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Whether your back pain is a dull, nagging ache or spasms that stops your daily routine, take a simple approach on how to relieve your pain and not stress so much on how to get a solution.

Millions of people in the US alone have experienced chronic or acute back pain that needs professional treatment. As you already know, you can strain your back doing everyday tasks or by just sleeping or sitting in a uneasy positions. If you seek relief for back pain but don’t know how to start, the following are just pointers to help you decide whether to go to the doctor right now or decide to treat your backache at home.

First, you need to see a doctor right away if you have a back pain that goes along after an injury or some sort of accident. If you’re also running a fever and you feel a continuous numbness or weakness in your legs and lower trunk, consult a doctor right away. But if the pain you feel is just an ordinary work stress or caused by bad posture or positions, try the following tips below.

It is obvious, when our back hurts it is saying something to us that it needs less stress in order to recover from our daily twists and turns. Stop and Relax. If you’re at home, you can try getting a comfortable position that may suites your back pain in no time. Lying on your back with a small pillow under your knees can help you loosen and relieves pain. Another position is lying on your back with your feet resting on a chair and bend your knees 90 degrees then place a small pillow under your neck. Remember, if the pain is very bad, rest in bed for a day but don’t stay longer because too much bed rest can also weaken our body reflexes thus may lead to severe back pain. Try also sleeping in a firm bed, this helps flatten your back when sleeping.

A good resting habit also provides a nice relief to back pain. If you need to rest do not just sit in bed just to watch TV or read any book this can create force to your back. Lay in bed and move yourself in every 2 hours, take a slow walk or sit on the edge of your bed for a couple of minutes. Take it slowly, do not rush yourself to relieve the pain.

If you decided to take a pain reliever, here’s a quick note – do not take aspirin and ibuprofen together, this can produce a side effects. You also take note that if you are have an allergy or asthma do not use aspirin or ibuprofen.

Get a soft massage from your loved ones, this is also a good therapy for a person experiencing from back pain because it relaxes your mind and relieves stress. But if you feel your back hurts when doing the massage because of injury, stop immediately.

There are a lot of ways to help ease back pain. The tips mentioned above are methods that requires less expense – find the right one that best for you and relieves your pain most.

As a chiropractor here in Plano, Texas, I often have patients who come in for treatment because of lower back pain, and some find that it’s the sciatic nerve that’s giving them the pain. Sciatica is commonly seen as a pain of the lower back which runs down from the back into the leg. This pain can be sharp, tingling and cause numbness of the lower back and leg. As part of my chiropractic care, I prescribe non-surgical methods to bring relief to my patients.

The sciatic nerve is the longest and widest single nerve in your body. It branches off at the base of the spine and runs down each side of your pelvic area, supplying nerve impulses to your butt, legs and feet. If you’ve ever experienced sciatica, you know how debilitating this pain can be. I’ve seen patients, who could barely walk, couldn’t bend over, or even stand. There are a lot of things that can trigger problems with your sciatic nerve, poor posture when you sit, slip and fall on your butt, improper swing while playing golf, and the list goes on. For most of my patients, I recommend, certain exercise, lots of rest, and certain pain medication, while they recuperate. Usually you will be back to your normal self within 2-3 weeks. However, if your pain is still severe and continues beyond 2 months, it might be necessary to consider surgery as a last resolve. In this article I will focus on alternative methods to treat this condition and leave the surgery to those more qual
ified.

Chiropractic Treatments and Alternatives at Home

I immediately recommend heat packs and ice packs. Both can be used independently or combined at various intervals. If you do not have access to over the counter packs, please use ice in a Ziploc bag and heated towels or a heating pad. Both should be applied for 20 to 30 minutes and then repeated every 2-3 hours. This should bring relief until the patient can get in to my office.

Along with heat and ice, I suggest that you use Tylenol, Advil, ibuprofen, or naproxen to help reduce the pain. Another consideration if the pain is very acute is the use epidural steroid injections. These injections are different from the oral steroid medicines because the steroid is given directly to the injured area and should bring immediate relief from the pain, much quicker than meds or oral steroids. This must be administered by a qualified medical specialist, I do not provide this service but can recommend other medical professionals who do.

Alternative Chiropractic Treatment at my Office

Chiropractors sometimes suggest the need for exercise. This might sound counter productive, but very mild exercise along with the other treatments listed above, can help strengthen muscles of the lower back and your stomach muscles. To qualify the type of exercise I recommend, I prescribe simple stretching starting slowly and gradually increasing as you recover and also to prevent future recurrences of sciatica or other back pain. The equipment I’ve installed at my office is very effective in helping with the pain and if utilized correctly, will contribute to end of sciatic pain.

