Does Back Pain Mean You Have to Stop Doing the Things You Love?
When you have back pain every time you do something you enjoy, it’s easy to start wondering:
Should I just stop doing this?
Maybe it’s running, traveling, gardening, golfing, working out, playing with your kids, or simply being active without constantly thinking about your back.
When back pain keeps returning, avoiding the things that seem to aggravate it can feel like the safest option.
And sometimes, temporarily modifying an activity absolutely makes sense, especially with a new injury, a significant change in symptoms, or when you've been advised to do so by a qualified healthcare provider.
But recurring back pain doesn't automatically mean that everything that causes discomfort is damaging your back or that you need to keep making your life smaller because of it.
Back pain doesn't always tell the whole story
When something hurts, our natural reaction is to assume there must be something wrong with that specific area.
Back hurts = something must be wrong with the back.
And sometimes there is a clear structural explanation for pain.
But pain is more complicated than that.
How you feel on any given day can be influenced by much more than the structures in your back. Sleep, stress, nutrition, inflammation, recovery, activity levels, and other aspects of your overall health can all influence how well your body handles the demands placed on it.
That means the activity you're blaming may not always be the entire problem.
Think about whether you've ever noticed something like this:
You do an activity one day and feel fine.
You do essentially the same thing another day and your back flares.
What changed?
Maybe you slept terribly the night before. Maybe you've been under significantly more stress. Maybe you haven't been eating well or recovering adequately. Maybe your activity level suddenly increased.
Often, it isn't one single factor. It's the combination of demands being placed on your body at that particular time.
I had to learn this about back pain
After multiple back surgeries, a failed spinal fusion, and years of recurring pain, I had plenty of reasons to believe my back was simply damaged and that certain activities were no longer for me.
But giving up everything I enjoyed wasn't the life I wanted either.
Over time, I started paying attention to something I hadn't considered before: my pain wasn't always consistent.
There were times I could be very active and feel surprisingly good. Other times, something much less demanding could trigger a flare.
That made me start asking a different question.
Instead of only asking:
“What did I do to my back?”
I started asking:
“What else was going on with my body when this happened?”
That's an important distinction.
Today, I still have back pain. I also race, travel, exercise, spend time being active with my family, and yes, I've even ziplined over Niagara Falls.
I'm not sharing that because I think everyone with back pain should go ziplining, run a race, or push through pain.
I'm sharing it because there was a time when I questioned what my back would allow me to keep doing.
Learning to look at the bigger picture of my health helped me better understand my own patterns and what my body needed to support the life I wanted to live.
Addressing recurring back pain isn't glamorous
Here's the part that isn't particularly exciting.
Addressing recurring back pain isn't usually glamorous, flashy, or a quick fix.
Often, it's about returning to the basics that support your whole body.
How are you sleeping?
Are you consistently giving your body the nutrients it needs?
How well are you recovering?
What does your stress load look like?
Are there patterns in your digestion, energy, or other symptoms that you've been ignoring because they don't seem related to your back?
How much are you moving, and has that amount recently changed?
None of these things make for a flashy promise.
But your body doesn't operate in isolated pieces.
And sometimes getting back to the basics gives you information that focusing exclusively on the painful area doesn't.
Before you automatically give something up, get curious about your back pain
If an activity seems to consistently bother your back, it deserves attention.
But instead of immediately assuming I can't do this anymore, consider looking for patterns.
Ask yourself:
How have I been sleeping?
Did I eat something that caused an inflammatory reaction?
Has my stress been higher than usual?
Am I eating and hydrating consistently?
Have I given myself enough time to recover?
Did I suddenly increase how much I'm doing?
Does this activity bother me every single time, or only sometimes?
What else tends to be happening when my pain is worse?
You don't need to obsessively track every detail of your life.
The goal is simply to start noticing.
Sometimes those observations reveal patterns that aren't obvious when you're looking only at the painful area.
Your back is part of a whole person
This is one of the biggest shifts in how I think about recurring back pain.
Your back doesn't exist independently from the rest of your body.
The way you sleep, eat, recover, respond to stress, move, and support your overall health can influence how you feel.
None of that means back pain is “all in your head,” that nutrition magically fixes an injury, or that you should ignore symptoms and push through everything.
It means pain deserves context.
And if you've spent years trying to address your recurring back pain only by focusing on your back, there may be value in widening the lens.
Because the ultimate goal isn't simply to have fewer painful days.
It's to be able to participate in your life with more confidence and hopefully spend a lot less time wondering whether your back is going to stop you.
You may not need to give up the things you love. You may need to understand more about what your body needs in order to keep doing them.
Want to look beyond your back?
If your back pain keeps returning despite doing all the “right” things, my free guide, 7 Hidden Reasons Your Back Pain Keeps Flaring Up, walks through several commonly overlooked factors that may be worth considering.
This information is for educational purposes and is not intended to diagnose or treat a medical condition. New, severe, worsening, or concerning symptoms should be evaluated by an appropriate healthcare professional.
If this resonates with you, follow along on Instagram at @alera_functional_health where I share more root-cause health and inflammation support strategies.
If you’d like a personalized plan that fits your life and helps you feel your best, I’m here to help. Interested in learning more about how you can optimize your health and finally find relief from your symptoms? Schedule a free Discovery Call with me by clicking here.
About The Author
Erin Briley is a Certified Functional Nutrition Coach and founder of Alera Functional Health. She helps people with recurring back pain look beyond the spine to identify often-overlooked factors that may be influencing how they feel, including nutrition, sleep, stress, digestion, inflammation, and recovery.
After experiencing years of chronic back pain, multiple surgeries, and a failed spinal fusion herself, Erin understands how frustrating it can be when pain continues to interfere with the things you want to do. Her approach focuses on practical, sustainable changes that support the whole body and help clients better understand their individual patterns, so they can spend less time organizing their lives around back pain.
