Back pain is among the common physical conditions that can affect everyone. Some studies show that around seven in ten Americans are suffering from back pain.
Perhaps you have sprained your back when cleaning the house or working in the yard. Or maybe you got hurt from old sports injuries or chronic conditions, like ankylosing spondylitis or arthritis.
Your physical therapist or doctor must check severe or sudden back pain. This also goes for every pain, which doesn’t go away.
Apart from orthopedics, you can also manage and treat your back pain in other ways. Some of these ways may include the following:
1. Sleep Better
When you are suffering from back pain, sleeping may become difficult. It might be a vicious cycle because your pain will worsen if you don’t sleep for enough hours. Poor sleep positions may as well aggravate your back pain.
To sleep better, try lying on one side. Afterward, put a pillow between the knees. This will help keep the spine in a more natural position and relieve pain in the back.
2. Physical Therapy
Physical therapists may teach you a few exercises to strengthen your back/abdominal muscles, improve posture, and increase flexibility. Using these techniques regularly helps a lot to keep the pain from returning.
Physical therapies can also enlighten you on how to modify physical movements during episodes of back pain. This will allow you to prevent flaring pain symptoms as you get active.
3. Nutrition and Diet
There is no special diet, which has been shown to prevent or help with back pain. But if you gain weight and become obese, you might want to change your diet and exercise regularly to burn excess calories and minimize strain on your back.
It is advisable to ensure that you take a healthy and well-balanced diet. Plus, you must ensure your diet is low in salt, sugar, and saturated fats.
In addition, it will be a great idea to take a lot of vegetables and fruits and drink around eight glasses of water daily. The key goal here is to lose weight.
4. Topical Ointments
Consider applying topical ointments, such as creams and patches, to your skin so as to relieve your back pain. One of the common products you may use are Bengay and Hot. The medications in these two may help relieve your pain by confusing your nerve endings in the muscles.
When back muscles feel hot or cold, your nerve endings get distracted from pain in your muscle tissues. In addition, the heat in these topical ointments may soothe the strained or sprained muscles.
5. OTC Pain Relievers
OT pain relievers or medications usually help to relieve discomfort when recovering from minor strains or injuries.
You can try two major types of medications: acetaminophen or NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Both help relieve pain, even though NSAIDs are specifically made to target inflammation causing swelling.
In a Nutshell!
Back pain is one of the common health problems leading to difficulty doing daily activities and limited activity. So if you are experiencing sudden or severe back pain, ensure you visit a healthcare expert to guide you accordingly.
