Quick Fix Or Long Term Solution- Which Is Best For Your Back Pain?

When you are looking for a solution to your pain it is essential to understand what kind of solution you are getting.

There are many ways to differentiate solutions or approaches, for today we will focus on the pros and cons of short solutions, so you can make an informed decision.

A short or a long term solution is a decision we have to make all the time. For example, when my car goes for an MOT and I need new tires, do I go for cheap tires that I may need to replace in a year or two and will offer me less grip, or do I have premium tires that will last longer and serve me better in poor conditions like rain and snow. 

Often we make these decisions subconsciously based on our preconceived beliefs around value. However it is very important to also understand the differences in implications when consecutive decisions are made with cars vs your health. One holds much greater consequences than the other.

We’ll start with the pros. In a word, convenience. Convenience in cost, as the vast majority of short term solutions tend to be cheaper. Convenience in time, both the initial outlay in the amount of sessions a person may have and also the overall duration of the plan. A short term solution may be over a month or so compared to a long term solution over 6-18 months for example. 

Given both monetary cost and time cost are two of the most considered expenses that can influence a person's decision making process, the short term solution requires less of these initially is a benefit of this approach. This approach favors those who are short of both of these items both money and time. Which when you consider what most British people complain they have little of would be both of these things. The other kind of person this approach appeals to is those who place little emphasis or importance on health. As the don't consider their health important it is unlucky they will want to spend a larger amount of money or time on it, as they have higher priorities to spend those resources on. 

The approach has added benefits when it is the only feasible one. When a person is in the unique situation where it is impossible for them to prioritise their long term health over their short term health. For this to be person case there needs to be a very immediate risk to one or more of Maslov’s physiological needs; Food, Water and Shelter. Without these 3 basic needs a person's life is at risk, and their immediate short term health should always be prioritised over their long term health.

In 2024 britain where we have the 6th largest economy in the world and the 2nd largest in europe, where the average british adult spends £590 annual at restaurants, £490.90 annually in pubs and £507 annually on takeaways, I do not consider the majority of us to suffer from the above stated misfortune. 

This is an interesting area in itself, I remember a booking recommending I did an exercise which is as follows. Write down the 5 most important areas or things in your life, then write down the 5 things you spend the most time doing (consult your diary), then finally write down the 5 things you spend the most amount of money on (consult your banking). If your 3 lists all look very similar, the way you are spending your time and money align with your goals, which means you are more likely to achieve them. If you have a lot of variation in your 3 lists then either the way you spend your time and money should be readjusted, or your goals adjusted. As the proverb goes “ we do not raise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our habits”.  

The cons of short term solutions are actually the very things people believe to benefit from with short term solutions. They are both as previously mentioned, money and time. The third consequence to short term solutions is the long term implication on your health. This is when it is important to differentiate a consequence of short term car solutions vs short term health solutions. 

A series of short term car solutions may eventually result in a breakdown of a more severe nature. This is because overtime a series of short term, patchwork solutions has placed excessive strain on other areas that eventually can no longer carry the extra burden and also circum to failure. For a car this will often result in a decision between spending a large sum of money repairing your current vehicle or buying a new car. Unfortunately we can’t buy new health in the same way we can vehicles. Meaning the health we start with has got to last us our time and can’t not be traded for another. After a series of short term solutions areas of our health that have been neglected or over- worked due to compensation will also deteriorate and you will be forced to pay the cost of that mistake, there is no trading or swapping your vehicle here. 

This means the two resources you chose to save initially, money and time, will have to be spent 10x fold now to resolve the issue. The true cost of this decision will be quality of life and quality of experience. When being interviewed on their deathbeds, what do people refer to as their life's biggest regrets? Things they did but wish they hadn't? Or things they didnt do but wish they did? Nearly always it is the latter, opportunities and experiences they never did and missed out on.

What is one of the key reasons people miss out on opportunities? Besides money and time which I won't go over again, is pain or injury, the physical inability to do so. Which can be avoided, the vast majority of the time, when a long term solution is implemented early enough.