Low Back Pain As You Age: What is Normal?
Low back pain is common. It, beginning long ago, became identified as simply ‘one of those things that is inevitable as you age, especially for those who spend any amount of time in any type of physical labor. Many of us go through our daily lives just dealing with it in varying degrees. But how much is too much? What is the acceptable/normal amount of back pain as we carry on with our lives?
Some will say ‘it depends’. Some will tell you if you can get out of bed in the morning and do what you need or want to do, you shouldn’t worry about it, or it must not be that big of a deal. Others will suggest that a certain amount of aching or stiffness or soreness as you get older is to be expected. Even further, we have all heard the worst-case scenarios where people have been in so much pain that they aren’t able to move for weeks, and most of us think that whatever we are dealing with is insignificant in comparison. So, how does one determine if the back pain they are experiencing should or should not be addressed? What is the ‘normal’ amount of back pain?
My short answer: none. There is no amount of back pain that should be disregarded as ‘normal’.
In over a decade as a Doctor of Physical Therapy, I have seen patients across the entire range of severity of back pain with just about any possible cause you can think of. Interestingly enough, one of the most frequent causes of the low back pain I have seen over the years is no cause at all. While I would love to tell you that this is supported in the literature, the fact of the matter is that the epidemiology and causality of low back pain is a very wide range that depends on the population and is difficult to generalize as a result, which is no surprise. What is supported in the literature, however, is that low back pain is the primary cause of activity and work limitation in the country, as well as in many other countries in the world. There are many systematic and comprehensive reviews that one could cite stating the significant incidence, prevalence, psychological impact, and societal impact of low back pain; for those of you who are interested, a few are listed at the end of this article (for those of you who are really interested, I would invite you to log on to Google Scholar and simply type in ‘epidemiology AND low back pain’). But, I digress. Non-specific low back pain or back pain without a specific or identifiable cause/mechanism of injury is prevalent, and there are many of you out there that have very likely experienced it at one time or another.
However, just because it is common, and doesn’t necessarily even need a specific ‘cause’ to occur, does not mean it is ‘normal’. Forget the term ‘normal’, because when it comes to the subjective and very impactful experience of pain, we are not comparing across individuals, and thus no determination of ‘normal’ can be made. We are discussing the significance of back pain on your life as an individual, and as such, a better term would be ‘acceptable’. So how much back pain is acceptable to live with for you, specifically?
The answer to this question is ultimately up to you. It is your life and your experience. You determine what disrupts your life to a degree that it then becomes ‘unacceptable’, whether that disruption is in function or due to pain/discomfort. But, in my professional opinion, and to circle back to my previous short answer: I don’t believe that any amount of back pain should or needs to be considered ‘acceptable’. If you are aware of it, it is influencing you in one way or another. And the fact is, there are many simple things that you can do to address even the mildest or seemingly insignificant back pain. Things that, depending upon your personal preferences, can take no more than 5 minutes per day to do. And, believe it or not, I’m not even necessarily talking about the commonly dreaded topic of exercise. When it comes to back pain, the most fundamental and integral things that one can do are simple movements and/or stretches, which I have seen address even the most complex of back pain scenarios.
In future writings, I hope to influence you further in the direction of taking small steps towards taking more care of yourself in ways that do not interrupt your already stressful daily routine. Low back pain is very common among us, and need not be dismissed as ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’ simply because it is so. So take a moment to think about your back pain – if you are really paying attention, what kind of influence does it actually have on your daily life?
Up next: The 4 Things Everyone Should Do to Improve Their Overall Low Back Health.
See you then!
~ Blaire Zikratch, DPT ATC is a locally grown Doctor of Physical Therapy and the Owner/Operator of the local physical therapy clinic Streamline Sports Physical Therapy. She has been practicing since 2011, and though she specializes in higher-level athletics, has a passion for all those who value their physical bodies, health, and quality of life.
