Low Back Pain
Preventing Lower Back Pain
Low back pain is most usually caused by a strained muscle or a misalignment of the vertebrae in the lower back, and the body will usually correct these problems on its own. Your back will have a much better chance of healing itself, though, if you are active and you exercise regularly, whether your back hurts that day or not. The correct exercise can help prevent low back pain as well as help a back heal faster from a strain or injury. Low back pain can also be prevented, or at least minimized by good posture and by lifting things properly. Good posture would mean standing straight and with your stomach tucked in, and maintaining that posture while you are sitting. We have all probably been told once or twice to lift heavy loads with our legs and not our backs, but few of us think about those instructions while we are doing the lifting. Squatting down and then standing up with the load, instead of bending over and then straightening up, will minimize your risk of injuring your lower back. Low back pain cannot be entirely avoided. If, however, you maintain your posture and muscle tone, low back pain won’t become the center of your lifestyle.
Managing Lower Back Pain
For many of us, low back pain is a consequence of living. 80% of us will experience low back pain some time in our lives, and most of us will simply allow the body to heal itself. Unfortunately, while we are waiting for our bodies to heal, the back pain will need to be dealt with. While it sounds counter-intuitive, getting up and moving is an important part of dealing with low back pain. Forcing your muscles to work will also help them heal and possibly re-align your spine on their own. Another important part of the healing is allowing your back muscles to relax when they need to. Alternating hot and cold compresses on your lower back will decrease the inflammation in your low back muscles, allowing the muscles to relax during those periods when you aren’t moving around. Some over-the-counter medications are also able to decrease your inflammation and therefore your low back pain, but please pay attention to your dosage. If the manufacturer’s recommended dosage does not relieve the pain enough for you to function, then you should look into prescription drugs or some topical relief as well Managing your low back pain will allow you to keep moving, heal faster, and ultimately get rid of the pain.
The Causes of Lower Back Pain
In order to prevent or cure a condition such as low back pain, we need to understand the source of that pain. Fortunately for us, some amazing advances in medicine have helped us to understand more about our bodies. In fact, it’s safe to say that we have learned more about low back pain over the past 25 years than in the previous 200. Yet, despite these advances, low back pain remains a source of controversy and discussion. We are fairly certain that low back pain is caused either by a strained muscle or muscle group, or else an injury to the spine which results in a pinched or compressed nerve. We also know that often these conditions will heal themselves, and that the low back pain will then go away. What we are still finding out, though, is what particular movements lead to the injuries which cause low back pain. Some people experience low back pain after moving a refrigerator, while others just pick up a sock and end up in pain. If, however, you and your doctor are able to narrow the cause down to either a spinal injury or a muscle strain, then you are better able to work together to formulate a plan of recovery.