Four Great Techniques To Relieve Back Pain
Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical help or miss work. It can be frustrating as you suffer with symptoms from aching muscles to a shooting, burning or stabbing sensation.
Conditions commonly linked to back pain include:
Muscle or ligament strain. Repeated heavy lifting or a sudden awkward movement can strain back muscles and spinal ligaments. For people in poor physical condition, constant strain on the back can cause painful muscle spasms.
Bulging or ruptured disks. Disks act as cushions between the bones in the spine. The soft material inside a disk can bulge or rupture and press on a nerve. However, a bulging or ruptured disk might not cause back pain. Disk disease is often found on spine X-rays, CT scans or MRIs done for another reason.
Arthritis. Osteoarthritis can affect the lower back. In some cases, arthritis in the spine can lead to a narrowing of the space around the spinal cord, a condition called spinal stenosis.
Osteoporosis. The spine's vertebrae can develop painful breaks if the bones become porous and brittle.
Source: Mayo Clinic
Fortunately there are some proactive measures you can take to get relief from pain.
Prevention
Improving your physical condition and learning to keep the back healthy and strong goes a long way in prevention:
Exercise. Controlled strength training or low-impact aerobic activities can increase strength and endurance in the back and allow the muscles to work better. Walking, bicycling and swimming are good choices when the back is in pain. Graduate to higher levels of exercise as pain subsides and muscles strengthen.
Build core strength and flexibility. Abdominal and back muscle exercises, which strengthen the core, help condition these muscles so that they support the back.
Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight strains back muscles.
Don’t slouch. Stand or sit erect without allowing yourself to slouch and get into bad postural positions that weaken muscles.
Do preventative back stretches. Directionally, through mobility, isometrics and decompression.
On the last point of stretching, I have researched four videos that offer various ways to not only get relief from current pain, but also help prevent future pain. Watch these videos all the way through to learn how to manage your current back pain.
1) Direction Specific Exercises
2) Four Great Mobility Exercises
3) Decompress With Traction
4) Isometric Exercises
In each video there is some talking that will explain why these methods are used. About 40-50% of the way through, the exercises begin. This series of videos can be used as a way to relieve general back pain through decompression, mobility, directional and isometric approaches. I hope these help you on your journeys to back pain recovery!