Dr Tony Mork: Three Terrible Myths About Back Pain

Myth will thrive virtually everywhere as long as knowledge is never uniform. While so many people across the globe suffer from back pains, at least a number of times during their lifetime, the condition still remains shrouded in terrible mystery. Sadly, the myths on back pain are great influencers of attitudes and affect therapy in great ways. Some people are thrown into wrong treatment methods just because they believe the myth churners. Dr Tony Mork believes that any genuine attempt at improving diagnosis and treatment, and of reducing recurrence of back pain, should also target myths. The expert proposes that primary health care personnel involved in management of back pain should go out of their way to inform patients as a way of minimizing the dangers of myths to interventions.

A leading myth is that exercise is a major cause of back pain and by avoiding exercise people can avoid suffering from the condition. Well, according to Dr Tony Mork, the truth is that bursts of strenuous and irregular exercises can result in back pain, but when exercise is planned, gradual, regular and moderate, pain is avoided. For good spinal health, individuals should engage in aerobic conditioning, stretching and strengthening exercises, including such activities as swimming, walking, light weights and yoga. Lack of exercise can make the muscles weak and out of good state resulting in susceptibility to injury and pain.

The other myth is that bed rest is a wonderful cure for back pain. In reality, however, bed rests worsen back pains. When you lie in bed for long, your back may become stiff, deconditioned and weak. Some people also become more anxious, depressed and fearful of their condition when they are lying motionless in bed. This can aggravate the situation. Bed rest should only be accepted on day 1 or 2 of a severe back ache, after which the patient should begin to engage in moderate and gentle exercises.

Some patients also avoid spine surgery because of the myth that they will get paralyzed. Well, spinal surgery may have certain complications, including infections and bleeding, but paralysis is often unlikely to occur because most of the surgeries will not be involving the spinal cord. Besides, there are better surgical equipment, instruments and imaging devices to boost the precision of the procedures.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *