Pain?

Today’s topic is should I go to the doctor for back pain? Kind of a newbie question. Unless you have chronic back pain and have never consulted a doctor about it, in which case you should definitely keep listening.

But, even if you have sought medical advice, please stay tuned. You may see things differently by the end of the show.

Maybe you’ve had pain for a while and it doesn’t seem to be clearing up. You’ve thought about getting a massage, doing some stretches or changing your mattress – something like this.

Of course you’ve looked online, and one of the things people ask Google is this “Should I go to the doctor for back pain?”

For the avoidance of doubt, I’m going to come straight out with the answer to that question, or my answer to that question at least, which is a very definite “Yes, you really should.”

So you don’t need to listen any more, we’re done already – that was quick!☺

Just kidding. I would, of course, very much like you to keep listening, because I think plenty of people become frustrated with the outcome of seeking medical advice for back problems. And I can, perhaps, help you to avoid this frustration; just by having a more concrete idea of what your doctor can actually do for you.

GETTING THE LEVEL OF SELF-RELIANCE RIGHT

If you speak to someone who’s had back problems for a while or look at a back pain forum or a facebook group, there’s a common scenario. People seek medical help many times; over a period of months or even years. Still, the problem is never resolved.

Maybe you’ve experienced this yourself, I know I have.

As you know, if you’ve spent any time looking around this site or listened to any previous episodes of the podcast, I’m a believer in self-help. For many things really and particularly for back problems. In my experience (and in many other people’s experience) back pain responds better to things that you do for yourself, rather than treatments that you just passively receive.

Hence the tag line “Self-help for bad backs”

So how does that all fit together?

If self-help is a better bet than medical treatment, why then should you go to your doctor?

In her interview, my last guest, Suzanne Wylde said this:

“It’s important to get the level of self-reliance right.” 

And she was talking about this issue of medical treatment vs. self-help.

I think she’s absolutely right and I just want to go into that a little deeper today.

If you’re troubled by any health problem, your first port of call should be your GP (your family doctor) because they are the professionals. All those years of medical training. And they’re regulated and adhere to the standards laid down by the health authority (hopefully).

Non Specific Back Pain

But, for some of us, it doesn’t get better over time. Quite the opposite actually. And you go back again, and again and the whole frustrating process goes from there.

And this is really what I want to talk about.

That initial examination and the most common outcome – the non-diagnosis. Non-specific back pain. Also known as unexplained back pain.

What should you do if this happens to you?

First of all, you should take a breath, relax. Your doctor can’t find anything wrong with you. This is a good thing.

Frustrating not to get a firm diagnosis, I understand that, but really this is the best possible result.

It means your not going to need surgery or medication – and you really don’t want either of these if you can help it.

Unless you have a good reason not to, try to accept the diagnosis. By all means, go back or get a second opinion but don’t go chasing endlessly for a medical condition when the professionals say there isn’t one.

Should I Exercise with a Bad Back?

Next, ask your doctor if it’s okay to exercise. Often, the medical advice is that physical training is good for back problems. So you will probably get the green light here.

And that’s where the self-help can really kick in.

Here’s what I learned when I went through this process. Medical treatment is not very successful in the context of back pain, tension and stiffness. If you rely on your doctor to fix this problem for you, then, the chances are, you will get frustrated and even lose hope that you will ever become pain-free.

But another way of looking at it, in my experience and according to many others that I’ve talked to, or read their articles and books, a better way of looking at it is this. Life just got a whole lot less scary AND a world of possibilities has opened up.

NEW BEGINNING – NEW POSSIBILITIES

Once you have sought advice and been cleared for training, you have the possibility to

1. Fix your own problem. I am talking about back rehabilitation through exercise of course. Countless other people have overcome chronic back pain this way. It’s not invasive, it’s not expensive and it can be very successful. So it should be right up there at the top of your list of options, in my view. Which leads into the second possibility;

2. Get active again. Without worrying that you might be somehow damaging yourself. Often if we are in pain we avoid physical activity and we are told “If it hurts, don’t do it.” Our lives become more and more restricted and we become that person with a bad back. But if your doctor has examined you and tells you that exercise is going to help, then you can let go of some of that stress and worry. I’m not advocating a boot camp, “no pain – no gain” training regime and of course extreme pain is not good. But we should try to get out of the mindset that the back is some sort of delicate thing that needs to be protected and coddled. To quote another guest on this show, Cathryn Ramin, she said in episode six:

“Ten years ago, I didn’t know what was needed, I would do an exercise………….as most back pain patients do…….in a way that did not hurt at all and that isn’t very productive…………if you have back pain and it’s because you have weak, deconditioned muscle groups – it’s gonna hurt some!”

3. Do it your way. There are plenty of different ways to train, it’s just a matter of finding the way that suits you. I think this is a great time to get out of old habits and try something new. Often people get good results with something that focuses on well-being rather than competition. It could be Yoga or Alexander Technique or anything else you want to try. Of course, you’d be very welcome to train with me, wherever you are in the world, via Skype. Just go to backpainliberation.com and the live training page to book a session.

4. Change the way you live. Imagine finding that way to train and incorporating that into your life. So you work out regularly in a way that helps you to heal and feel relaxed and upright and comfortable. That’s a way to change your life for the better.

 Conclusion

So this is how we can get the level of self-reliance right.

We don’t do our own thing completely without asking for a medical opinion. And, at the other extreme, we don’t go to the doctor and expect him/her to fix all our problems with a prescription, or surgical procedure, and not take any responsibility ourselves.

Should I go to the doctor for back pain? Yes, you should because it’s an important first step. A waypoint in the journey which will determine whether you treat the problem as a medical one, or something you can tackle yourself.

Please reach out if you have any thoughts, comments or personal experiences you would like to share on the topic: should I go to the doctor for back pain?

Contact me at the email address shown there or see you in the comments.

If you enjoyed the show I would truly appreciate a review on iTunes. It really helps the rankings and it also helps other people who are wondering if the podcast is for them. They’ll read your review and have a better understanding of what it’s all about.

So we’re done for today.

I’m Iain Barker Thanks for listening to the Back Pain Liberation podcast.