Back Pain, Opioids & Tiger Woods

The topic of back pain and the use of pain killers seems to be the hot topic in the news nowadays. 

Most recently, Tiger Woods was arrested for a DUI which he attributes to 4 different pain killers and Xanax. Despite how you feel about him and his personal life, it’s tough to see one of the greatest athletes of all time and what has happened to his body after countless surgeries.  

What may be a dependency on pain killers after unsuccessful surgeries is not uncommon. 

We hear many stories from our clients that make a decision to take control of their health because a certain friend or family member is addicted to pain killers and they don’t want to fall into the same trap. 

Photo via straightupvc.org

Although there are certain instances when surgery is warranted, from our experience it is rarely the first option for most of our clients with back pain. 

I feel that is it is important to have a realistic expectations when dealing with any injury. Things take time to heal so if you are looking for an overnight fix, it's probably not going to happen. Unless you were in a serious accident, chances are your pain is from an accumulation of bad posture and moving incorrectly over a long period of time. 

Here are 3 important steps to getting you back on your feet: 

#1) You need to find the underlying cause and aggravating factors to avoid. (The underlying cause may be mechanical, positional or even psychosocial.) 

#2) A graded plan that slowly gets your stronger, stable, mobile and confident. (It’s important not skip many steps here. If you have a cut and you keep scratching at it, it will never heal.) 

#3) Integrate what you have learned about your body and carry that over to your daily life and recreational activities. 

It is the hope that if you have the guidance, time and work ethic to tackle your pain problem… you will not have to rely on “quick fixes” such as pain medication which just make things worse in the long run. 

Something to think about.