“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”

Chinese Proverb

Have you ever noticed that the first item on almost every list of anything related to health or wellness is “get educated”?

This is by far the most important aspect of any successful program, no matter what the program deals with.

This basic tenet can be found in effective weight-loss programs, injury rehab programs, heart-health programs and even nutritional systems such as my personal favourite “Precision Nutrition”.

The easiest way to reach a certain goal or achieve a certain outcome is usually to get educated.

Why get educated?

The answer is simple.

There are two items that are paramount for achieving success in relieving your low back pain: having a plan and taking action.

Getting an education will give you the foundation you need to decide what your plan is going to be.

Once you have a plan, all you have to do is take action.

This is a sure-fire recipe for success.

When it comes to low back pain, education can mean a whole bunch of things.

From my experience as a physical therapist, here’s my take on the 2 most important things getting an education with respect to your low back pain will give you:

1. The problem
2. The solution

Again, it’s that simple.

If you’ve followed my posts for any amount of time, you’ll recognize that I’m a simple man that believes strongly in the basics.

This goes back to my introduction to Occam’s Razor years ago.

When dealing with low back pain, almost everything we do can be summed up in that duology: we have a problem (low back pain) and we want a solution (stop the pain).

Getting educated will help you define your problem and will help you formulate your solution: The whos, the whats, the wheres, the whens and the whys.

Getting educated will let you figure out the steps you need to create your plan and then set you up to move on to the next stage: Taking Control.

In the next post, we’ll dig a little deeper into what taking control really means.

So until that time, poke around my blog to learn all you can about the causes, sources and solutions for your low back pain.

Yours in movement,

Dev Chengkalath

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

Lance Armstrong

Pain is an interesting phenomena.

No two people will feel it the same way. No two people will have the same experience. No two people will respond to it the same way.

It is as unique to you as your fingerprints are.

In my practice as a human movement specialist and physical therapist in Toronto, I am privileged to be given an inside look at how people deal with pain.

At times, this pain is acute with known cause, a fall, a trauma, or a sporting injury perhaps. And oftentimes, this pain is chronic, of “unknown” origin and having outlived the doctor’s pill prescriptions, become an accepted part of my client’s daily life.

which pill?

About 8 out of every 10 clients I see come in with low back pain, have had an episode of low back pain or have decided that they’ll have to live with their low back pain.

THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

You don’t have to suffer for the rest of your life. You don’t have to give up golfing. You don’t have to stop playing with your kids, nieces or nephews. You don’t have to resign yourself to a lifetime of discomfort and disability.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO SPEND YOUR BEST YEARS ON YOUR BACK IN BED!

But, it will come down to what you believe.

If you believe you will be in pain forever, you most likely will.

If you believe you won’t be able to relieve your low back pain, you probably won’t.

If you believe you will get better, you will.

If you believe you won’t let this stop you from living the life you want, the life you deserve, it won’t.

Times have changed. Knowledge has improved. The stakes are a lot higher now.

Why is belief so powerful? How can these simple thoughts become such powerfully allies in your quest for that pain free life?

Well, my friends, thoughts by themselves will accomplish nothing.

It’s when these thoughts become actions, behaviours and habits that the magic happens.

Not only for low back pain, but for every aspect of your life.

Send me your comments or experiences with pain.

Let me know what you think.

Believing in you.

Dev Chengkalath