The posture associated with tweeting may not be a good thing for your back. However, there may be benefits to actually reaching out to others via the popular social platform since early diagnosis and treatment of back pain often increases the odds of finding relief.
Seeking Social Assistance First
It turns out that the people followed for the purpose of a study on the impact of tweeting about back pain hadn’t tweeted in prior months about their pain. The implication is that people tend to head to social media first to determine if they should do something about their back pain.
Identifying Contributing Factors
Researchers dug a little deeper to search for possible contributing factors to the back pain being reported via Twitter. It only stands to reason that someone seeking input about back pain is going to throw out a few symptoms while doing so, which is why researchers identified some of the following symptom-indicating words:
- Lifting
- Tired
- Exhausted
Modifiable Risk Factors
The terms observed by researchers suggest causes of back pain, such as excessive rest and muscle strain from overexertion or improper lifting, that can be modified. The belief is that people who seek social guidance are at a stage where their back pain isn’t severe enough to require immediate medical attention by a spine specialist, although they are at a phase where certain activities are clearly doing something to their back.
Encouraging Early Intervention
Recognizing social trends related to back pain may help identify people who should, at the very least, be evaluated by a board-certified back doctor to determine if there are treatments that may help. At the same time, tweeting about back pain isn’t going to make it go away. It’s just as important to encourage patients to seek medical input when symptoms are mild, yet persistent.
Do a quick search on #backpain, or some variation of that hashtag, and you’ll be connected with both fellow back pain sufferers and spine specialists. Of course, if you want your doctor to actually spot signs of a potential problem, you’re going to have to invite him or her to follow you socially.
If back pain is persisting and disrupting your everyday life, it may be time to reach out to a spine surgeon in Los Angeles. Call The Spine Institute Center at (310) 828-7757 to learn more about possible pain relief options, from conservative measure to minimally invasive spine treatments. Call today. We are here to help.