Other techniques for pain relief are spinal decompression, cold laser therapy, heat and cold applied with gentle massage therapy. I have patients who I see in my office that usually need a combination of the above techniques to resolve their sciatic pain. We use various forms of massage and cold laser to relax patient’s muscles, improve blood flow, and most important, the release of endorphins in the body that act as natural pain relievers.

Last but not least, a highly effective technique for treatment that is being used more and more is acupuncture. Most people think of being a human pin cushion and even though the origins of this technique were developed by the Chinese, it is an approved procedure for back pain by the FDA. A qualified and trained acupuncturist can provide relief from back pain by simply using thin needles inserted in the area where you feel discomfort. Acupuncture focuses on the applied principle of harmonizing your body’s flow of energy through various pathways in the body. There is no guarantee that this or any other combination of treatments will totally eliminate sciatica from recurring but if you follow the advice of your chiropractor and seek help early, you should prevent this from happening again in the future.

The long awaited report on how low back pain should best be treated in the UK was published recently by National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE for those who do not know is an independent group set up by the government to evaluate the available research on a particular condition. Its job is to publish clear guidelines for the best way to treat a particular condition in the UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals or at Primary Care Trust (PCT) level i.e. Direct referral via you General Practitioner (GP/MD).

This new guide covers non specific back pain. This represents all the mechanical causes of lower back pain a Chiropractor typically sees. It includes pain coming from joints, discs, muscles, tendons and ligaments and according to Richard Nelson, a Chiropractor in Derby ”forms over 99% of the causes of lower back pain that a typical Chiropractor will see in every day practice”.

Specific back pain is where there is a non mechanical cause for your pain such as cancer, infection or fractures. Your chiropractor has under gone extensive medical training to able to distinguish between the two classifications so can decide which patients are suitable for Chiropractic treatment and those that are not. In a typical Chiropractic practice Specific back pain usually forms less than 1% of all cases.

NICE recommendations are:

Any persistent or recurrent low back pain lasting more than 6 weeks and less than 12 months one of following three options should be offered taking in to account the patients (‘your’) preference.

• A course of manual therapy – up to 9 sessions over 12 weeks (manual therapy encompasses manipulation, mobilisation and massage).
• Acupuncture – up to 10 sessions over 12 weeks.
• Group physical exercise programme 8 sessions over 12 weeks.

NICE stated that manipulation can be performed by Chiropractors or Osteopaths. Chiropractors and Osteopaths are experts in manipulative techniques and along with mobilisation and massage they have been the core treatment methods of the two professions in the UK for over 100 years. It’s ironic now that research now ‘proves’ that the hands on approach that the professions have adopted for many years really does ‘work’. So NICE makes it clear that the Chiropractic and Osteopathic professions should be used for the provision of low back pain treatment in the general population under the NHS.

Doctors and Physiotherapists who have undergone specialist post graduate training in manipulation are also included as suitable providers of manipulation treatment. However, generally manipulation is not taught to Doctors or Physiotherapists as part of their standard training in the UK and so the majority of Doctors and Physiotherapists do not perform it.

NICE further recommends that if one chosen treatment does not result in satisfactory improvement another one of the 3 options should be offered to you.

What can you do? Next time you visit your GP you can ask;

As per NICE guidelines for low back pain will you (your GP) refer you for Chiropractic treatment for your low back pain in the NHS? If not, ask them why not? As this is what the NICE guidelines recommend for its treatment.

Richard Nelson comments:

Rome wasn’t built in a day! Don’t expect to be referred straight away. The more of you who ask and the more often you ask the sooner Chiropractic will be available to you and others on the NHS!

It seems that almost every physical activity we do involves our hips. Without our hips we would use our arms for most of the activities we do. Our hips, with the help of our backs, support our bodies and help our legs move in the various motions and speeds that they do.

When someone starts to feel pain at the hips or gets his or her hip injured, the person will normally stop performing much of his or her daily physical activities. Much of what he or she needs to get done will go undone because of his or her condition. Victims of hip pain and injuries may find themselves unable to walk short distances, missing out on work, and may have to file for short or long term disability. He or she will normally try to get rest from sleeping or lying down, but in some cases, this may do nothing for them. In severe cases such as this, surgery and medicine may be the only option.

Hip pain and injury can occur from constant and strenuous physical activity at work or around the home. It can also occur from poor training or being uninformed about certain procedures that involve lifting or moving heavy equipment. People with a history of lower back pain or accident history may find themselves with hip problems at some point.

