"Does This Sound Familiar?"
After a few years of practicing as a physical therapist I noticed certain patterns in my patients. A lot of them were having very similar experiences.
Most had back pain that would come and go. Sometimes it was pretty severe. Then other times it was tolerable. But it would never fully go away regardless of what they tried.
As a rule, all of them had been to see a doctor for tests. Things like MRIs, X-rays, lab tests, and even bone scans. These were all done to see if they had any serious problem(s) or not.
"My MRI Was Negative"
Many of my patients would complain to me that the tests "didn't show anything". And they were puzzled and frustrated because they knew their pain was very real.
However, They like a lot of other people didn't fully appreciate something. If these tests didn't show anything this means that there was a good chance that they could be out of back pain fairly quickly.
It's important for you to know a little more about my patients. They may sound familiar. Most were in their mid 30s to mid 50s. The majority of them were working full time jobs that covered the spectrum. From truck drivers to call center workers.
It seemed that there was a lot of "sitting" during the day and not much other activity. And, most were a little overweight.
Serious trauma, like falling off a ladder, or being in a serious accident, was hardly ever the issue that caused their back pain. It seem that there was a couple of consistent ways that people said their back pain started.
"I Don't Know What I Could've Done To Cause This Much Pain"
Some people said that they "just woke up" with back pain. Basically what this means is that they couldn't really recall anything that they did to cause back pain.
Others reported minor things like picking up a box of paper, or bending down to do something else is when they first noticed that their back was hurting.
All in all, however, most of them couldn't figure out why they were having so much pain for so long without any real relief
There's actually a very simple answer that doctors usually don't explain too well.