Top 5 Most Asked Questions About Back Pain
5 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Chronic Low Back Pain
If you've been dealing with low back pain for months or even years, you've probably tried stretching, resting, medications, chiropractic care, or physical therapy. Maybe something helped temporarily, but the pain keeps coming back.
Over time, you start changing how you move, exercise, and live your life out of fear of another flare-up. You may even wonder if back pain is something you'll have to live with forever.
At Revive Physiotherapy, we look beyond where it hurts to understand the factors contributing to your pain, including strength, mobility, movement patterns, and how your nervous system responds to movement.
Let's answer five of the most common questions we hear about low back pain and help you better understand what's happening in your body.
Q: Why does my lower back pain keep coming back?
Recurring low back pain can be influenced by multiple factors, including changes in activity or training load, mobility, strength, movement strategies, sleep, stress, recovery, and sensitivity of the nervous system. Rather than assuming there is one single cause, we evaluate your past medical history, current lifestyle, and movement most relevant to your symptoms.
Q: Do I need an MRI or X-ray before starting physical therapy?
No. Imaging can be important when certain symptoms, trauma, medical history, or red flags suggest that additional investigation is appropriate. However, many cases of low back pain can initially be evaluated and treated clinically. Your physical therapist can screen your symptoms and recommend medical follow-up when appropriate.
Q: Should I stop working out if my back hurts?
Not always. Complete rest is rarely advised for chronic or recurring mechanical low back pain. We may temporarily modify certain exercises, load management, range of motion, or training volume based on your symptoms while keeping you as active as possible. Your rehab progressively prepares you to return to full activity.
Q: Can I still squat or deadlift with low back pain?
In many cases, yes. But how you train may need to change temporarily. We assess your squat, hinge, and lifting mechanics and determine what loads and variations you currently are able to tolerate. From there, we progressively rebuild your ability to perform the movement rather than automatically remove it from your program.
Q: How long does rehab take to fix my back pain?
There is no universal timeline. At Revive, a comprehensive plan of care for recurring or chronic low back pain commonly progresses over 4–5 months, with visits becoming less frequent as you gain independence. Your timeline depends on factors such as how long you've had symptoms, your current activity level, your goals, your response to treatment, and the demands you're preparing to return to.
Ready to Stop Letting Back Pain Dictate Your Life?
Whether back pain is keeping you from lifting, running, working out, playing your sport, or simply moving confidently, our goal is to help you understand what's happening and build a body that's prepared for what you want to do.
