One of the leading causes of disability amongst people of all ages, but significantly more likely to affect us as we age, is back pain. In some circumstances, it can be truly debilitating. Here, we’re going to take a closer look at not just how to combat the aches of back pain, but how to work on restoring the mobility and energy that back pain can take away, as well.
Get Moving
Staying in motion is one of the single best things you can do for back pain. If you also have joint pain, you might worry about how effectively you can exercise. However, low-impact exercises, such as walking, swimming, and yoga can treat your joints with care, while easing the tension in your back. If you have bouts of back pain coming back, you can recover from them a lot more easily.
Strengthening Your Back
Exercise can help you build mobility and release tension in your back, not to mention losing some weight that might be putting more pressure on your spine. A physical therapist may be able to go even further, still, with an exercise program designed to strengthen the muscles in your back and abdomen. Working the muscles around the spine means that it gets more support and isn’t dealing with all of the weight of the body unaided.
Tacking Things Directly
The right professional can do a lot of good when they get hands-on with your back. Aside from massage therapists, you should consider getting in touch with a health professional that practices chiropractic care. Manipulating the back, they can release a lot of pent up tension, helping to improve blood flow to the back amongst other things. One visit isn’t enough to solve your worries, but repeat trips can have significant benefits over time.
Improving the Body’s Healing Process
One of the biggest complaints about when an individual’s back goes out is that it can take you off your feet and force you into inactivity for the rest of the day, if not longer. Applying hot water bottles and cool packs to your back can help you recover more quickly. However, there are complementary therapies like acupuncture that can also stimulate the body’s healing process, relieving your back of chronic pain.
Talk to Your Doctor About More Serious Measures
If your back pain is debilitating enough, or the tips above do not do the trick, then it might be time to talk about more drastic options. There are several paths that are more invasive, but may be able to more directly target the symptoms and cause of your back pain, from nerve blocks that reduce back pain directly at the source to spinal cord stimulators that can divert signals of pain from the back away.
Back pain is a serious issue and not one that’s easily solved by relying on one of the tips above, alone. With your doctor, work to find the combination of solutions that can help your pain ease off on you and help you restore some quality of life.
Thank you for reading!
