When acute back or neck pain occur, the natural response is to seek relief. The last thing we want to think about is the likelihood of the pain coming back. Unfortunately, research shows that 80% of acute lower back pain patients will experience a recurrent episode within one year, while 66% of neck pain sufferers following acute whiplash will have persistent symptoms three months later.
Why? Because even with treatment, when the primary goal is immediate pain relief, it tends to come at the expense of long-term solutions. The more complicated, underlying causes are often overlooked and left to persist, creating further dysfunction and recurrent pain long after the initial symptoms have subsided. Without proper diagnosis and prompt intervention, patients find themselves in an escalating cycle of recurrence, each episode more frequent, more debilitating, and more difficult and costly to treat than the last.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Shifting the focus from the symptom to the source:
The first step towards reducing recurrence is expanding our perspective beyond pain to include its complex causes and effects. It’s not only the precipitating injury or dysfunction that demands our attention, but the anatomical, physiological and psychological changes that follow.
For example, within 24 hours of acute injury to the lower spine, the cross-sectional area of the lumbar multifidus—a primary stabilizer of the lower back—reduces in size at the site of the injury. Other connective tissue changes can occur, as well, including the development of myofascial trigger points, neural tissue inflammation and muscle fatigue.
Once there is an accumulation of such changes, the body develops an altered neuro-musculoskeletal response to routine actions. Abnormal muscle, joint and movement patterns are then employed, placing undue stress and strain on the body and leaving it more susceptible to further injury.
Therefore, our primary objective in recurrent back and neck pain management should be the normalization of altered neuro-musculoskeletal tissue changes. When we retrain the body to move efficiently, we reduce the risk of injury, correct dysfunction, alleviate pain and, ultimately, break the cycle of recurrence.
This website, particularly the Recurrent Injury Blog, is dedicated in informing patients and health professionals of the current research and treatment outcomes concerning recurrent lower back and neck pain. When we understand what can happen and why, we can finally begin to make recurrence the exception rather than the rule.
