If you have read any other articles on our website you will have already learned that back pain is much more complicated than just bending down the wrong way, or lifting a heavy box.
There are several causes of lower back pain, and it would be wise for you to first visit the lower back pain section of our website by clicking here.
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General Info About Low Back Pain
The severity of lower back pain may be unrelated to an injury altogether. Again, the main 3 causes are bad posture, muscle over-exertion, & muscle imbalances. Not to mention, back spasms from a simple strain can cause excruciating pain, making it difficult to walk or even stand for that matter. On the other hand, a large herniated disc or completely degenerated disc can be completely painless. So it really just depends and each person and situation has to be assessed individually.
The many different causes of back pain sometime combine with one another. If you strain your back muscles, you are more change you gait and more likely to walk or move differently to avoid pain from using your injured muscles. This can cause you to overuse or strain other muscles that may not be used to moving that way creating more injury and more pain.
Typically bed rest, applying ice, stretching, cortisone injections and going to a massage or physical therapist can all offer temporary low back pain relief. It is rare that you will need surgery in most acute and in many chronic cases of low back pain.
As much as possible, rest in bed for no more than a day or two as it may make your back pain worse, not better. Resting for longer than 1-2 days can be counterproductive as the muscles of your lower back become weaker, muscle imbalances are not addressed, and thus this leads to more back problems.
Applying ice within the first 48 hours reduces local inflammation, speeds up healing and can offer significant low back pain relief. A properly applied compression or a tight bandage stabilizes your back and allows you to remain somewhat active as your back heals. Obviously, don’t let the bandage become a crutch. Also, stretching and low impact aerobic exercise such as Pilates can help by improving local blood flow and circulation.
Interestingly, using the right vitamin and mineral supplements may lead to low back pain relief. Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in people with chronic musculoskeletal conditions. Some experts believe that everyone with persistent, non-specific musculoskeletal pain should be screened for vitamin D deficiency. Supplementation with vitamin B12 and magnesium also relieves back pain.
Massage therapy and chiropractic treatment can restore spinal mobility, muscle tightness, and encourage healing which in turn helps to relieve back pain
Prolotherapy is an interesting new method for low back pain relief, in which a liquid solution is injected into soft tissues such as ligaments and tendons. This triggers local inflammation, so that the body’s natural healing response repairs the weakened soft tissues and relieves pain.
Exercises for Lower Back Pain Relief
If you have not yet watched the “exercises for lower back pain” video, we suggest you do so. Click here to go watch the video
Once you have visited a physician and determined what treatments are safe for you then you can begin to implement a plan for pain relief. As you can see there are many different options for treatment when it comes to getting low back pain relief.
