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After hurting my back at work I switched jobs. Now I'm not doing as much heavy lifting and I feel much better. Is this just all in my head or does it really make a difference?

Studies suggest it may be a little bit of both. Heavy lifting is a predictor of future episodes of back pain. This could be the case of mechanical overload: lifting more than the spine is designed to handlt. Back pain is more likely to go away and stay away when there's a decrease in the workload.

There may be a fear factor here in that a person's back starts to hurt when the person avoids certain movements in order to prevent injury. Studies show greater psychologic distress in patients doing heavy work compared to part-time workers or workers on light duty.

Reference: 

Eugene J. Carragee, MD, et al. Discographic, MRI and Psychosocial Determinants of Low Back Pain Disability and Remission: A Prospective Study in Subjects with Benign Persistent Back Pain. In The Spine Journal. January/February 2005. Vol. 5. No. 1. Pp. 24-35.

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