22/10/2025
🎯 10 Myths About Back Pain in Older Adults
Back pain after 50? 👵🧓
It’s common — but so are the myths that can lead to fear, over-medicalisation, and unnecessary treatments.
Here’s what the latest research (🧠 Ammendolia et al., 2025) actually says 👇
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✨ Myth 1: “Back pain is just part of getting old.”
✅ Truth: Common but age alone doesn’t cause pain. Many older adults live pain-free. Don’t accept pain as inevitable.
🩺 Myth 2: “If you’re older and have back pain, it must be serious.”
✅ Truth: Serious causes are rare. Most back pain — even in older adults — is non-specific and manageable.
🧍 Myth 3: “Everyone over 50 with back pain needs an X-ray or MRI.”
✅ Truth: If there are no red flags, imaging often adds worry — not solutions.
🚫 Myth 4: “Stop bending, lifting, and twisting to protect your spine.”
✅ Truth: Movement is medicine 💪. Avoiding activity can make things worse.
🛏️ Myth 5: “Bed rest is the best cure.”
✅ Truth: Long rest leads to stiffness, weakness, and loss of confidence. Gentle movement helps recovery 🌀.
💊 Myth 6: “Medication should be your first option.”
✅ Truth: Non-drug approaches (movement, education, reassurance, conservative approaches including chiropractic care) are first-line. Meds often have limited benefit and more risk in older adults.
🪚 Myth 7: “Surgery works well for back pain.”
✅ Truth: For most back-dominant pain, surgery isn’t strongly supported by evidence — and carries bigger risks in older age.
🧠 Myth 8: “If there’s pain, the scan will show the cause.”
✅ Truth: Degenerative changes are common — but they don’t always hurt. Pain isn’t just about structure.
💉 Myth 9: “Injections and procedures fix chronic pain.”
✅ Truth: Evidence suggests these often provide only short-term relief and can carry some risks. Active approaches that build confidence and movement usually support better long-term outcomes.
🦴 Myth 10: “Disc herniations are common in older people.”
✅ Truth: Disc herniations usually peak earlier in life. In older adults, discs often show old, stable changes — not new pain drivers
