UNDERSTANDING BACK TROUBLE: PREVENTING A RECURRENCE-SIGNS AND WARNINGS

Having once been afflicted, you should be able to recognise some of the danger signs; perhaps a stab of pain in a muscle, or a tingling in the fingers or toes, warning you that you must stop something you are doing, or change some posture you are maintaining. If you know of something in your daily routine that triggered off the original trouble, and you have not changed your ways, do so now. This may involve changing your leisure activities, or even your

job – temporarily, or even permanently. Even if this possibility raises great difficulties, it needs to be considered seriously. Traditionally, it is thought that people who refuse to ‘give in’ to back pain are the very ones who are most likely to be plagued by repeated attacks. This could result in the underlying condition, which caused the attacks, becoming chronic. (In medical language, chronic means long-term.)

A recent approach by some doctors to patients’ attitude to pain is to advise tackling it more directly. Many people become controlled by pain. Exaggerated fears may need investigation and unravelling. While the cause of back pain must always be sought, frequently pain persists even when the initial cause is cured. Desensitising the region wherethe pain originated can avoid the problem of ‘chronic low back pain’.

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