Some useful treatments for hip injuries:

• Apply cold pack/heat pad: Cold packs should bring down swelling when applied, and therefore minimize pain. Heating pads provide relaxation to the muscles by stimulating blood flow.

• Stay active after recuperating: It is good to keep your muscles active and keep them from getting sore. Muscles that remain inactive for a long period of time are more prone to becoming strained.

• Medication: Consult your doctor and consider taking pain medication along with anti-inflammatory medication.

• Anti-inflammatory medication along with a cold pack will significantly reduce pain and inflammation.

• Physical therapy: Victims of severe hip pain may want to consider physical therapy, which can include stretching, strengthening, and mobility exercises.

• Get plenty of rest: Resting your joints should keep them from inflaming any further. If pain lasts for an unusually long period, then you may need to seek medical attention.

If you would like more resources on hip injuries, prevention, and legal help available for victims of hip injuries, contact the Indianapolis personal injury lawyers of the Charles D. Hankey Law Office, P.C.

This months question is:

I often experience tightness just on one side of my back and sometimes only in my right hamstring or buttock. It isn’t there all the time but usually after I have done a long run or have begun to run more regularly like when the weather gets warmer in the spring.

Most runners realize that it is important to have good strength in the hamstrings and quadriceps, and that these muscles must be somewhat flexible or at least balanced in order to help prevent injury. But what many of these same runners fail to recognize is where these muscles attach. More specifically, the muscles in the front and backs of your legs that move the hips and knees attach into the pelvis, which makes up part of your lower back.

The longer the distance you are running the more important it is to have good balance and strength in the muscles of your lower back and pelvis. The tiny muscles of the lower back help to support good posture and running form. If these muscles are weak than a runner’s posture changes, and now there is irregular stress placed on the lower leg muscles which may result in injury. In addition, an imbalance between the lower back muscles and the abdominal muscles (in most people it’s that there stomach muscles are not as strong as they should be) can lead to the same problems. It is likely that you have an imbalance in the muscles of your lower back and/or abdominal muscles.

Weakness or imbalance in the lower back, pelvis and or abdominal muscles can occur from a deconditioned athlete, chronic leg muscle inflexibility, a misaligned bone in the back or pelvis, a pinched nerve, or a chronic lower leg or foot disorder, to name just a few. If it is purely a muscular imbalance then exercise will be the primary form of treatment. If there is joint involvement, than you will need some adjustments as well. There are many types of treatments, but the most successful always occur when the exact source of the problem is diagnosed. A good chiropractor or physical therapist should be your first choice to examine and determine what type of imbalance exists.

Suppose you have just had an MRI scan and you’re waiting for the results. Chances are that your doctor has a report in his hand that states that you have a bulging spine or a herniated disc. In fact, in the past, it was only the over 60′s age group that was prone to such problems. These days, even those over 25 develop serious back and neck pain problems.

It has been noted that more than 90% of people find back pain relief within a couple of months of their symptoms. However, if back pain does not go away in the first couple of months, then, chances of it going away permanently are very slim indeed. According to a survey by Liberty Mutual, the longer a person absents themselves from work due to back pain, the lesser their chances of returning to work with a fully functional back. To make matters worse, research also indicates that once a person falls into the abyss of back pain, they may soon develop other health problems. Approximately 75% of chronic back pain sufferers reportedly suffer from multiple health problems.

Unfortunately, a good majority of people consider surgery to be their best shot at back pain relief. What most people do not know is that surgery is always the last option, never the first. In fact, most people who suffer from persistent back pain can get back pain relief through non-surgical means. However, for this to work, it is important that patients start working on their back musculature at the earliest possible time.

Many people are prone to back pain due to the very nature of their work. In fact, it can safely be said that if you are over 30 and working, your back is a sitting duck! By that definition, almost 90% of the world population is at risk. Surveys show that many people are indeed struggling with chronic back problems and are desperately seeing back pain relief.

The first step is to ensure that your back is always well supported. Sit, stand or lie down in a position that allows your back to be in its natural and most comfortable state of being. Anything that places continuous stress or strain on the back is guaranteed to cause pain and irritation.

The next step is to strengthen your back so that it becomes more flexible. Bear in mind that most kinds of back pains result from muscular strains. Regular back strengthening exercises are a surefire way of achieving back pain relief. That said, it must be remembered that exercises help only if they are practiced regularly, if the exercises are performed right and if they are performed over a long period of time.

