Low back pain is the most common presenting complaint we see in our clinics – it will affect 70-90% of Australians over their lifetime (A.B.S. 2012) and can be debilitating. A lot of our patients look up their symptoms on Google to try to determine what is going on with their lower back, what is causing them so much pain, and what they should do to help alleviate it.
Trying to understand one’s pain and dysfunction is really important as a patient – it helps give some “control” of the situation back to the individual who has the injury, allowing for a better understanding of what needs to happen to improve.
However, in our opinion, using “Dr. Google” as the only source of information, and then acting on this information, may be over simplifying the issue.
Dr. Google is great for CONTENT – key your symptoms in and it spits out multiple pages of information, a diagnosis and management plan – easy.
WRONG – Dr. Google is poor on CONTEXT – it does not know you – your medical history, your sporting history, your movement patterns, your previous injuries or your future goals.
Without these things, how do you diagnose or provide a management plan that is tailored specifically to YOU?
You cannot – Dr. Google is great for CONTENT, poor for CONTEXT – and that is why it is important to speak or consult with a practitioner who has experience in managing each person to their specific needs.
