You do not always have to go to your GP for back pain. A lot of people suffer from this problem and for some, it comes and goes, so it is best to give it some time at first. If you are experiencing back pain, there are many things that you can do at home to lessen the pain. Most of the time, these work.
If you experience severe pain or the pain lasts continuously for more than three days, despite any attempts to lessen it yourself, that is when you should surely go your primary care provider and get it checked out. For short-term acute pain, you can follow some self-care tips at home to ease pain along your spine.
1) Pain medication
Over-the-counter pain relievers are useful for short-term pain management. They should not be used for longer than 10 days. Since pain is mostly due to inflammation, using NSAIDs can help in reducing or removing it completely.
2) Thermotherapy
Therapy at home is a great way to go. You can make your own heating pad at home or buy an electric one. A heat pack helps to reduce pain, stiffness, and soreness in the back region. Make sure that you do not use the heat pack at highest setting since the temperature could be too high and might even burn you.
There are also heat wraps available on the market. They have discs made of iron powder in them. Over a period of 30 minutes, these heated wraps start to give safe levels of heating to the patient. The temperature does not go up to an extreme, so that the patient stays safe.
3) Use a Spinal Decompression Device such as the Spinal Backrack System
4) Stretching
When you suffer from back pain, especially low back pain, it is very easy to get into the routine of not moving around much. Some people might not get out of bed because they think that stretching or doing some exercise will make their pain worse and may even end up with chronic back pain because of this habit.
Make sure you stretch during the day and try to take a break from your desk every now and then to stretch your back muscles. If you sit for hours, just get up and stretch every hour, as sitting down for long periods of time throughout the day can have long-term consequences for your back and lead to chronic pain. Stretching regularly will reduce the likelihood of back pain. You can also do some stretching exercises to minimize pain in the lower back region.
5) Cold Pack
Just like a heat pack, a cold pack can also aid in reducing pain. To make a cold pack, put some ice cubes in a wet washcloth and place it on the area where you feel the pain. Keep it on your back for 15 to 20 minutes. You can also use a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel or cloth and apply it to the painful site. You will feel much better after it.
6) Wear Low-Heeled Shoes
Women who wear high heels become victims of back ache because the heels place pressure on the back. Replace high heels with lower heels or flat shoes. Men should also replace their platform shoes with flatter shows to reduce stress on the lower spine.
7) Exercise
If nothing else works, gentle exercising would surely help as it keeps you flexible. You can sign up for a yoga class or do yoga at home to relax your body. Just make sure that are not doing strenuous exercise. The exercise you are doing must not trigger pain signals and cause more pain.
Author: Spinal Backrack
