Well, not really when you are talking about back pain — it just seems like forever.
Lower back pain is classified as:
* Acute: This means that the pain has just started and hasn’t been present for more that 6 weeks.
* Sub-Acute: This means that the pain has been around for 6-12 weeks…but no longer than 12 weeks.
* Chronic: This means that the pain has been there for more than 12 weeks.
Six weeks of back pain can certainly seem like a lifetime of pain, and 12 weeks seems like several lifetimes of pain.
When your lower back hurts, you pretty much hurt all over, and you are certainly limited in your activities.
Simple activities that you have always done, like sitting down, getting up, walking across a room, and tying your own shoelaces, have become things that you barely accomplish and never without experiencing excruciating pain being involved.
Chronic lower back pain (pain that has lasted for more than 12 weeks) will likely require not only manipulation by a chiropractor but also a course of rehabilitation that will include massage and both active and passive exercises to rebuild muscle.
Pain just naturally causes us to quit using the muscles that cause the pain to happen. We simply avoid it, and we can do so almost without thinking about it.
When muscles are not used for a period of 12 weeks or more, they begin to atrophy, and they will need to exercised and helped to recover their strength as the pain is relieved.
Lower back pain is a very unpleasant experience. Chronic lower back pain is an even worse experience.
The best thing to do when you begin to have back pain is to seek treatment as soon as possible and not wait for the pain to become chronic.