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IS BACK PAIN PSYCHOLOGICAL?

Back pain may be psychological, research suggested in September 2017.

People over estimate their lower back discomfort, a study found.

Lead author Dr Tasha Stanton from the University of South Australia, said: 'People with chronic back pain and stiffness overestimated how much force was being applied to their backs.

'This suggests that feelings of stiffness are a protective response, likely to avoid movement.' 

The researchers analysed 15 people with chronic lower back pain who reported feelings of stiffness.

The study's participants rated their stiffness from 'not stiff at all' to the 'most stiff imaginable'.

These participants were compared against 15 volunteers without such complaints.

The researchers carried out three experiments. The first applied pressure to the spine to determine its stiffness.

In the second experiment, the participants received a force that they were asked to score.

The third experiment assessed whether adding sounds to the perception of pressure changed the participants' stiffness. 

Referring to the third experiment, Dr Stanton added: '[We] found that these feelings could be modulated using different sounds. 

'The feeling of stiffness was worse with creaky door sounds and less with gentle whooshing sounds.

'The brain uses information from numerous different sources including sound, touch, and vision, to create feelings such as stiffness.

'If we can manipulate those sources of information, we then potentially have the ability to manipulate feelings of stiffness. 

'This opens the door for new treatment possibilities, which is incredibly exciting.' 

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