This is the first video of a series of 4. Here you can see, in an easy and entertaining way, the messages that can harm in patients with nonspecific low back pain.
Do NOT promote beliefs about structural damage/dysfunction
- ‘You have degeneration/arthritis/disc bulge/disc disease/ a slipped disc’.
- ‘Your back is damaged’.
- ‘You have the back of a 70-year-old’.
- ‘It’s wear and tear’.
Do NOT promote fear beyond acute phase
- ‘You have to be careful/take it easy from now on’.
- ‘Your back is weak’.
- ‘You should avoid bending/lifting’.
Do NOT promote a negative future outlook
- ‘Your back wears out as you get older’.
- ‘This will be here for the rest of your life’.
- ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up in a wheelchair’.
Hurt does NOT equal harm
- ‘Stop if you feel any pain’.
- ‘Let pain guide you’.
This video is based on information that has been kindly provided by Dr Peter O’Sullivan and Dr Ivan Lin. You can read the paper here: Acute low back pain: Beyond drug therapies. Pain Management Today (2014).
You can watch the other videos of the series here: Messages that can heal in patients with nonspecific lower back pain Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
Reference
O’Sullivan, Peter & Lin, Ivan. (2014). Acute low back pain: Beyond drug therapies. Pain Management Today. 1. 8.
Spanish version