Nearly all of us will experience back pain at some point in our lives; in fact, medical research shows that up to 80% of us will. While not all back pain is severe enough to seek immediate medical treatment, even minor back pain can be a detriment to enjoying our daily lives. So when back pain does flare up, here are a few things you can do at home that can help treat your back pain:
- Get up and move
Your first inclination when treating back pain may be to rest in bed until the pain goes away. While rest can be beneficial, too much inactivity can atrophy your muscles, reduce flexibility in the spine and increase stiffness.
You are better off moderating your activity level and sticking to low-impact exercises like yoga, walking or swimming. These types of activities will avoid flaring up back pain and increase blood flow to your back to help promote the natural healing process of the body.
- Use ice and heat
When treating your back pain, hot and cold packs can help provide relief of your symptoms. Generally, you should stick to ice following the first 24 hours after a flare-up. Apply ice 20 minutes at a time to avoid causing cold damage to the skin.
After the initial inflammation and swelling has been treated with ice, you can switch to heat to help relax tension in the muscles. The heat will also improve circulation and can inhibit pain signals.
- Fix your posture
One of the most common causes of back pain is poor posture. Sitting for long periods of time without getting up — or staring at our computer screens or smartphones — is terrible for our spinal health. The next time back pain flares up, try this simple treatment exercise to release tension in the neck, shoulders and back.
- Begin by standing straight up and with your head looking straight ahead.
- Next, bring your shoulder blades back. Imagine trying to hold a coin between them to get into the correct position.
- From this position, move your shoulder blades down toward your core.
- Hold for eight to 10 seconds.
When done correctly, you should feel the tightness in your upper back, shoulders and neck relax. This exercise can also help train your body to maintain good posture.
- Decide to attend physical therapy
When at-home remedies aren’t relieving your back pain symptoms, physical therapy can help. Physical therapists can create an individualized back pain treatment plan for you. This plan will be specifically designed to target the source of your pain and reduce your symptoms.
A few of the therapy techniques that could be included in your plan are:
- Manual therapy — This is a category of therapy where therapists use their hands to provide relief. One study reports that a type of manual therapy called myofascial release helped reduce patients’ lower back pain by almost 63% in four weeks.
- Aquatic therapy — Also called water therapy because it takes place in a heated pool. Medical researchers report that 90% of the patients in one study had reduced back pain after using aquatic therapy for six months.
Other therapy methods your physical therapist may add to your plan include:
Get effective treatment for your back pain at Peak Performance
Need relief from back pain? Our Peak Performance team is here to develop a personalized therapy plan for you that’s designed to reduce your pain. We’ll start by performing a free screening to pinpoint the root cause of your back pain. Then, our physical therapists will construct an individualized treatment plan tailored to meet your specific needs. We can even help you from home thanks to our virtual therapy appointment option.
Contact us today for more information about how we can help you or to schedule an initial appointment.
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