10 facts every person should know about back pain

Two pages on PainSci cite O’Sullivan 2019: 1. When to Worry About Low Back Pain 2. The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain 

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PainSci notes on O’Sullivan 2019:

A highly credible and readable explanation of back pain myths. Lead author Peter O’Sullivan shared the myths and a nice featured infographic in a tweet. Here are the “unhelpful” low back pain beliefs, “culturally endorsed and not supported by evidence,” identified by the authors:

1. FALSE: Low back pain is usually a serious medical condition.
2. FALSE: Low back pain will become persistent and deteriorate in later life.
3. FALSE: Persistent low back pain is always related to tissue damage.
4. FALSE: Scans are always needed to detect the cause of low back pain.
5. FALSE: Pain related to exercise and movement is always a warning that harm is being done to the spine and a signal to stop or modify activity.
6. FALSE: Low back pain is caused by weak “core” muscles and having a strong core protects against future Low back pain.
7. FALSE: Repeated spinal loading results in “wear and tear” and tissue damage.
8. FALSE: Pain flare-ups are a sign of tissue damage and require rest.
9. FALSE: Treatments such as strong medications, injections and surgery are effective, and necessary, to treat Low back pain.

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Specifically regarding O’Sullivan 2019:

• twitter.com/…

This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:

• The Problematic Nature of Fibromyalgia Diagnosis in the Community. Srinivasan 2019 ACR Open Rheumatol.
• Fibromyalgia diagnosis and biased assessment: Sex, prevalence and bias. Wolfe 2018 PLoS One.
• Restoring trust in menopause management: menopause hormone therapy is not a panacea, and physical activity remains a critical intervention. Tulloh 2025 Br J Sports Med.
• Common interventional procedures for chronic non-cancer spine pain: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials. Wang 2025 BMJ.
• Gabapentinoids and Risk of Hip Fracture. Leung 2024 JAMA Netw Open.