Psychological Treatment of Low Back Pain
Believe it or not, back pain usually has a solid psychological or psychosocial background. You have probably tested this yourself without even noticing. If you realize that stress worsens your pain and that working in an environment you don’t like triggers back pain, that’s because a psychosocial element is involved in your case. That’s completely normal and does not imply any type of psychiatric illness. It is not the same as making up the pain, either. It is simply the result of a connection between brain chemistry and pain sensation.
Thus, psychological treatments can also make a big difference in back pain. This is particularly the case in chronic back pain. As a part of psychological treatment, patients are assigned to a professional who tries to look for motivational factors and psychosocial triggers of back pain. They understand that addressing these factors is as essential as calming pain with anti-inflammatories. It increases analgesic efficacy and can also reduce the disability burden in these patients.
Specialists in mental health can try different techniques. The most common are cognitive behavioral therapy, biofeedback, and progressive relaxation. Cognitive behavioral therapy is perhaps the most widely used approach. It addresses coping strategies and behaviors associated with mood swifts and worsening pain. Progressive relaxation addresses muscle tension and aims at reducing voluntary and stress-related muscle contraction. Biofeedback is about using auditory and visual stimuli to learn about your own body and its pain triggers in order to build your own strategies to reduce pain intensity.