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19 May Does Low Back Pain stop you from moving at your lower back 🤔 Does the 😰Fear of Low Back Pain stop you from moving at your lower back

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A recent study looked at the relationship between fear of low back pain and ability to move at the lower back. The study 45 people with chronic low back pain and 25 healthy people with no previous history of low back pain. Using questionnaires, participants with chronic low back pain were divided into two groups: ‘high fear of low back pain’ and ‘low fear of low back pain’.😱 Interestingly, there was no significant difference in the type of lower back injury between the two groups of ‘high fear’ and ‘low fear’ participants. This indicated that the amount of fear someone has or doesn’t have is not related to the severity of the lower back injury. 😮

Participants were then asked to, at the sound of a beep, bend forward and then return to their upright posture. The results showed that Fearful participants took longer to move at their lower backs because they tended to initially hesitate to move AND also ‘freeze’ before changing the direction of the movement at their lower back. The more fear they had, the longer it took to move at their lower back and the more pain they reported when they moved.

The take home message from this study is – 1. Fear of pain 😱can limit your ability to move at your lower back more than the actual amount of physical injury in the lower back.
2. Fear of movement 😱can limit your ability to move at your lower back. This leads to increased stiffness in the lower back, which makes it harder and more painful to move over time. Reinforcing your fear of moving at your lower back.

Here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Physiotherapists 🤓understand that your past experiences and fears do impact on your ability to move at your lower back. That is why education is a big part of our 3 Step Back Pain Solution Session.

If you have been struggling with chronic low back pain and have been avoiding movement due to a fear of pain, ring My Favourite Physio 📱on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Physiotherapists 🤓today. Let us help you get back to active pain free living!