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
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:
- FALSE: Low back pain is usually a serious medical condition.
- FALSE: Low back pain will become persistent and deteriorate in later life.
- FALSE: Persistent low back pain is always related to tissue damage.
- FALSE: Scans are always needed to detect the cause of low back pain.
- 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.
- FALSE: Low back pain is caused by weak “core” muscles and having a strong core protects against future Low back pain.
- FALSE: Repeated spinal loading results in “wear and tear” and tissue damage.
- FALSE: Pain flare-ups are a sign of tissue damage and require rest.
- FALSE: Treatments such as strong medications, injections and surgery are effective, and necessary, to treat Low back pain.
related content
Specifically regarding O’Sullivan 2019:
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.