If you’re one of the millions of people who suffer from lower back pain, you know that there is often not one surefire treatment that cures the pain. The truth is that managing back pain is often a process of trial and error and you will likely have to try several options to see what works best for you.
Medical approaches usually focus more on addressing the anatomical problem in the lower back. However, treating pain is often more than just treating the anatomical issue and a more full, well-rounded approach often works best. The following is by no means a comprehensive list of all you can do, but rather some information and tips that you may find useful in adding to your efforts to reduce and influence your lower back pain.
Release Your Inner Endorphins
Endorphins are the body’s natural pain relievers, and they can be as strong as many of the strongest pain relievers. They are chemicals that occur naturally in the body, and when released they help block pain signals from registering with the brain. Endorphins also help alleviate anxiety, stress and depression — conditions that often turn a chronic back problem into a life problem.
Get Restorative Sleep
Of all medical conditions, pain is the number one cause of insomnia. Approximately two-thirds of patients with chronic back pain suffered from sleep disorders. In turn, inadequate will make the back pain worse. The vicious cycle that develops makes it ineffective to treat just one of the problems – both the sleep problems and the pain need to be treated.
To treat the many forms of sleep problems that accompany chronic lower back pain, many options are available such as medication, relaxation techniques and other behavioral and psychological techniques. Often a combination of approaches will work best.
Exercise Your Abs
Unlike the major arm and leg muscles, the core muscles of the body, the ab and back muscles, don’t get much use during normal daily activities. However, they play a critical role in supporting the lower back. If they are not actively exercised on a regular basis, more strain will be place on the lower back.
Soothe The Pain With Ice And Heat
Many people underestimate the impact of regularly applying forms of cold packs and/or hot packs to help reduce lower back pain and help the healing process
Stretch Your Hamstrings Twice Daily
One of the easiest things you can do to help alleviate lower back pain is to gently stretch your hamstrings twice daily. Tight hamstrings place additional stress across the lower back and sacroiliac joint, leading to more pain. There are a lot of options to stretch the hamstrings, including several gentle options that should not hurt.
Engage Your Brain
Pain specialists have long understood that pain is more complicated than just a sensation, like a vision, but rather how the brain interprets and process the pain signals also plays an important role.
Source: www.spine-health.com; Stephanie Burke; March 23, 2012.