If back pain problems have reached a level where they interfere with normal activities, then, it is recommended that you meet a doctor and explore the possibilities of a surgical procedure to achieve back pain relief. Research shows than in 10-15% of people, surgery is the only route to permanent back pain relief.

Everything in life requires maintenance: cars, a house, your teeth, relationships and even your spine. The spine is a very complex structure which contains twenty-four movable bones (the vertebrae), twenty-three discs, the spinal cord, thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves, the meninges (the protective covering which surrounds the central nervous system), nine common ligaments, five layers of muscle, blood vessels, lymphatics, adipose (fat), fascia and other connective tissues.

If you fail to maintain your spine it will eventually start to develop problems (which are initially silent). It’s not until the problems have gotten so bad that you first start to experience symptoms. Pain is the last thing that shows up. By the time your back or neck hurts, the problem has been there for a long time.

This is very much like having a slow oil leak in your car. When your engine first starts leaking oil, there are no overt signs or symptoms. It’s a silent but very damaging problem. Your oil level has to be down about two full quarts before the engine sensor gets tripped and the little “check engine” dashboard light comes on. Does it make sense to pay attention to your oil levels only after the engine starts smoking?

Your teeth require ongoing maintenance (brushing, flossing, and going to the dentist for regular check ups). Failure to do these fundamental maintenance practices will lead to tooth decay and eventually to cavities. Did you know that tooth decay has to occur for about three years before the enamel is damaged enough to cause a cavity? And the cavity doesn’t cause tooth pain right away. It’s only after the tooth has rotted to such an extent that the cavity reaches the nerve root. So does it make sense to only pay attention to your teeth when they start to hurt?

The spine requires continuous maintenance as well. Failure to maintain your spine leads to spinal decay (which is very similar to tooth decay). The bones, joints, discs, and connective tissues all start to wear out. And just like with problems with your car or your teeth, the damage is insidious. It starts without causing any symptoms whatsoever. Neglecting your spine eventually leads to chronic back pain, neck pain, stiffness, headaches, fibromyalgia, migraines, sciatica, low energy, poor posture, nervousness, irritability, sleep disturbances, poor sports performance, inability to concentrate (being in a “mental fog”), pain radiating into the arms or legs, and other signs of neurological stress.

The following are the five easy keys to maintaining your spine. Do these five things and you will prevent problems from occurring:

• Eat right: you need to put high quality fuel into your body. Good nutrition is the cornerstone of any health and wellness plan. Eat whole foods (fresh organically grown fruits and vegetables and lean-clean protein. Supplement your diet with a high quality multi-vitamin, fish oils (for omega 3 fatty acids), a probiotic and vitamin D3. Avoid fast food, junk food, processed food, sodas (regular and diet), sugar, gluten and dairy.
• Exercise: Exercise helps to oxygenate (bring oxygen to) all of your tissues. Oxygen is required by all cells, tissues, organs and systems. Exercise also helps keep you flexible and limber. The intervertebral discs don’t have a good direct blood supply and they rely on motion so fresh oxygen and nutrients can penetrate into the disc to keep them healthy.
• Stay Well Hydrated: Water lubricates and protects your joints. The solution to pollution is dilution. If you’ve got a build up of toxins in your body (which tend to linger in the muscles), you can flush out your body with an abundance of filtered water. Most people need to drink eight to twelve glasses of water per day. If you drink coffee, tea, sodas or alcohol, you need to drink even more water to flush out your system.
• Keep Your Spine Aligned: Normal spinal alignment is absolutely critical for correct loading on the joints, discs and supportive soft tissues. If your spine is out of alignment it will create massive pressure on the nervous system (as well as arthritis, degenerative disc disease and degenerative joint disease). This can also lead to a wide array of neurological problems. Poor posture leads to low energy and experiencing a brain fog. Be sure to get your spine checked by a Doctor of Chiropractic. Do not allow any misaligned vertebrae to go unchecked or uncorrected.
• Pay Attention To Ergonomics: Ergonomics has to do with how you interact with your environment. It involves your bedding (mattress & box spring), your chair, your car seat, your work station, etc. Flip & rotate your mattress every 3 months. Adjust your chair so it’s at the correct height and you have ample lumbar support. And adjust your work station so you can work in a forward neutral posture (without having to twist your back in order to work at the computer).

Your spine did not come with an instruction manual when you were born (which accounts for why nobody ever taught you how to maintain your spine before this). The key to preventing spinal problems is via maintaining your spine for life. Do these five easy steps and you’ll have a healthy spine and prevent future problems from occurring.