Jeff LangmaidFounder, The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Low Back Pain Mystery Solved: The Belief Blocking Recovery (Research Revelation)

9 Jan 2024 · 1 min

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Jeff Langmaid (video presenter) explains that qualitative research shows patients’ causal beliefs about low back pain — especially beliefs that pain is due to damage or a weak spine — strongly influence behavior and recovery. Such beliefs commonly lead to overprotective responses (fear, avoidance) that persist even after symptom improvement. Langmaid recommends clinicians actively identify and correct these beliefs early to prevent prolonged disability and to guide recovery.

Chapters

In low back pain. There's been qualitative research indicating that causal beliefs do have a really big impact on people's lives and how they manage their pain. And we've all seen this. This is just such a great example they highlight in this study, which is we've all had people who believe that low back pain is caused by damage or their spine being weak. And what does that lead to every single time? Overprotective behavior, you know, fear, avoidance behavior. And that often can be some of the most challenging things to overcome. Even when this is the powerful aspect of this, even when they're feeling better, they will still avoid that because they are overprotective and terrified that they're going to, quote, unquote, cause the pain again because they are weak, because their spine is damaged. Those are really, really impactful understandings. I'm going to say that you need to have, as a clinician, so that you can as quickly as possible confront those beliefs and guide the correct beliefs in your patients, because otherwise it is going to be an uphill battle.