The term ‘acute non-specific low back pain’ is often misunderstood and misrepresented by many patients and clinicians alike!
So lets take a look at what this diagnosis actually means and try to clear a few things up!
A short evidence based thread 👇
The first thing to say is acute non-specific low back pain is really common… with 80-90% of us having it at least once in our lives!
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38510335/
The term ‘acute’ simply means your low back pain has occurred recently with your symptoms being less than 6 weeks old…
thelancet.com/article/S0140-…
The controversial term ‘non-specific’ just means there are no signs or symptoms of anything serious or specific causing your low back pain!
Specific back pain are things such as fractures, tumours, infections, inflammatory or radicular/nerve root issues…
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28359011/
The term non-specific low back pain does NOT mean there is NOTHING mechanical or structural causing your back pain!
It means our assessments and tests are not specific enough to tell us with any certainty what structures are causing your back pain!
This is because all of your low back muscles, joints, and other structures create very similar symptoms and present very similarly!
And despite some clinicians thinking they can tell what is causing your symptoms more they are just guessing at best… making things up at worst!
The other much more relevant and important point is that we don’t need to be anymore specific with a lot of acute non-specific back pain?
This is because non-specific low back pain has a very favourable natural history for many!
Meaning it improves simply with time regardless of what treatment you do or don’t have!
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20713495/
This upsets a lot of clinicians who often have their professional identities of skill and expertise deeply imbedded in their perceptions of treating low back pain!
When in fact they are often just distracting patients whilst time cures them and they take the credit!
The biggest problem with our treatments for acute non-specific low back pain isn’t that NOTHING helps!
Its that EVERYTHING can help… usually just long enough for someone to empty their wallet!
So what should you do if you have a sudden onset of back pain?
Well first don’t panic and realise that it is very very common and often nothing serious or specific, and it will improve with time!
It may not feel like it, but trust me it will!
If you do have any of these rare symptoms, get it checked out by a qualified healthcare professional experienced with low back pain sooner rather than later!
But if you don’t have any of those symptoms then use heat or cold packs and topical rubs to soothe and reduce your pain a bit!
Try avoid anything that really aggravates your back pain too much for a few days, but please KEEP MOVING little and often!
Even if its just a slow shuffle or a few floor based stretches now and then, movement is key in the early stages!
But the main thing is just give it time as most acute non specific low back pain will begin to improve in 2-6 weeks!
And lastly, keep positive and try not to stress or worry to much, your body is still strong robust and resilient even though it hurts and is sore currently
Hope this helps clear up a few things about the common acute non specific low back pain
Cheers
Adam
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