Back pain is often a sign of injury or some underlying problem related to your spine – its bones, muscles, and other soft tissues. It could disrupt your work, routine, and your daily activities. It may even affect your normal lifestyle as you are unable to participate in recreational activities due to pain.
Fortunately for those who suffer from back pain, episodes of this condition do not often last long. In fact, most of episodes last from a few days to a few weeks and rarely do they last more than three months. If they do, then you are advised to consult a doctor since pain may just be a symptom of a far more serious injury or disorder.
In most cases, certain pain management methods may be used to achieve back pain relief. The treatment could range from use of nonprescription drugs to massage therapies and traditional remedies like acupuncture and yoga.
Below are some of the popular methods used for lower back pain relief:
1. Exercise
Many people believe that rest is best for a painful back, but actually, what your back really needs when its hurt is exercise. Regular exercise relieves back pain by strengthening and stretching the muscles that support the spine and helps to prevent future injury.
This is a use it or lose it situation: the more you rest, the weaker your back gets, even if it is hurt. If you do not know of any, you can always ask your doctor for reference. For sure the list that they will give includes swimming and walking to say the least. There are also movement therapies to develop proper posture.
To manage pain, you may do any of the following:
Walk short distances
Stretch and do flexibility exercises
Use a stationary bicycle
Swim
2. Losing Weight
Losing weight can also be a back pain relief. This is because being overweight can make the ache get worse. You also have to get your muscles in better shape and improving your postures when sitting, standing or sleeping.
Remember, if your head is not in line with your body it is like having a 15-pound weight constantly pulling you forward, which can strain the neck and shoulders. Standing and sitting with good posture create a vertical line with the body that can make you appear up to 10 pounds lighter.
3. Heating Pads and Ice Packs
Following trauma, the person should apply an ice pack or compress over the injured area. Do this for up to 20 minutes several times every day. If you still do not achieve back pain relief after two to three days of cold treatment, use a heat pack. This will help relax the muscles and increase blood flow, speeding up recovery.
4. Physical Therapy
Sometimes, rest and exercise, the most common forms of back pain treatment, may not produce the desired results. Even so, pain may still be treated without going for surgery. Manual physical therapy is a method of lower back pain treatment that uses a specialized type of physical therapy to relieve pain.
Physical therapy uses different techniques, such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, cryotherapy, massage, exercise, and heat in order to relieve muscle spasms, increase flexibility, strengthen muscles, relieve pain, and accelerate the healing process.
5. Massage Therapy
Studies have shown that massage therapy is more effective than both chiropractic and acupuncture for relieving pain due to muscle spasms. The benefits of massage therapy include improved circulation, which helps alleviate muscle soreness; muscle relaxation, which helps muscles move without pain; and increased endorphins, the bodys natural pain relievers. You should be aware that the kind of massage you receive in a spa is not the same kind of massage used to treat back pain.
6. Water Therapy:
Hydrotherapy for back pain relieves pain by loosening the muscles and ridding the body of toxins that produce pain and inflammation. Water exercise therapy has many benefits. The buoyancy of water supports the patients weight, allowing a greater range of motion when the person has too much pain to exercise on land.
This makes water exercise therapy ideal for everyone who seeks relieve from back pain. Additionally, the water temperature should be warm enough to relax muscles, which also helps relieve pain. Warm baths are excellent for relieving mild backaches.
