Beating Your Back Pain
Back pain is not uncommon. Whether it’s mechanical, muscular, injury-related or otherwise, it affects 8 out of 10 people. It’s the most common cause of occupational disability and it affects many more people on a broader spectrum, still. Whether your back pain is chronic or whether it’s temporary, you can work against it. These are some of the methods you can use to do that.
Work smarter
Outside of injury, one of the biggest reasons for back pain in modern society is working conditions that millions of adults tolerate. Whether in the construction site or in the office, paying little attention to ergonomics can cause or exacerbate pain. If you’re experiencing that pain currently, you should look at changes to the working environment that could fight the risk of poor posture. Ergonomic chairs, for instance, and extending tables that allow you to both stand and sit at them could help you fix your posture.
Sleep sounder
Back pain and a lack of sleep form a vicious cycle with one another. Disturbed sleep is common for people with back pain, while that lack of sleep can worsen inflammation leading to more pain. Certain mattresses could actually make it easier to sleep, however. It’s a good idea, when buying mattresses, to look at reviews for foam mattresses that focus on back pain as a primary category to judge by. The right bed could make it a lot easier to get your sleep back which, in turn, could tone down the pain.
Move mindfully
Even if you suffer temporary back pain, like throwing your back out, you might think that you need to stay as still as possible. However, that can slow recovery. Instead, doctors are nowadays recommending you ease your way back into a more active lifestyle. Gentle exercises for the lower back, like stretches, could be a huge pain relief and require no equipment or fees.
Stay away from stress
Just like sleep and back pain, mental and physical stress are very much linked. Severe stress can even lead to back and joint pain. That’s because the body physically tenses up when stresses. This can lead to inflammation that can be the root, if not a contributor, to back pain. Home stress remedies like meditation and aromatherapy could be good for more than your mind.
Work that body
Most doctors, when encountering back pain of any serious degree, will insist on some form of bodywork. Chiropractic methods, physiotherapy, and similar methods can do more than work on the physical causes of the pain. They are therapy, at their core, which means they can help with some of the other mentioned contributing factors to pain like a lack of sleep and an excess of stress.
If the above remedies aren’t enough to ease your back pain then you should be speaking to your doctor. Don’t make the mistake of thinking a few days of bedrest will be enough. If anything, current wisdom is suggesting that could be bad for the back, not good for it.