Get relief from lower back pain with these simple treatments

While lower back pain can be an excruciating experience, it doesn’t have to be an ongoing one. With the right treatment plan in place, you can start feeling better and experiencing fewer flare-ups in no time.

Here are some of the most effective treatments that have helped other people improve their lower back pain symptoms and manage them more effectively going forward.

Beware of Applying Heat to Painful Areas of Your Body.

Soothing your aching muscles and joints by applying cool pads can go a long way to alleviate the discomfort that accompanies lower back pain.
For many years an infra-red lamp was the standard approach used to treat physical pain.

Wherever there is pain in the body, there is usually inflammation and applying heat actually increases inflammation. Applying heat from an infra-red lamp would act as a temporary distraction from the pain while the heat was being applied, but would actually make the pain worse and not better!

Today the ice bath is a standard initial treatment for both sporting and other soft tissue injuries. However, don’t be alarmed at the thought of an ice bath.

You don’t actually have to leap into a bath of ice, unless you want frostbite! The ice should just be used to cool the water to the appropriate temperature, and research at the Australian Institute of Sport indicates that the optimum temperature of an ice bath is just 14-15° C.

It’s often hard for those who are experiencing back pain to reach certain areas on their own without risking further injury. And even if you’re feeling better, make sure to keep an appointment with your practitioner because your problem could still require attention, even though the symptoms may not always be as intense as they were at first.

Don’t let your Desk job cause stress.

Don’t let your desk job be the reason for a sore back. With just a few minutes of relaxing the nervous system, you can reduce your stress and eliminate tension from your upper body and neck.

Maintaining a good posture throughout the day will relieve stress on your lower back. However, because it is so difficult for you to assess whether your own posture does need to be corrected, it is best to seek the help of a professional who can observe your current posture and teach you how to make the necessary corrections.

A professional remedial therapy treatment can help to realign your spine and allow you to move more freely. This kind of treatment is also important in reducing muscle tension, soreness, and stiffness, contributing to low-back pain and discomfort.

Gently Stretch Your Body During Short Breaks Throughout the Day.

When you are sitting, taking time to stretch your body gently in short breaks every 20-25 minutes during the day is a good way to lessen or prevent the occurrence of back pain.

On a scale of 1 to 10 the intensity of your stretch should be at 2. Stretching any harder than this level will actually make you stiffer than you were before starting the stretch!

Stretching can also increase your productivity and make you feel more refreshed. Stretching doesn’t take up too much time and can be done anytime, anywhere! It doesn’t even require any equipment.

A Warning about Using Medication for Your Back Pain

Don’t reach for the prescription pills if you can avoid it. In general, medications do not remove pain. At best, so-called pain-killers will only help you to forget that the pain has gone for a short while.

Then, when the effect of the medication wears off, the pain will still be there. A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that those with acute low-back pain do not benefit more from taking medications than those who receive physical therapy.

Also, new reports indicate that more people suffer from addiction to prescribed and over-the-counter drugs than those who are addicted to illicit drugs.