A friend mentioned to me the other day that they knew so and so who did this and that and….. it was “too bad they had a bad back”. I said “What do you mean?” “Oh, you know he has just always had a bad back, there’s really nothing you can do about that right? Once someone has a bad back won’t they always have a bad back?” I was so surprised that this very intelligent friend of mine had such a fixed notion around this term “bad back”, that I figured she must not be the only one.
I’m here to tell you that many people can completely resolve long standing, painful back conditions by changing the way their posture stresses their back (spine). We know from tremendous research on the topic, that people with back pain use their muscles differently and hold themselves differently, likely as a response to the pain they felt when their back was injured. After a while, these changes begin to feel normal. However, the spine is not happy at all with these changes, and lets the owner know with ongoing pain and re injury = BAD BACK??? Actually, not at all – this is a back that is reacting to the stressful conditions at hand.
Probably one of the most rewarding things we get to do at ADVANCE PHYSICAL THERAPY is to help people get past what they assumed were unchangeable, chronic and painful conditions. Education and specific activities, offered after a thorough evaluation of the spine, are intended to help patients restore more balanced postures and learn how to maintain healthy postures during various activities. Changing problematic postures relieves stress on the spine = GOOD BACK! Please don’t live with a “bad back” before you or someone you care about looks seriously into what it takes to have a “good back”.
