People often see me to for assessment of their back pain.
My background includes many years of treating people in hospital, the clinic environment, and academic work on inflammatory back pain. I have a master's degree in and was the lead author on 2 Australian Consensus Statements (similar to guidelines) on inflammatory back pain (Ankylosing Spondylitis / Axial Spondyloarthritis). Links: 1, 2.
Here are some helpful principles to consider:
- Back pain is very common, affecting about 20-30% of the Australian population at any time.
- Most people experiencing back pain improve over weeks. The longer it is present, the more likely it is to stay, especially after 3 months.
- Back pain has different contributors and treatments in each person. The contributing factors can change over time, and the best interventions to help your back pain will change over time. Treatments you've tried before may work now, or may work if done in a different fashion to before.
- In medicine not all tests are helpful. Scans for back pain often don't lead to meaningful progress but are often helpful to rule out specific conditions or assess for the benefit of specific interventions.
- Treating back pain often requires a team of healthcare professionals. Teams work best when they know each other well and communicate thoroughly and often. The best way to engage a team is to have your doctor, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, podiatrist and other healthcare team members under one roof, holding meetings to discuss your progress. This is an invaluable service we provided at queenslandrs.com.au in Brisbane that provides far better outcomes than occasional communication between your healthcare team members.
- It's very difficult and takes far longer to improve if you don't get help! Management of back pain can be very complex - for something so life changing and debilitating I'm often surprised at how long it takes people to get professional help. The best approach is engage a team of professionals who have great experience in guiding people through recovery, rather than going it alone. If what you're doing isn't working then seek help!