If you don’t know your pain triggers, treating your back pain often becomes little more than guesswork.

Many people are told what is “wrong” with their back:
a disc herniation, disc bulge, degenerative disc disease, facet joint pain, or spinal stenosis.

That information can be helpful.
But on its own, it’s rarely enough to actually resolve pain.

What’s equally important, if not more important, is understanding what specifically triggers your symptoms.

What Are Pain Triggers?

Pain triggers are the movements, postures, or loads that provoke your symptoms.

For example, your pain may be aggravated by:

  • Flexion (bending forward)

  • Extension (arching backward)

  • Compression (loading the spine)

  • Shear forces (sliding forces between spinal segments)

  • or a combination of these.

Identifying these triggers is essential because the same diagnosis does not mean the same treatment plan.

Same Diagnosis, Different Triggers

Two people can have the exact same diagnosis and experience pain in very different ways.

  • One person with a disc herniation may feel worse with flexion.

  • Another person with the same diagnosis may be aggravated by extension.

If both individuals are given the same exercises or treatment plan, one might improve—while the other sees no change or even gets worse.

This is why diagnosis alone rarely tells the full story.

How Pain Triggers Are Actually Identified

Pain triggers are not guessed.
And they are not determined by imaging alone.

Instead, they are identified through a series of specific posture and movement tests that systematically stress different structures of the spine.

These tests:

  • Apply controlled loads such as flexion, extension, compression, and shear

  • Observe how symptoms change in response to each movement or posture

  • Identify which positions reproduce pain and which relieve it

By carefully analyzing these responses, it becomes clear which forces your spine currently tolerates and which ones provoke symptoms.

This allows us to understand not just what your diagnosis is, but how it should be treated.

Imaging Tells Part of the Story—Not the Whole Story

Have you ever been told:

  • “You have a disc bulge”

  • “Your MRI shows degeneration”

…but never been told what movements are actually causing your pain?

Imaging findings can be useful, but they don’t explain how your back responds to daily activities like sitting, standing, bending, or lifting.

To make meaningful progress, you need both:

  • What imaging shows

  • What movement and loads trigger pain

What Changes Once You Know Your Pain Triggers?

When your specific pain triggers are identified, you can:

  • Avoid aggravating movements in daily life

  • Modify how you sit, stand, lift, and move

  • Choose exercises that calm symptoms instead of provoking them

By reducing repeated irritating to sensitive structures, pain often begins to decrease and the conditions needed for healing can occur. For many people, this understanding alone leads to fewer flare-ups and steady improvement.

The Missing Piece in Back Pain Recovery

If you’re still struggling to overcome your back pain despite knowing your diagnosis, identifying your pain triggers may be the missing piece.

Because effective treatment isn’t about guessing what might help—it’s about understanding how your spine responds to load and movement, and using that information to guide every step of your recovery.