Low back pain can be frustrating and even a little scary. If you’ve ever found yourself sidelined from a weekend hike, struggling to lift your child, or just feeling stiff after a day at work, you’re not alone. In fact, up to 80% of adults will experience significant low back pain at some point in their lives.

The internet is full of conflicting advice, and it’s easy to get worried that you might have to give up the active life you love. But what if most of what you’ve heard about back pain is wrong?

As Olathe, KS, Physical Therapists, our greatest passion is helping people in our community move past fear and get back to their active life. Let’s work together to bust five of the most common myths about physical therapy for back pain and empower you with an encouraging, evidence-based path forward.

Myth #1: “Rest is Best for Back Pain.”

This is one of the most common things we hear, but it’s usually the opposite of what your back needs. While a very short period of rest might be needed for a severe, acute injury, prolonged bed rest can actually slow down your recovery.

In our clinic, we have a favorite saying: “Motion is Lotion.”

Gentle movement and activity increase blood flow, reduce stiffness, and prevent the muscles that support your spine from getting weaker. Clinical guidelines today strongly recommend that patients with low back pain stay active and continue with their usual activities as much as they can tolerate. It’s the key to achieving low back pain relief faster and for the long term.

Myth #2: “I Need an MRI or X-ray to See What’s Going On.”

It’s natural to want a picture to see exactly what’s going on, but when it comes to low back pain, a picture can be misleading. Research shows that many findings on an MRI—like disc bulges, arthritis, or degenerative changes—are incredibly common in people who have no pain at all.

Think of these changes like wrinkles on the inside; they are a normal part of aging and not necessarily the source of your pain. A thorough Physical Therapy evaluation where we watch you move and listen to your story often tells us much more than an image can. It helps us identify the true cause of your symptoms and create a plan that’s actually built for you.

Myth #3: “My Back is ‘Out of Alignment’.”

Many people feel like something in their back is “out of place,” and while that feeling is real, the explanation isn’t quite right. Your spine is an incredibly strong and stable structure, supported by thick ligaments and powerful muscles. Vertebrae don’t just slip in and out of place.

That sensation of being “stuck” or “out of alignment” is usually caused by muscle guarding and joint stiffness. Your body is trying to protect an area that feels threatened, and the muscles tighten up in response. Our job as your PT is to use gentle hands-on techniques and specific exercises to help those muscles relax and restore your normal movement, helping you move with more confidence and ease.

Myth #4: “My Pain Level Equals the Amount of Damage.”

This is a huge source of fear for people. It’s easy to think that if your pain is a 10/10, you must have serious damage in your back. Thankfully, that’s not how pain works.

I like to explain it like this: think of your pain as a house alarm. Normally, the alarm only goes off when a window breaks—a clear sign of danger. But after an injury, surgery, or a long period of pain, that system becomes much more sensitive. Now, the alarm might go off when the wind just blows past the house. Your body is doing the same thing. Our goal isn’t to ignore the alarm, but to work on desensitizing the system and calming it down.

Pain is a protective output from your brain, and it can be turned up or down by many factors like stress, lack of sleep, and your own beliefs and fears about your pain. This is actually great news! It means that by addressing these other factors—like learning about your pain, improving sleep, and building confidence with movement—we can help turn the volume down on your alarm system.

Myth #5: “I Have to Give Up My Favorite Activities.”

This is the most important myth to bust. For the active people we work with, the biggest fear is that they’ll be told to stop golfing, running, traveling, or playing on the floor with their grandkids.

Our goal as Physical Therapists is the exact opposite. We are here to help you get back to the activities you love. We do this through a process called “graded exposure,” where we safely and progressively reintroduce the movements and activities you’ve been missing. We help build your body’s resilience and your confidence, creating a clear road map to get you from where you are today back to the life you want to live.

A Real-World Example: It’s Not Always About the Back

Let me tell you about an active guy from right here in Olathe I worked with recently—his story might sound familiar. He was an active guy in his 30s who loved playing rec basketball, but he kept getting sidelined by frustrating, on-and-off back pain. He was doing what many people do: he’d rest for a few weeks and it would feel a little better, he tried stretches he found online, but the pain always came back.

He came into Physical Therapy for the first time assuming his core must be weak, but we found his core strength was actually great. After a thorough evaluation, we discovered the real issue wasn’t his back at all—it was his hips. They were very limited in both mobility and strength, forcing his low back to compensate and take on extra strain every time he moved on the court.

So, what did we do? We focused almost entirely on improving his hip movement and building strength in that new range of motion. After just six visits, he was completely pain-free. More importantly, he told me he felt stronger and more mobile on the basketball court than he had in years. This is a perfect example of why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work; finding the true source of the problem is the key.