Contents: Overview: Basic TruthsMy backgroundMain approaches to back painMythsThe pain cycle: What makes pain lingerRecommendations Video version of this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKGuqjEkGg&feature=youtu.be “Back spasming up? You’d better ice it ASAP” - Chiropractors "If you EVER round your spine, I'm afraid you'll die.” - Osteopaths “You’ve just got weak abs, do more planks” - Rehab specialists "We could operate, but it might make it worse" - Neurosurgeons “There’s nothing wrong with you, it’s all in your head" - Physiotherapists “Your back pain is simply because your root chakra is misaligned, which is overactivating your left inferior oblique causing a slight anterolateral shift of your pelvis when you walk. You just need to wear more of the colour brown and take this expensive herbal liver tonic”. - Kinesiologists Thanks for the advice, bro-therapists, you bunch of knobs. A bunch of knobs If you’ve been struggling with back pain, you’ll likely also have been told a similar bullshit-cocktail. It's likely got you nowhere with your pain, but done wonders for lightening that heavy wallet. If you've had recurrent back pain with no success, read on. Clearly your current approach isn’t working. And you’re not alone. 1) Basic truths: Back pain is poorly understood by health sciences. Each field has a little piece of the puzzle at best.There is an entire industry founded on selling devices and miracle cures for back pain based on extremely fishy evidence. Such cures are no better than placebo, but will cost you a lot more.While underlying diagnoses may differ, there are several common features in typical back pain. This is good news: These features provide a trail into resolving your pain.You must take ownership over your recovery. No therapist can ‘fix’ you with a triumphant crack.The road to recovery requires a multifaceted approach and consistency. Eric Cressey identified the 5 common problems people like us face with back pain: Many got sub-par, outdated physical therapy.They were just as concerned about maintaining a training effect while injured as they were about actually fixing the injury.They lived and died by their diagnostic imaging (MRI, x-ray, etc.), but paid little attention to the relationship of those scans to their symptoms and functional deficits.Most sought to learn more about their injuries so that they could be informed consumers in dealing with doctors and therapists, but they wound up more confused because of the varying opinions in the field today.They were looking for direction in how to progress back into a "regular" training regimen, but all that most of them could seem to get from their clinicians was contraindications ("don't do this"). While I can’t diagnose your specific issue, I have been round the houses with my own back pain. Several of my own clients, in person and offline have been able to fix their back pain. This article will save you the journey of dead-ends and help you to claim your life back. 2) My Background You may be thinking that if the experts haven’t nailed back pain, then who is this presumptuous swine with fine rhymes opining on the spine? I am speaking foremost as a patient, (who happens to be trained as both a doctor and sports massage therapist), sharing my experience of chronic, radicular back pain.