It is something we hear in the our clinics a lot – a patient coming in and describing their back pain by saying something to the tune “I have slipped my disc” or “my back is out”. Now, whilst I sat clinical anatomy sometime ago at university, I am pretty sure that our discs in our back (that help with shock absorption for our spines) are attached so firmly to our vertebrae that it is impossible for them to “slip”, or be “out of place”.
So why do so many patients with back pain describe their pain in such a way? Poor education and description by family, friends and medical professionals, including GP’s, osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors.
Are these false descriptions really that bad – for when someone says to us “I have slipped a disc”, we get an understanding of what is wrong. The answer is YES – it is that bad – and here is why;
Thinking that you have a “slipped disc” has the potential to increase your back pain.
Here’s why – when the brain is using this inaccurate information to evaluate how much danger one’s back is in, we can predict with confidence that, if all other things were equal, thinking you have a slipped disc and picturing one of those horrible clinical models of a slipped disc will increase your back pain.
Our thoughts on our injury have a very large impact on how much pain we may feel!
No slipped discs, no slipped discs, no slipped discs!
