What if there was no back pain? Imagine that – a world without back pain… if you’re one of the hundreds of millions around the world today experiencing back pain, then that might sound like Eutopia to you. For a moment, let’s just dream about it…
No difficulty turning in bed or getting out of chairs; no agony when you sneeze; no frustration at having to ask your partner to put on your socks/lace your shoes; being able to enjoy going out for dinner without worrying about whether the chair will support you well enough; being able to work without distraction and without worry that you’ll be medically retired; being able to enjoy your favourite hobby again, whether that be golf, bowls, DIY, cycling or whatever.
Sounds good, right? But, before you sign up for that version of Eutopia, just consider a world in which you could feel no back pain. If you could feel no pain in your back, here are a range of possible scenarios.
- Lifting very heavy objects which cause pulled (strained/torn) muscles wouldn’t be painful.
- Slumping in front of the TV or on your chair at work, which over stretches the ligaments at the base of your back wouldn’t be painful.
- Twisting the joints and muscles when playing sport wouldn’t be painful.
- Breaking a bone in a heavy fall wouldn’t be painful.
- Being stabbed in the back wouldn’t be painful (physically at least).
- Putting the baby seat into the back seat of the car at an awkward angle wouldn’t be painful.
That world exists for people with the medical condition “Congenital Analgesia“. Rarely people are born with this condition which results in them feeling no pain. What’s the world like for them? Very dangerous. Some of them bite the tips of their tongues off when very young; they break bones without knowing it, causing them to heal at odd angles; they frequently suffer severe burns; and they grow up into adults who suffer premature osteoarthritis due to damage to joints they didn’t know was occurring.
So, this is the purpose of pain – it’s a warning system. When your back hurts in the morning, or gets sore the longer you sit, or you can’t stand still at the side of a football pitch, or wear high heels without pain, guess what – there’s a good reason! Your body is telling you that something is wrong. And if you ignore it for long enough you’re going to suffer a whole lot more pain, because the longer you experience pain for, the more danger it will become hard-wired into your Central Nervous System – this is what can happen in chronic pain.
So I’d suggest that the first time you experience a new pain – be grateful. Be grateful that your body has this amazing alarm system that encourages you to stop and think about the cause. Then, do something about it – perhaps give us a ring! Because if you ignore it, and don’t identify the cause and do something about it, the pain will either not go away, or it may resolve only to return worse – and long-term pain is a lot harder to resolve than first-time pain.
If you have a pain you’d like help with, drop me an email…
gavin@active-x.co.uk
