What’s a good way to help with left neck and lower back pains?

Question

Dr. Mitchell Tanner, PT, DPT, CSCS · Answer

What's a good way to help with left neck and lower back pains? In general, if you have pain with a movement or an activity, you want to practice that movement in a controlled way so that you don't overdo it, right? So if we think about a traffic light and green light is pain-free, yellow light is uncomfortable but it's okay, and red light is painful. And spending some time doing activities that are in that yellow light zone of discomfort can be really beneficial to gradually expose you to that motion or that activity in a controlled way without flaring up your symptoms like they would in that painful zone. So once you've identified the things that are uncomfortable and challenging, practicing those and every time you practice them and nothing bad happens, it doesn't make your symptoms worse, you build confidence and desensitize your pain experience with that motion. And over time you're going to be able to do more of that motion whether it's a greater range of motion or a greater intensity of the activity. And continuing to progress as you feel able is how you return to more normal function. Aside from that, if you're having other like red lights, like very sudden weight change or changes in your bowel or bladder, you would definitely want to consult an expert.

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"What’s a good way to help with left neck and lower back pains?"