What do we do on a daily basis? We wake up, sit down, have a cup of coffee and read the newspaper. We sit in our car and drive to work. We arrive at work and sit down to work. For the next several hours we place and answer phone calls, enter data, research information and communicate with the computer.

Mistake #4: Treating only the symptoms, The majority of the treatments people receive for back pain - cortisone shots, anti-inflammatory drugs, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, and the like - address only the symptoms. You must understand that pain is merely a signal that something is wrong. Even if you get rid of the pain, the problem is still going to be there.

Here's an illustration: Suppose the oil light comes on in your car. You could put a piece of duct tape over the light - which would eliminate the aggravation. But it's not going to solve the problem. Your engine is still going to need attention. And its only a matter of time before it will shut down unless you do something. It's the same with pain.

You're hurting because your body is going through abnormal changes and those changes are causing abnormal postural condition and those abnormal postural condition are causing your muscles, joints and ligament to function under increased stress and strain and they will eventually fail causing a condition to be very painful, like a herniated disc.

Mistake ##5: Not understanding that back pain is a process

Most of the time, back pain and sciatica take weeks, months, or even years to develop. But you're not aware that there's a problem until something starts to hurt. Rarely is back pain the result of a one-time incident. Barring an injury, it just doesn't happen overnight.

Mistake #6: The "I've Tried Everything" Syndrome
You tell yourself that there's nothing out there that you don't know about, that surgery is the only option left, or - even worse - that you'll just have to learn to live with the pain.

I can almost guarantee you that you haven't tried a head-to-toe assessment, which is absolutely essential for identifying your muscle imbalances. I'd be willing to bet that your doctor, chiropractor, or physical therapist hasn't done them.

I've worked with a lot of chiropractors, so I have a pretty good idea how most of them operate. Maybe 10 to 15 percent of them will do a head-to-toe assessment. The rest do a single manipulation - and nothing else. This will probably work for a while. But then you're going to find yourself having to go back three to four times a week - until the insurance runs out.

Mistake #7: Not taking control
No one knows your body as well as you do, and nobody cares about your health as much as you do. Even if you're working with a great professional, you still need to educate yourself.

Unfortunately, most people don't know much about how their own body works, let alone what actually causes back pain and how to get rid of it. Patients who are knowledgeable get better and faster results. Make the decision to be active in your own rehab.