Dealing With Lower Back Pain
At some point in their lives most people suffer from lower back pain. The pain can be mildly annoying to downright painful. In any case you need to find the best and safest way to treat or deal with the pain so that you can get on with your life in some normal fashion
There are many causes of lower back pain. Simple strains of muscles or ligaments are the chief cause. Injury from a fall or car wreck can lay you low for months. Watch out for small boys overflowing sinks onto tile floors or algae laden river rocks (my husband still won’t take me fishing). Osteoarthritis is a primary cause as we age.Herniated and bulging disks are the absolute worst of all the causes to have.
Doctors of course love to write prescriptions for everything. So their answer is usually a prescription for the latest muscle relaxer or pain killer. The problem with this is that a lot of times the doctor never bothers to investigate the cause of the pain or to properly explain to you how to prevent it from happening again or at the very least how to keep the pain at a minimum. Drugs have side effects attached to them. They can leave you groggy or lethargic. They can be
addictive. They can become non-effective after a time. And the real truth is they
don’t fix the problem they simply cover up the symptoms.
For many back conditions such as arthritis and bulging disks, there is no fixing
them. The most you can do is keep it under control because you are most likely stuck with the condition for life.
There are numerous therapies for these conditions.For many people these therapies work great even if only for a short time. For others, these therapies show little if no results. Many doctors use spinal decompression therapy. It is similar to medieval torture in that they attach weight to you and stretch out your back in an effort to separate and straighten the spinal column. For me, this therapy was highly ineffective.
 Another therapy that is much used is steroid injections into the spine. This therapy may take several sessions and even if it works it is a temporary solution.
 When I developed a bulging disk last year and found out I have osteoarthritis, I was desperate
for a solution. I went from taking 3 mile hikes in the woods to barely able to walk.
For months I could barely move. I did several therapies that had no effect and continued to be laid low with severe pain. At night, I woke feeling as if someone was poking my spine with an ice pick. Once I got up I could not sit or bend without agony.
I paid a visit to my local clinic after the pain specialist basically told me it was all
in my head. The physicians assistant that I saw explained my condition to me very clearly and laid out details of what I should and should not do to keep it under control.
She told me that whenever I overdid it or did things I should not do that the area around
the bulging disk became irritated and when it did then it became swollen and caused the bulge to press against the nerves in the spinal column which produced the pain. Basically what I was looking at was an altered lifestyle. I had to come to terms with the fact that many things I had once done I could not do now or had to do differently.
- Do not stand or sit for too long at a time. Standing for more than 10 minutes made my back feel like someone slammed me with a sledgehammer. Over time I have become able to stand for longer periods.
- Do not lift heavy objects. Of course heavy is different for everyone but you know your limits or you soon learn them when the pain comes after you overdo.
- Do not do sit ups. It is better to do curl-ups or crunches as they put less stress on your lower back.
- Do not lift both legs off the ground while on your back. This puts too much stress on your lower back.
- Do not lift both legs in the air while lying on your stomach.
- Use heat and ice to relieve pain. Use heat for 20 minutes to relax the muscles and then do 20 minutes of ice to reduce the swelling caused by the heat. It is good to use ice after a workout to help reduce the chance of inflammation and swelling.
- Use proper lifting techniques.
- Stretch and exercise to keep the muscles flexible and strong.
- Walk regularly as this helps the muscles stay strong and in shape and keeps your bones strong and healthy. Walk as far as you can daily. The distance will increase as you do it because you will be stronger.
- Take each day as you find it. What you did yesterday you may not be able to do today but you might tomorrow. You will improve over time so don’t get frustrated.
- Take a good vitamin and mineral supplement. And also a glucosamine supplement. Glucosamine helps to repair damage to cartilage. SAM-e has also been shown to help reduce pain.
- Don’t over do!! Overdoing will irritate your back and may keep you down for days. If
your back begins to hurt it is time to take a break and give it a rest.  - Do not do a lot of high impact things like jumping and running. If you have arthritis or disk problems your back’s ability to absorb shock is impaired. Any stress will irritate it and may cause pain for a while.Â
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As I mentioned above stretching and exercise are vitally important to improving your muscle strength and flexibility. A quick search will provide many sources of sites that have exercises for the back .
Some of these are:
http://physicaltherapy.about.com/od/backpain/ss/BackExercises.htm
http://www.ehow.com/video_4400224_stomach-exercises-back-physical-therapy.html
I find that if I do my therapy exercises regularly, my back feels much better and I am able to do more without pain.
So if you suffer from low back pain, try to find out what the cause of the pain is and then find the safest, most effective way to fix it or keep it under control. Above all take it easy and try not to make it worse.
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It’s like first-aid in a DVD! Put together by Debbie Siebers and Chad Waterbury, this DVD offers simple, safe Not only exercises for your  |
July 5, 2009
Posted in: arthritis, back pain, joint care, middle age, natural treatment, seniors
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