The study revealed that quitting smoking, exercising more, improving sleep, and maintaining a healthy body weight were all linked to lower overall healthcare costs and reduced reliance on medication for back pain.
Really? You don't say.
this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2026
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In other news, water is wet.
Funnily enough, That’s actually up for debate.
To be even more pedantic, I don't think "up for debate" applies here when the only possible point of disagreement is the very definition of "wet". Any specific definition would either mean water is wet or water isn't wet, so there isn't any debate.
When I was signing for my house, the attorney stated this question as an example of the things to which I would be agreeing while signing the contract.
I told him that the question was being debated and briefly described my understanding of why.
He took it well.
Why don't the back pain sufferers just spend $10,000 on a orthopedic mattress with integrated therapeutic massage feature? Are they dumb?
Right? And to think someone got paid for this revelation.
A big part of science is proving long held assumptions.
The first thing you need to know is that chiropractic is not a medical practice, it’s spiritualist woo-woo derived “from the other world”.
Save your money and see a physiotherapist instead, preferably one who knows who Dr Stuart McGill is.
It sure doesn't feel spiritual when he's physically cracking my spine back into place. It feels pretty damn real to me.
There's no such thing as "cracking back in place" there's no studies showing long term benefits. It's basically an expensive, poorly implemented massage.
You may not believe it, but you're significantly better off with physical therapy and an actual massage.
I know a lot of people feel relief from a chiropractor visit, but it's not helping long term, and it can permanently injure you in some rare cases.
If any part of your spine is out of place that’s a serious medical issue that cannot be resolved by “Cracking it back into place”.
The cracking in your spine is synovial fluid changing from a liquid to gaseous state. The relief you feel after this happens is primarily in your mind as a sort of placebo effect.
it’s spiritualist woo-woo
That's American chiropractors.
I go to a physiotherapist at the chiro clinic. Active rehab is the bomb.
Then you see a physiotherapist, not a chiropractor. The difference is significant. One believes in visions; the other believes in science.
Sure, but if you're suffering from radiculopathy (pinched spinal nerve root), the sleep deprivation and increased stress make those interventions more difficult. The article failed to mention inexpensive and free physical therapy interventions.
If you are suffering from lumbar or cervical radiculopathy (or a slew of other joint pains), check out McKenzie Method therapy. It's free/freely available, designed to be within reach of anyone, and can be done just about anywhere. Bob and Brad are prolific in providing exercises to get you back into fighting form. Robin McKenzie's book "Treat Your Own Back" is also excellent.
Edit to add: a lot of radiculopathies manifest as referred pain, e.g. a pinched nerve in C4-C5 might feel like tightness or pain in the trapezius, under the scapula, in the elbow, or at the extremes, pain and tingling in first and second digits. Sciatica is the the most "famous" of radiculopathies.
Anecdote: I had a C4-C5 radiculopathy, and it was pushing me into disability territory. The orthopedist wanted to do all kinds of stupid, expensive, invasive shit. I stumbled on McKenzie's back book and was back at work in two days. I also suffered from piriformis pain for over a decade. It was an L4-S3 radiculopathy. A few minutes of basic McKenzie stretches, and it goes away.
Is this stuff that competent physiotherapists know about? I had lower back issues and was going to physio for recovery from another joint fracture. The physiotherapist gave me some exercises for the back pain. I don't recall what they were but the pain disappeared and it hasn't returned 8 years later. I'm wondering of it was these kind of exercises.
I can't say for sure one way or another. But the rudiments of PT are all pretty similar for a given joint. There are finite variations on how human joints move and the muscles that actuate those joints.
YSK if you talk to a surgeon, they'll recommend surgery. Whoever you talk to has been trained that their method of treatment is the preferred one. They're invested in that technique so will push what they've been taught.
When I first started having severe back pain, my primary care doctor was no help at all. So I found a highly rated surgeon in my area to consult. He told me I was too young for the surgery he does, ordered me PT and gave me a steroid injection to help with the recovery process.
Did it work?
I will say yes. I couldn't even sit in a car for 5 minutes without going through agonizing pain trying to stand up after. It's been about 6 years, and while I still ache from time to time, I've been able to keep up on my stretches and survive 4 hour car rides, fly, etc. without any real issues.
I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, so I'm probably doomed to have surgery one day, but I've been pretty successful at managing with fairly minimal effort since my PT.
I'm stuck in DDD land too. It totally sucks, and you have my sympathy
Most of the time. There's rare exceptions. It's the old "if your only tool is a hammer" thing.
Sadly, part of those are just not wanting to take on a high risk patient at all.
But there are surgeons that will give advice based on the actual patient needs and recommend other treatments, and outright refuse to do a surgery.
But, yeah, surgeons in general assume that a patient coming to them needs surgery. That's partly because they don't tend to get patients walking in the front door independently. They're going to be seeing patients referred to them by someone else that thinks surgical intervention is a possible best choice.
They're also trained to think like surgeons. Once they're into training as a surgeon, they learn the human body, and thus the application of medical science, as something that gets operated on. Every problem becomes one to address in that way because they've spent years shaping their minds to be very good at that.
It's really no different in that regard than an it guy thinking of a computer problem in terms of their specialty, or a mechanic wanting to rebuild something that might be fine with a spray of wd40 and some duct tape.
Hell, surgeons regularly have to deal with patients insisting on a surgery when other modalities are more appropriate. It's a thing they gripe about
I mean technically the bullet isn't free, just very cheap.
The most effective treatment is actually a breast reduction but apparently American insurance only covers making them bigger….
I know this is a joke but insurance traditionally won't cover enlargements unless it can be proven it's medically necessary. I have known 2 women that had reductions and they were covered under insurance because of back pain which is a medically necessary reason.
Not a joke, literally what my insurance company told me when my doctor tried to get me scheduled for a reduction.
My mom had a reduction paid by insurance. Your case doesn't mean it can't happen, just your provider chain is being difficult. Keep trying or change you're provider if you can.