New research has revealed that most treatments being offered to teenagers with persistent back pain are ‘outdated’. The study shows that new approaches to tackling back pain are not being tested among teenagers. Instead, most treatments being offered to teenagers with back pain tend to ignore the ‘big picture’ issues such as sleep, mood, stress, and relationships. “Traditional approaches such as exercise can play a useful role in helping teenagers with back pain,” explained researcher Sara D. Hauber, “however, exercise alone is rarely enough, and we have good evidence that other factors can have a major impact on a person’s pain.”

According to co-author Kieran O’Sullivan there may be several reasons for the lack of treatments addressing the needs of teenagers with back pain. “First, this may partly reflect old-fashioned ideas about what causes back pain, where the latest science is not fully appreciated. In this scenario, we spend too much time worrying about which specific exercise is best, rather than acknowledging almost all exercise is good, and we should also consider other things going on in their life. Secondly, the way healthcare services are offered, and how professionals are trained, makes a collaborative approach to treating back pain difficult and it rarely looks at the whole person.”

One recent study showed that people who received personalized treatment, which specifically matched their health needs, did better than those who received similar recommended care in a non-personalized manner, while another demonstrated that common understanding of proper sitting posture was outdated and may in fact hinder the treatment of back pain. If your teenager is experiencing back pain, you should consider the services of a chiropractor, an expert trained in a personalized approach to back pain issues for both adults and younger patients.

Presented as a service to the community by: Union County Chiropractic Clinic, 110 Skyline Drive, Maynardville, TN (865) 992-7000 www.unioncountychiropractic.com