[CancerSurvivors]

Many people with lower back pain don’t manage it well because of wrong advice – and a lot of unhelpful myths about what back pain is and what you should do about it. Healthcare professionals all over the world speak to patients who think, for example, that back pain can damage their backs. This is not always the case. The weight of evidence shows that many assumptions made about lower back pain are wrong and, what’s more, could be harmful. Below are some of the most common misconceptions.
1. Moving will make my back pain worse

Do not fear twisting and bending. It is essential to keep moving. Muscles that are in spasm, due to pain, relax when gently moved and stretched. Gradually increase how much you are doing, and stay on the move.
2. Avoid exercise (especially weight training)

Back pain should not stop you enjoying exercise or regular activities. In fact, studies have found that continuing with these can help you get better sooner – including weight training. All exercise is safe provided you gradually build up intensity and do not immediately return to previous levels of exercise after an acute episode of pain.
Don’t stop exercising.
3. A scan will show exactly what is wrong

There is a poor correlation between findings on a scan and sources of pain. Most adults without back pain will have changes in the anatomy of their spine that are visible age-related adaptations that don’t cause any problems (they are the spinal equivalent of skin wrinkles, visible but not a source of pain). Finding a feature on a spine scan that is strongly related to pain or a serious threat to health is exceptionally rare (less than 1%).
4. Pain equals damage

This was an established view, but more recent research has changed our thinking. Level of pain has very little relationship to damage to the spine and more to do with your unconscious and conscious interpretation of the level of threat the pain represents to the sufferer. Cultural influences, work, stress, past experience and duration of symptoms have a stronger relationship with pain than the number of normal age-related changes you have on your scan.