Personal Problems Become Back Pain

Dec. 8, 2006 — -- Science seems to be bursting with promise, if you believe what you hear and read -- but the reality is slightly more grim. Seems like science can't help anyone escape their own psyche.

Details of the very latest developments in diagnosis and treatment find their way into the headlines of print media and the features of broadcast media. We are told to expect cures.

All of us respond with bated breath. But then, problems persist that challenge our own sense of well-being and invincibility because, frankly, they seem simple but we can't beat them.

Backache is an object lesson.

The following is what modern medical science currently understands about the most common kind of low back pain, the backache that bedevils working-age adults who are otherwise totally well. This is a pain that does not involve the legs -- unlike many back pains -- and that comes on for no apparent reason.

It's not normal to be back pain-free for a long time. Low back pain happens. It's one of life's many recurring predicaments, like heartburn and heartache. To be well is not to be pain-free, but to have the strength of spirit enough to to cope until the pain goes away, cope so well that the episode is not even memorable.

Low back pain is related to posture and movement. It doesn't hurt as much when reclining, but hurts more when sitting slouched forward in a chair or propped up on pillows, and hurts even more when bending over.

One is forced to choose between being an invalid or being in pain. Compelling science says that the pain relief of being an invalid isn't worth the risk of feeling useless. Feeling useless just enhances the suffering without making the pain heal any faster. Science says, take an over-the-counter analgesic and get on with life as best you can.

Dr. Nortin M. Hadler is a Professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Attending Rheumatologist at University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, N.C.