Head to Toh Physical Therapy

08/28/2026

1️⃣ Your MRI alone cannot 100% tell you what is causing your pain.

2️⃣ Pain does not always equal damage, and damage does not always equal pain. If we rule out red flag issues, it is safe and often appropriate to confidently nudge pain within tolerable levels.

3️⃣ Abnormal findings like disc bulges and disc degeneration are extremely common on MRI in people with no pain.

4️⃣ Pain is complex and it’s important to look at the whole picture of your health to consider why your pain alarm system is going off.

5️⃣ Bending and lifting with your back is not inherently dangerous. Not being prepared to might be.

6️⃣ Avoiding and protecting only take you so far. At some point you need to resume your life and gradually challenge your back again to recover fully.

Follow me if you want to learn the truth about lower back pain, and how to be empowered to overcome it without pills or surgery.

References:
PMID:
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08/26/2026

Pain is complex.

Spinal flexion and spinal loading are known mechanisms of injury for the spine. I’m not arguing with that.

I’m arguing with making the jump from that to, those things must be avoided forever.

It makes no logical sense, and the science simply does not support it, at least not to the degree to which people hold such a tremendous confidence in this on.

I think fear plays a big role here.

But also the traditional biomedical model is how things have always been explained, and it’s hard to break that.

But the science is challenging that more and more as well.

Biomechanics matter. But pain is way more complex than just that. And if we continue to ignore those other factors and pretend that structure and biomechanics are everything as if we are just machines, we are doing people a huge disservice.

Sorry not sorry for not shutting up about this. But imo these false beliefs are out here ruining people’s lives who suffer needlessly from unwarranted fear.

Fear is fine if the threat is real.

But I’m telling you, the reality of that threat has a lot of holes in it.

08/26/2026

The key to injury prevention is to avoid anything that creates stress and can potentially cause injury. Avoidance and protection is key.

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If you haven’t gotten that this is satire by now, idk what to tell ya.

Your body is strong and resilient and putting stress on it is literally how it gets stronger. Dont listen to the lies.

08/25/2026

If you never disarm the threat of lower back pain, your nervous system may never be convinced to let up and stop blaring the alarm.

And if the alarm is blaring, no matter what you do may meet resistance, because your body is not convinced you are safe.

Due diligence of a thorough exam and ruling out red flags is an important first step.

But beyond that we need to have an important discussion about how pain works, and it’s many potential causes.

Pain can be complex and often multi factorial, especially if you have been experiencing it for years.

But there is hope. And this does not mean your approach needs to be complex, in fact often times simple solutions can be the most effective d approach for seemingly very complex issues.

Your body is more resilient than you have been led to believe.

And starting with disarming the false alarms, we can start on the process of taking real action to calm down your nervous system and restore strength and mobility.

But none of that is possible if the threat is not disarmed.

Disclaimer: this is not medical advice. These are principles I use to help understand pain and guide decision making. As always seek the help of a licensed medical professional for your unique situation. And if you have any red flag symptoms, get urgent medical attention.

08/24/2026

08/24/2026

I’m a Physical Therapist but you might be surprised to learn what I think is actually the biggest factor in chronic lower back pain.

Fear changes how you move, what activities you deem are safe to do, and it makes your nervous system primed to react.

And fear is like a wildfire. Left unchecked, it spreads rapidly and takes over and becomes very difficult to manage.

So that is my mission on social media as a Physical Therapist.

If you struggle with chronic lower back pain, I want to help you confront and overcome whatever fear is holding you back.

And yes often we need a more thorough exam and a closer look.

But very often what is actually needed is education on what is deemed worthy to fear, and what is not.

I’m telling you, this is so important.

Follow me if you want to overcome your fear of lower back pain by learning what the science actually says, and how you might in fact be a lot safer than you realize.

08/23/2026

Your body is more resilient than you have been led to believe.