Back Pain Management Plan

​Back pain is a big problem.  Everyone gets it.  It's the most common thing I treat.  About a quarter of the patients I see have back pain.  There's a massive disease burden.  It's expensive.

And it can seem complicated.  Everyone's got different advice about what to do.  There's not one thing that fixes it.  It can seem a bit out of control.  And that can make it worse again.  Stupid little things aggravate it.  It doesn't seem fair.  Stress.  Anxiety.

Usually there's not anything magical I can do to give you immediate relief.  We work on little gains that you can achieve regularly by yourself throughout the day and it gradually improves.  It takes a bit of work.

My main goal when you come in for treatment is to give you control.  Once you have a sense of control it doesn't hurt as much.  I frame this as a "BACK PAIN MANAGEMENT PLAN"...

- KNOW WHAT AGGRAVATES IT -

For example, this could be:

• Sitting
• Driving
• Bending
• Lifting
• Twisting
• Running 
• Standing

- KNOW WHAT RELIEVES IT -

This could be:

• Tablets
• Heat
• Massage
• Stretches
• General exercise
• Avoiding prolonged sitting

- KNOW HOW TO PREVENT THE NEXT EPISODE -

This could be:

• Strengthening exercises
• Stretching
• General exercise
• Avoiding prolonged sitting

We need to pick the one or two most important things from each of these lists
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