Can AI Fix Your Back Pain? We Put ChatGPT to the Test
With more people turning to Google, YouTube, and now AI tools like ChatGPT for health advice, it's natural to wonder:
Can AI actually help you fix your back pain?
We’ve had more than a few patients tell us,
“I asked ChatGPT what to do for my back pain…”
So we decided to find out for ourselves.
We prompted ChatGPT as if we were struggling with recurring back pain—the kind that flares up after lifting, sitting too long, or pushing too hard in the gym. Our goal was to see how helpful AI could be for someone in that situation.
Here’s what we learned—and what you should watch out for.
What ChatGPT Got Right About Back Pain
To be fair, ChatGPT gave some solid general advice. It recommended things like:
Staying active instead of resting too much
Trying gentle core strengthening and mobility work
Avoiding movements that cause sharp or sudden pain
Seeking professional help if the pain doesn’t improve over time
That’s all great advice—especially if you’re dealing with mild, new-onset back pain and just need a little guidance to get moving again. For first-time issues or general education, AI can be a useful tool.
Where AI Falls Short for Chronic or Recurring Pain
But once we started asking more specific questions, a few limitations became clear:
The answers stayed surface-level. ChatGPT can’t dig into your history, lifestyle, or personal goals in a meaningful way.
It can’t assess how you move. It doesn’t know what happens to your spine or hips when you squat, bend, or sit at your desk.
It can't test your response to movement. Sometimes exercises that “should work” actually make things worse—and only a trained human can observe that in real time.
Even though it can ask what your goals are, it can't adapt your plan based on your body’s real-time response. It also can’t distinguish between two people with similar symptoms but very different root causes.
And that’s the core problem: AI doesn’t have access to what your body is actually doing.
Why That Matters for People with Recurring Back Pain
If your back pain keeps coming back—or if you’ve already tried the typical advice and it didn’t stick—you’re not just dealing with a surface-level issue.
You’re dealing with something that likely requires a more nuanced, movement-based assessment.
The solution needs to be personalized.
It needs to respond to how you move, load, recover, and adapt.
And that’s just not something AI is built to do… yet.
Should You Use ChatGPT for Back Pain?
If you’re just starting to feel discomfort and want to understand what’s safe and what’s not, ChatGPT might give you a few helpful ideas. It may even prompt you to move more, which is almost always better than doing nothing.
But if:
You’ve had back pain more than a few times
You’ve tried the standard advice and it didn’t work
Your pain keeps returning when you push harder in the gym or sit for too long
You're tired of band-aid solutions and want to actually solve it
Then AI advice probably isn’t enough.
Because your body deserves more than guesswork.
The Bottom Line: AI Can’t Watch You Move—But We Can
At our practice, we work with active adults who are frustrated by recurring pain that hasn't been fixed by general advice, rest, or quick “tune-ups.”
We don’t rely on cookie-cutter plans—we actually assess how your body moves and builds a strategy around your goals.
So if you’ve tried the search engines, the YouTube workouts, and yes—even ChatGPT—and you’re still stuck, that’s okay.
We’re here when you're ready for something that actually works.
Click the link below to book a discovery call today!
Looking for more tips on staying active and pain-free? Explore our blog for more resources.
