Battle Back Pain In An Online Game

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - A  University of Michigan doctor has created a new online video game to help you get the proper care for your aching back. It's called BackQuack.

University of Michigan Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dr. Andrew Haig, who says almost everybody will be disabled by back pain for a couple of weeks in their life.

Speaking to WWJ's Beth Fisher, Dr. Haig said almost everybody will be disabled to back pain for at least a couple of weeks in their lifetime.

"This is a game that builds consumers and also makes doctors better," said Haig.

"People don't understand back pain very well, and they make some very, very bad decisions based on a lot of magical thought about pinched nerves, when actually there's chemical irritation of the nerves, and there's nothing pinched almost ever," he said.

Haig said the free BackQuack game works to make you a better consumer because he says it's a $50 billion industry and some of it isn't good.

"We know that MRI's are almost never useful in diagnosing back pain. They're useful in planning for surgery and we know that x-rays cause cancer, but doctors order them to make a profit and. you know, there are a lot of things that patients need to understand if they want to steer their way through this complicated problem and the game tries to teach that," Haig said.

- You can play the game at this link - (Be prepared to enter just a little information about yourself before you can log in).

You'll also find BackQuack on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.