Having back pain can be crippling for some. It feels unbearable and you feel immobilised for a long time. Productivity drops, your life is put on hold and it’s just no fun. There are some natural remedies that are shown to help with back pain and there are obviously alternatives than can also help pending on your situation. In this article, we will go through some of the top tips for reducing back pain.
Sleep Better
When one has back pain, it can be difficult to sleep as it can be hard finding a position where you are not in pain. It is well known that a poor sleeping position can have a significant impact on back pain. One option for sleeping to relieve back pain is to sleep on your side and place a pillow between your knees. This helps to keep your spine in a natural position and puts less strain on your back. If you are one who sleeps on your back, place the pillow under your knees and sleep on a firm mattress that is comfortable for you.
Ensure Good Posture
Ever been told when you were younger to stop slouching? Well, that is because it’s horrendous for your back. Poor posture can cause a bad back, and it can make an already bad back worse, so don’t slump when you walking and don’t slump over your keyboard. Instead, sit up straight, with your shoulders relaxed. Also, have your back supported by the back of your seat. If you are struggling to do this, have a rolled-up towel at the back of your seat and have your feet flat on the ground. This will feel uncomfortable for a while, but it will get easier.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapists are a good way of retraining your body and learning new methods of coping and dealing with your back pain. This sounds patronising, but they can help you to learn how to sit properly, stand and move in a way that keeps your spine aligned and relieve back pain. Another benefit of having a therapist look at you is they can give you new techniques and exercises that will help to strengthen your core muscles to help support your back.
A strong core is what is going to help relieve those back pains and prevent further damage. When you take these exercises, you will improve your strength, flexibility and endurance which in turn helps to decrease back pain.
A Breast Reduction (If needed)
If you are a woman who has back pain and has possibly had children or have large breasts, this can significantly affect your back and cause back pain. This can result in one being miserable and finding it hard to do everyday tasks. One way of helping this can be looking into a breast reduction Manchester based, these offer some of the safest and best surgeons in the world. Once you have had a consultation, the surgeon will be able to explain the benefits of having breast reduction surgery.
Ice and Heat
Heat and ice can both help to relieve back pain for different reasons, so using them together can benefit your back. Regular applications of col or ice to the pain areas can help to reduce inflammation. Try this consistently every other day for 20 minutes. If it’s too cold, wrap the ice in a towel or something to protect your skin. Once you have done this for a couple of days, change to the heat pack as this will help to relax your muscles and increase blood flow. Having a warm bath can also help.
Massages
Having a massage with your partner is always nice, but did you know that having a massage once a week for 10 weeks can significantly help to reduce back pain, improve circulation and increase mobility? This is only a temporary fix and it will only last for around 6 months, but this doesn’t mean you can’t still have a massage once a week.
If your budget allows, you could also opt for spinal manipulation therapy. This is of course one by a professional who is licenced, the treatment aims to relieve the problems with the structure of your spine and restore your mobility.
Back Surgery
If you have tried every remedy in the book, then the last resort is having some sort of back surgery. These surgeries carry some risks like any surgery, but they are not guaranteed to work so they should be used as a last resort. These surgeries include:
Discectomy – remove disk material to relieve pressure on a nerve
Laminectomy – used to decompress areas putting pressure on your nerves or spine
Spinal fusion – helps stabilise the spine